LT FRANK H. HENDERSON, JR., USN

Class 1937

Born January 2, 1915

Died May 18, 1942

Age 27

Hometown Lexington, Kentucky

Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1937 Lucky Bag:

FRANK HURST HENDERSON, JR.

Skippy Frank Junior

Rifle 2, 1, rNt. Swimming 1. Log Staff. Class Crest and Ring Committees. C. P. O.

Frank knocks the ladies as dizzy as does the beverage from his home state. Accused of being infatuated once, he has loved many since. His right smart cartoons and ads are the life of the Log, but his steam sketches never work, nor do his exams. He hasn’t a mean bone in his frame, though he did master a D. O.’s brother in prep school. Camels are his brand ‘“cause Paw works thar,” and he still goes barefooted at home—so we’ve heard. Hamburgers a la Greasy Spoon are his weakness. Skippy should be doing clay models for Esquire “any day now.”

Loss

Frank was lost when the PBY-5 Catalina he was piloting crashed on Hawaii on May 18, 1942. Nine of his crew were also killed in the crash.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Frank graduated from Henry Clay High School and attended Marion Military Institute before the Naval Academy. He was survived by his parents, wife, 2-year-old son, sister Mary, and brother Lieut. James L. Henderson (’39) who was stationed with the Navy at Annapolis. Frank’s son died the next September after a short illness.

Frank’s wife and son arrived in California in July 1941 after spending “the last year” in Honolulu. Quite possible that it was the last time they saw Frank.

His wife was listed as next of kin; he was also survived by his father, Frank Sr., and his son, Frank III. Frank, Jr. is buried in California.

Photographs

Source

Career

Frank was promoted to LTJG on June 3, 1940; on December 2, 1940 he was designated naval aviator #6944. (Information from Richard Leonard, naval aviation historian.)

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.