Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1939 Lucky Bag:

ANDREW JACKSON GARDNER

A.J., Andy

Track 4, 3, 2, 1, N**; Swimming 3, 2, 1; Radio Club 1; 1 P.O.

From Kentucky he comes, this tall mountain man of the Southlands. In the winter season he can be found in the natatorium where he spends his time in a fish-like manner practicing for the swimming team. In the spring he is found high jumping—a sport which is a natural result of a boyhood where it was necessary to swing on grapevines to jump creeks. Although he is not very savvy in such subjects as Bull, he excels in the theoretical subject of mathematics or any subject in which a thorough knowledge of mathematics is required. There is a lot more to him than one can glean from ordinary relationships with him. When one gets to know him, he has found a friend for life.

Loss

Andrew was lost on October 12, 1942 when his airplane collided with another and then crashed into Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. He was serving as a pilot for Torpedo Squadron (VT) 3. The other two men aboard were also killed, as were three aboard the other aircraft.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Andrew married Joy Susan Kiser on September 10, 1941, in Crookston, Minnesota. They lived in Pensacola where he was stationed at the naval base.

His father was William Matlock “Mat”, railway carpenter, mother Laura Essie (Conn,) sisters Elsie, Ola and Louellen; brothers Ralph and Vola.

His wife, was listed as next of kin; he has a memorial marker in Kentucky.

The location of his crash has been known since 1999, though no effort has been made to recover his remains.

Photographs

From the Lucky Bag

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.