WILLIAM R. CRUTCHER, LTJG, USNR
William Crutcher '44
William Robert Crutcher was admitted to the Naval Academy with an At Large appointment on September 6, 1940 at age 20 years 4 months.
He resigned on April 6, 1942: "Deficient in studies. Recommended to be dropped. Permitted to resign."
Lucky Bag
William Robert Crutcher is listed on a page titled "Gone… But Ne'er Forgotten":
There were close to a thousand of us when we entered in June of 1940 and formed the new fourth class, the class of 1944. Now, as we graduate one year ahead of time, there are less than 800. But we who go to join the active services are sure in our minds that our friends of fourth class summer who have left us at various stages of the course will find their place in the American Victory Machine, rolling relentlessly on to a triumph over the forces of evil that threaten the life and liberty we all hold so dear.
William from a group photo in the 1942 Lucky Bag
Loss
William was lost on April 3, 1944, when his aircraft crashed near NAS Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. He was a member of Fighting Squadron (VF) 1. (Information from September 1946 issue of Shipmate.)
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
William’s father was a graduate of the Naval Academy in 1918. In July 1924, William traveled home to the Naval Academy with his parents and sisters, Patricia (5 ½) and Sally Ann (8 weeks old.) They came from Cristobal, the Panama Canal Zone. In 1935, the family lived in Yorktown, Virginia; and in 1940, they lived at the Naval Academy at Annapolis.
He has a memory marker in Arlington National Cemetery that indicates he was from Maryland.
Note: this other Find A Grave entry is likely inaccurate; there's no record of his being awarded a Silver Star (though there is one of a man with a very similar name).
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