Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1944 Lucky Bag:

Benjamin Decherd Vaughan

Acutely Southern, and sensibly good-humored, Ben had no trouble in getting along with everybody, except when they couldn’t decipher his Tennessee drawl. His long, drawn-out “yassuh” astonished many a “prof” in the section room, and he was seldom asked from what part of the country he came. “Blondie” lived a quiet life in Bancroft, and no one can claim that he was liberty hound or chow hound or any kind of hound. His “N” in gym and his Radio and Model Club Activity kept him well out of the shadows of obscurity. The fourth platoon will miss Vaughan; the Fleet will undoubtedly be glad to have him around.

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The Class of 1944 was graduated in June 1943 due to World War II. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.

Loss

Benjamin was lost when his airplane crashed “at the Naval Air Station, Jacksonville” on April 21, 1947.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

In May 1940, Benjamin was approved to take the entrance examination for the United Coast Guard Academy at New London, Connecticut.

He is buried in Florida. He was survived by his brother, Douglas Vaughan, previously also a lieutenant in the Navy, and two sisters, Charlotte, Mrs. Brooks Walker of Baltimore, and Elizabeth, Mrs. Robert W. Keely, Jr., of Jacksonville.

Career

The above article noted he served as a deck officer aboard USS Cabot (CVL 28) in the Pacific during World War II before earning his wings in February 1946.

The University of the South lists him as an alumnus of Sewanee Military Academy. The alumni notes state “he had only recently received his wings at Pensacola after training at Dallas and Corpus Christi.”

Photographs

From the Chattanooga Daily Times on June 8, 1943

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William Rafferty, Jr. ’44 was also on the gymnastics team.