Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1943 Lucky Bag:

FREDRICK RICHARD PUTNAM

“Ah’s from Texas, California, or Oklahoma, Suh.” Dick is proud of all three and they and we are proud of him. A natural athlete, “Put” was outstanding in tennis and battalion football, and he boomed home to several victories for the tank team. His golden hair, slow drawl, genial manner, and expert dancing caused a wide variety of feminine hearts to flutter—by a miracle, he’s still foot-loose and fancy-free. With his deep-seated loyalty, earnest endeavor, Blue and Gold Spirit, and a good sense of values in mind, we have staked for Dick a large claim of Navy gold. He was an ideal roommate and a friend we want to keep for life.

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He was commander of 4th Company for the second set and a member of the swim team. The Class of 1943 was graduated in June 1942 due to World War II. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.

Loss

Frederick lost on May 29, 1950 when the “twin-engine Navy transport plane” he was aboard, which was “assigned to Sandia Special Weapons Base, Albuquerque, N. M., crashed in Louisiana.” He was the pilot; the copilot (John Lusby ‘45) and crew chief were also killed. They were en route to Barksdale Air Force Base from Atlanta, Georgia.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Born in Riverside, California, Frederick graduated in 1938 from Mirabeau Lamar high school in Houston, Texas. He was on the tennis squad.

Frederick married Patricia Dorothea Walker on December 24, 1947, in Los Angeles, California.

In 1930 Los Angeles, his father was Harry, an oil engineer, mother Elizabeth, sister Betty, and brother Bruce.

He is buried in California and was survived by his parents. His father was a Redlands (California) city councilman; Frederick lived there from 1932 until 1937 and attended Redlands High School. He held a masters degree in aeronautical engineering. (Information from the San Bernardino County Sun on June 1, 1950.)

From the Class of 1943 anniversary book “25 years later…”:

Dick was born on 10 June, 1921 in Riverdale, California. He was appointed from Texas and entered the Academy on 7 June, 1939. Upon graduation, he reported to the destroyer USS HUGHES in the South Pacific where he participated in the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands, the Aleutian Campaign and the capture of the Gilbert Islands. In March 1944, Dick left for flight training at Dallas, Texas, Pensacola and Jacksonville, Florida.

His first operational flying duty was with Bomber Fighter Squadron Seventeen in August 1945. From July 1946 until August 1949 Dick engaged in postgraduate studies in Ordnance Engineering at the Academy, the Gun Factory, Washington and the University of Minnesota, This was followed by duty at Sandia Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico. On 29 May, 1950, Dick died of injuries received in a plane crash near Monroe, Louisiana. His medals include: The American Defense Service Medal with Fleet Clasp, the American Area Campaign, the Asiatic-Pacific Area Campaign with three Bronze Stars and the WW II Victory medal. He is survived by his wife, Patricia D. and their son Richard L. who were last understood to reside at 122 W. Alosta, Glendora, California.

Photographs

From the Fort Worth Star Telegram on May 23, 1939

From his high school yearbook

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John Lusby ‘45 was the copilot of this flight.