Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1937 Lucky Bag:

KENNETH EDWARD POUND

Kenny Libra

One Stripe.

Lack of interest in the sugar beet industry of Pueblo caused Kenny to give the Navy a real break. Stern naval discipline hasn’t changed him much because, as he so aptly puts it, “There’s nothing wrong with regulations in their proper place.” Usually easy going, sometimes serious, always having the ability to say the right thing with the right words, resting rather than dragging, but above all, blessed with a priceless sense of humor—that’s Kenny. These qualities balance Kenny’s one grave fault—his passion for mountain music.

Loss

Kenneth was lost when USS Asheville (PG 21) was sunk by Japanese surface forces on March 3, 1942. There was only one known survivor of the sinking.

Other Information

His father & stepmother were listed as next of kin; his mother died in 1916. He was also survived by his sister.

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.