Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1948 Lucky Bag:

Alan Beauchamp Wood

Woody entered the world as a Georgia “Cracker,” but soon transferred his allegiance to the State of Florida. After a year at Purdue he went to the Naval Air Corps, and from there he found his way to Navy. Because of his collegiate background and alert mind Woody encountered no trouble with academics, and found time to engage in numerous extracurricular activities. He earned numerals for tennis, gymnastics, and soccer, and still had time to sing with the choir. Al looks forward to getting back into Naval Aviation, where his quiet initiative will insure success. Easygoing but serious and dependable, he’s the kind of guy you want around.

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He graduated with the class of 1948-A, the last of the wartime-accelerated classes, in June 1947. (The bottom half of the class by academic standing, designated 1948-B, completed an extra year and graduated in June 1948.)

Loss

Alan was lost on May 26, 1950 in an aircraft accident. He was flying from USS Coral Sea (CV 43) in the Caribbean Sea while that ship was working up for a Mediterranean Sea deployment.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Alan’s father was Dr. Evans Wood, a heart specialist, mother was Ruth, and sister was Mary. Alan attended Seabreeze High School. In the 1942 yearbook when he was a sophomore, he was voted Best Dressed and Best Figure. He was in the Tennis Club, and the class page reported that “better known as Casanova Wood, [he] created a sensation among sophomore fems.”

At Purdue, Alan lived in the Oliver Perkins Terry House. He was nominated second alternate to the Naval Academy by Florida’s Senator Claude Pepper.

He has a memorial plate on a seat at Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. From Class of 1948:

ALAN BEAUCHAMP WOOD
CLASS OF 1948
1924-1950
BY JOHN W SHARP 1948
29-27-13

Alan’s Find A Grave page is here.

Photographs

From the 1943 Purdue University yearbook

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Clarence Plank ‘48 and Gordon Engel ‘48 were also in 20th Company.