WILLIAM H. BEYRER, LT, USN

William Beyrer '22

Date of birth: May 6, 1898

Date of death: November 8, 1925

Age: 27

Lucky Bag

From the 1922 Lucky Bag:

WILLIAM HARMON BEYRER

Bertrand, Nebraska

"Bill, "Wiley."

HERE he is, everyone! Look him over! Old sea-going "Bill" with that rolling gait which is all his own, despite the well meant efforts of sundry of our earlier acquaintances to rid him of it.

"Bill" has never had much trouble with the Academics but the Executive Department has been camping on his trail ever since "Wiley" donned his first suit of white works. Lord help the Midshipmen of twenty years' hence when "Bill" comes back as a swaggering D. O. for he knows all the tricks of the trade.

And did you ask if he is a snake? You'd certainly think so if you could see the tinted notes which gather to him from every port in which he has set his number nines.

"Bill" has always been a faithful worshiper at the shrine of our Lady Nicotine and various cruises on the good ship Reina have never weakened his devotion. May you never be parted, "Bill," old man!

Choir (3, 2, 1); Bugle Corps (4); Glee Club (4, 3, 2, 1); Black N********.

WILLIAM HARMON BEYRER

Bertrand, Nebraska

"Bill, "Wiley."

HERE he is, everyone! Look him over! Old sea-going "Bill" with that rolling gait which is all his own, despite the well meant efforts of sundry of our earlier acquaintances to rid him of it.

"Bill" has never had much trouble with the Academics but the Executive Department has been camping on his trail ever since "Wiley" donned his first suit of white works. Lord help the Midshipmen of twenty years' hence when "Bill" comes back as a swaggering D. O. for he knows all the tricks of the trade.

And did you ask if he is a snake? You'd certainly think so if you could see the tinted notes which gather to him from every port in which he has set his number nines.

"Bill" has always been a faithful worshiper at the shrine of our Lady Nicotine and various cruises on the good ship Reina have never weakened his devotion. May you never be parted, "Bill," old man!

Choir (3, 2, 1); Bugle Corps (4); Glee Club (4, 3, 2, 1); Black N********.

Loss

William was lost on November 8, 1925, when he was fatally injured in the crash of the plane he was piloting at Catmuera, Cuba. His passenger survived.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

William was born in McCook, Nebraska, and moved to Bertrand when he was five years old. His father was a railroad conductor.
William played mellophone in the school orchestra. He graduated in 1915 as an honor student. He then taught rural school for one term and entered Hastings College in the fall of 1916. In August, 1917, he enlisted in the navy as a musician. In April 1918, he gave a talk at the Hastings College chapel regarding the work of the navy.
At his military funeral, the Rev. William Ellwood spoke in high praise of William’s strong qualities of character including that he loved to play with children and also showed a thoughtful regard for the aged.

He earned his wings as naval aviator #3158 on August 15, 1924.

William was survived by his parents and three sisters, Maude (Mrs. Lloyd John Scherich), Pauline, and Marjorie (Mrs. Royse Scherich); he is buried in Nebraska.

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.