Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1940 Lucky Bag:

ROBERT LEE DODANE

Bob

Boxing N.A., 2, 1,; Log 3, 2, Member of Board 1; Press Detail 1; Quarterdeck 4, 3, 2, Representative 1; Reception Committee 2; 2 Stripes.

“Give me a little cabin in the hills, a pipe, a good book, and a cosy chair beside a radio playing sweet music.” Thus Bob expresses his ambition, but adds, “Also give me someone to share that chair with.” Meanwhile, this son of Indiana is busy pulling down near-star grades, Quarterdecking, serving on the Reception Committee, writing features for the Log, or answering letters from admiring femmes. Each afternoon Bob engages in varsity boxing, plays football, or tries a fast game of tennis. Only success and happiness could await this regular fellow, whose philosophy is “Never a dull moment.” Good luck! Bo.

Loss

Bob was lost when USS Trigger (SS 237) was sunk by Japanese surface forces in the East China Sea on March 28, 1945.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Robert was an honor student at North Side high school and graduated in 1934. Popular and with his fingers in all the pies is this peppy varsity yell leader and famous half-mile runner. Leadership seemed to be his middle name for he was sports editor of The Northerner, sports editor of the Legend, president of the freshmen, head of sophomore social council, president of Forum, vice-president of S. P. C., and a member of the Booster, Quill and Scroll, National Athletic Honor Society, Student Council, National Honor Society, and Helicon societies. As a public speaker he won the extemp contest and was a varsity debater; and as a S. P. C.’er, he played in “Bargains in Cathay” and “Teapot on the Rocks.”

He also studied in the Indiana University extension center at Fort Wayne. Senator Frederick Van Nuys nominated him to the Naval Academy.

He married Judy Wilhelmi on October 7, 1943 at the Trinity Episcopal Church in San Francisco.

His wife was listed as next of kin. He is remembered at memorials in Fort Wayne, IN and Honolulu, HI.

Photographs

From his high school yearbook

From the Lucky Bag

From The Indianapolis Star on August 1, 1937

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.