Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1953 Lucky Bag:

FRANKIE LEE NAYLOR

Frankie, the “Farmer from Finger” was reared on a little farm in the hills of western Tennessee. He often muttered about the folly of wearing shoes when it wasn’t cold out. Frank was one of the easiest going, friendliest guys ever put on this earth. He had a quick laugh and an even quicker blush. His one mania was gathering all the clippings on the Navy football team he could. A magazine or paper just wasn’t safe on Sunday with Frank around. Academics didn’t offer Frank much trouble so he spent a good deal of his time in the rack. His dream was winning Navy wings and jockeying a jet.

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He was also a member of the 23rd Company staff for the spring set.

Loss

Frankie was lost when he suffered a “cold cat” on launch¹ from USS Ticonderoga (CVS 14) on October 2, 1957. He was piloting an A-4 Skyraider with Attack Squadron (VA) 93.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Frankie graduated from Chester County High School in Henderson in 1948. He was president of his senior class and was elected by his classmates as “most popular” student. He was also an outstanding basketball player. He attended Freed-Hardeman College in 1948-49 and in June 1949 was appointed by Rep. Tom Murray to the Naval Academy. He served as an instructor at the Academy the summer after he graduated.

He married Marilyn Lee Crop on September 13, 1953. He received his wings in Pensacola in 1954. His son Frank was born on August 26, 1954 at the Naval Hospital in Corpus Christi.

Frankie sailed on September 16 from San Francisco for a six or eight-month cruise. He was stationed at Pearl Harbor at the time of the accident. His A-4D Skyhawk dipped and crashed into the ocean while attempting a take-off from the aircraft carrier Ticonderoga, 50 miles off Oahu. His body slipped from the hands of a helicopter crewman and was lost at sea. It looked like he had suffered severe head injuries.

He leaves his wife Marilyn; two children, Frank Randall, 3, and Thomas Kendall, 18 months; his parents George and Pauline; four sisters Nancy, Tommy, Mary Sue and Sarah; and a brother Douglas.

He was survived by his wife, Marilyn. (Information from November 1957 issue of Shipmate.) Unable to find a burial or memory marker location; his Find A Grave page is here.

His mother passed away in 2001; Frankie was also survived by his parents, four sisters, and a brother.

Photographs

From The Jackson Sun on October 4, 1957

References