CDR TERRY L. WATKINS, SR., USN

Class 1934

Born March 16, 1911

Died May 9, 1948

Age 37

Hometown Terrell Wells, Texas

Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1934 Lucky Bag:

TERRY LYNN WATKINS

Terry Wat

Track 4, 3, 2, 1. Class Boxing 4. Card Stunts 4, 3, 2. 2 P.O.

POSSIBLY it was the sight of the muddy waters of the Rio Grande and maybe it was just a good old wanderlust that made Terry forsake the sand hills around San Antonio for the salt spray and sea breezes. Nobody really knows. But he came here from somewhere inside one of Uncle Sam’s battlewagons and claimed from the very first that he knew what it was all about. This statement he still stands by, and we can add that he does get the news enough to be classed as one of the sixty percent. His quiet nature and good looks have caused havoc in many a maiden’s heart. If he hasn’t a girl in every port it is because he hasn’t been in every one—although his efforts are commendable. Always ready to sit in on a good bull session, he invariably adds something of interest to the general conversation.

A real member of the Spanish Athletic Association, in the fall and winter his dormant ambitions burst into flame with the buds and green leaves and he leisurely strolls with his javelin out to Thompson Field.

Near the middle of Youngster Year, Terry decided that to spend another Christmas Leave in Bancroft Hall wasn’t to his liking, and from that time hence the academics have caused him little worry.

For four years we have laughed and griped and worked with him, and at the end we draw the conclusion that they don’t have better wives anywhere in the U. S. He will go far in whatever he decides to do.

Loss

Terry was lost when his plane crashed on May 9, 1948 near Puerto Rico.

From the February 1949 issue of Shipmate:

TERRY LYNN WATKINS, (Cdr. USN- Deceased). We extend our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Cdr. Watkins who was killed in a plane crash on 9 May 1948 between Puerto Rico and Key West, Fla.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Terry married Anna Katherine Hoos of Baltimore in June, 1936.

As an Ensign he became naval aviator #5281 on July 16, 1937.

He was survived by his wife and four children. He has a memory marker in Texas.

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.