VIRTUAL MEMORIAL HALL

ENS EUGENE S. CAPTAIN, USN

Class 1945
Born May 7, 1922
Died October 20, 1944
Age 22
Hometown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1945 Lucky Bag:

Lucky Bag Portrait

Eugene Samuel Captain

Baseball 4; Battalion Golf 4, 3; Battalion Basketball 4; Log 1.

If Gene had not gone to Pitt and had not taken a cruise on the U. S. S. Charger, no one knows what he’d have talked about for the past three years. It is true that he always had room for sports chatter or a good laugh, even on himself, but Pitt and the Charger were in a class apart. Golfing shoes atop his locker gave away Gene’s first love; but there were others, as the locker doors would testify. As a basketball referee Gene always kept the play clean, and in years to come he’ll continue to “call them as he sees them” even if it hurts underneath.
He was a member of the Regimental Staff (1st set).The Class of 1945 was graduated in June 1944 due to World War II. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.

Loss

Eugene was one of 62 officers and crew lost when an air-launched torpedo struck USS Honolulu (CL 48) on October 20, 1944. The ship was screening the landing at Leyte Gulf at the time.

Other Information

Eugene had reported aboard barely two weeks earlier, when the ship was at Seeadler Harbor, Manus, Admiralty Islands on October 2nd. He was assigned as the junior “F” Division officer (the fire control division). (Information from Theodore Leverett on November 23, 2021.)

He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, and was survived by his father, Samuel, who worked in the steel mill; his mother Ann; and sister Eugenia.

Foster Simonsen ‘45, Milton Turner ‘45, and Roger Mullins ‘45 were also in 9th Company.

Class of 1945

Eugene is one of 58 members of the Class of 1945 on Virtual Memorial Hall.

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1945 US Navy KIA WWII Ship USS Honolulu (CL 48) USNA 9th Company