WILLIAM H. BECK, JR., LCDR, USN
William Beck, Jr. '40
Lucky Bag
From the 1940 Lucky Bag:
WILLIAM HENRY BECK, JR.
Buffalo, New York
Billy
Born by one of our Great Lakes, Bill comes naturally by his desire to go to sea; so it is only to be expected that we find him here at the Naval Academy. A direct sort of person, he generally gets what he goes after, or knows the reason why. He has an excellent sense of humor that is belied by his countenance, but which is hard for anyone to attempt to match. His leisure time is spent swimming or playing baseball for enjoyment rather than making numerals. Despite an affinity for winning bets and arguments, his humorous satire has won him a host of friends and forecasts a happy and successful future.
1 Stripe.
WILLIAM HENRY BECK, JR.
Buffalo, New York
Billy
Born by one of our Great Lakes, Bill comes naturally by his desire to go to sea; so it is only to be expected that we find him here at the Naval Academy. A direct sort of person, he generally gets what he goes after, or knows the reason why. He has an excellent sense of humor that is belied by his countenance, but which is hard for anyone to attempt to match. His leisure time is spent swimming or playing baseball for enjoyment rather than making numerals. Despite an affinity for winning bets and arguments, his humorous satire has won him a host of friends and forecasts a happy and successful future.
1 Stripe.
Loss
Bill was lost when his F6F-5 Hellcat was shot down near Kyushu, Japan on March 18, 1945. He was a member of Fighting Squadron (VF) 6, flying from USS Hancock (CV 19).
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
His father William was a salesman, mother Emelia, brothers Robert and Warren, sister Helen.
His wife was listed as next of kin; she later remarried.
William is remembered at the Courts of the Missing in Hawaii.
Photographs
From the Lucky Bag
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.
June 1940
LTjg Wendell Froling '34 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 4)
LTjg Richard Bull, Jr. '36 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 41)
November 1940
LTjg Ralph Embree '36 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 4)
April 1941
LTjg Richard Bull, Jr. '36 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 41)
LTjg Ralph Embree '36 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 41)
ENS Richard Crommelin '38 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 41)
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