Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1925 Lucky Bag:

William Walter Graham

Bill Ben

Class Baseball (4, 3, 2); Class Numerals (3, 2); Class Football (2, 1); Class Boxing (4); Black N * * *.

FIRST of all we must tell you that “Bill” is a good sport. If you ask me, that is his weakness and his strength, too. “Bill” hasn’t limited himself to the layman’s idea of sports in which he has tried his hand in Football, Boxing, and Baseball, but has branched out into other lines. As organizer and charter member of the Lion Tamers’ Club, he became notorious during Second Class Cruise. This Club was well known for the antipathy of its members for work and for its strict entrance requirements. To become a member it was necessary to perform 36 hours of continuous and progressive caulking.

“Do you know that —-?” and he is off to the sport of the hour whether it be bridge, bull, or baseball. We now take a very unsportsmanlike advantage of the picture above and quote a few lines from his latest book on how to play pinochle:

“Oh, he’s a downy bird.”

“Yeah, sharp as shaving cream!”

Loss

William was lost on August 9, 1942, when USS Jarvis (DD 393) was sunk by Japanese aircraft near Guadalcanal. He was the ship’s commanding officer.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

William graduated from Palmyra high school in 1921.

His wife was the former Dorothy Glassford, daughter of Brigadier General Pelham Glassford.

William’s father was a tea and coffee merchant. He died the day before the Pearl Harbor attack. Hs mother was Emily, and his brothers were George and Dr. Richard Graham of Point Pleasant.

His wife was listed as next of kin; he is listed at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.

Photographs

From The Morning Post on December 16, 1941

Remembrances

From the February 1950 issue of U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings:

To Lieutenant Commander William W. Graham, 39-year-old skipper of the Jarvis, fell the heaviest burden in meeting the crisis [of being torpedoed on August 8, 1942, during an aerial attack during the invasion of Guadalcanal]. Graham was a quiet, competent, and personable officer who kept a huge store of nervous energy visible, but under control until it was needed. He had taken command only two months previously when his predecessor suffered appendicitis. Yet during that time he had won the loyalty and confidence of the veteran crew. When the Jarvis was hit while maneuvering during the air attack, many of the men believed their skipper had unselfishly interposed his ship in the way of the torpedo so as to save the more valuable Vincennes.

A torpedo hit followed by extensive flooding and fierce fire puts a 1500-ton ship in serious peril, and during the few seconds of terror and confusion after the disaster, somebody passed the word, “Abandon Ship.” Accustomed to obedience, many did not question the authenticity of the order and lowered boats, life rafts, and preservers into the water. But the captain, despite his station almost over the explosion, never considered leaving his lady in distress. Aided by subordinates, he led his men in gallant and effective efforts. They put out the fire which raged forward, patched up the engineering plant, and jettisoned torpedoes which threatened to overturn the ship. The destroyer Dewey came alongside and towed the Jarvis to a shallow-water anchorage near the Guadalcanal landing beaches. Nobody took time to retrieve the boats and life rafts. Admiral Turner’s flagship MacCawley loaned the stricken ship thirty men to help make temporary repairs. Graham didn’t need them. Urged on by the captain’s example, Chief Pharmacist’s Mate George W. Head ignored his own painful burns to help other wounded sailors. Fourteen men were missing; seven others wounded; the seven were transferred to the MacCawley.

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.