WILLIAM G. HAWTHORNE, JR., LT, USN

William Hawthorne, Jr. '39

Date of birth: September 29, 1917

Date of death: April 10, 1944

Age: 26

Lucky Bag

From the 1939 Lucky Bag:

WILLIAM GILLMAN HAWTHORNE, JR.

Arlington, Virginia

Budge

Budge is a third platooner with twinkling blue eyes, a short crop of blonde hair, and a small, firm mouth. He is well adapted to military life, having attended New Mexico Military Institute for two years. Consequently he is a person who likes Service life and would be lost without it. He is very efficient and thorough in his manner and his every action seems to bear intense forethought. Everything he does is clocklike in its exactness. The nickname Budge implies that he is firm in his opinions and convictions—no bad dope. As a roommate he is very quiet and congenial. His frankness and unbiased manner go far in winning friendship and respect. Everything about him, posture, speech, walk, and resolute manner, denotes a truly military man.

Boat Club 4, 3, 2, 1; Star 4, 2; 5 Stripes.

WILLIAM GILLMAN HAWTHORNE, JR.

Arlington, Virginia

Budge

Budge is a third platooner with twinkling blue eyes, a short crop of blonde hair, and a small, firm mouth. He is well adapted to military life, having attended New Mexico Military Institute for two years. Consequently he is a person who likes Service life and would be lost without it. He is very efficient and thorough in his manner and his every action seems to bear intense forethought. Everything he does is clocklike in its exactness. The nickname Budge implies that he is firm in his opinions and convictions—no bad dope. As a roommate he is very quiet and congenial. His frankness and unbiased manner go far in winning friendship and respect. Everything about him, posture, speech, walk, and resolute manner, denotes a truly military man.

Boat Club 4, 3, 2, 1; Star 4, 2; 5 Stripes.

Loss

It was reported in the June 1944 issue of Shipmate that LT Hawthorne "died 10 April 1944, ten miles north of New Smyrna, Florida. (US area.) Instantly killed as pilot of plane that collided in midair during authorized combat training flight. (Not enemy action.)"

From the Class of 1939 column in the July-August 1970 issue of Shipmate:

To my delight and surprise, I got a letter from Capt. Bob Hawthorne, whom many of you will remember as Budge's brother. He reads the class of '39 news and thought we'd all be interested in some news about Budge's daughter Ann. The following is quoted from his letter: "As you may recall. Budge was killed in an aircraft accident in 1944, on 11 April. On 14 April, the day of his funeral, his daughter, Ann, was born. When she was one year old, she was adopted by Budge's parents, who raised her. Ann graduated from Hockaday School in Dallas, and Mount Holyoke in Ma., and married James Chandler, a young medical student in 1966. I had the honor of giving her away in marriage, in lieu of her father. In February 1970, Ann and James Chandler had a daughter, and they named her Sage Chandler. Sage is the first grandchild of Budge HAWTHORNE. Her father, James Chandler, is a doctor having recently graduated from medical school at McGill University in Montreal."

He was also survived by his mother and father, Colonel William G. Hawthorne, USMC.

William, Jr. is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Photographs

From the Lucky Bag

Career

He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on June 1, 1942.

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.