Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1937 Lucky Bag:

ROGER NOON CURRIER

Roger Rogay Flagbag

Football 4. C.P.O.

Try though we may to uncover any clipper ships or salt-crusted skeletons in the family locker, we are forced to say that years of navigating a gold-dredge through the wilds of Oregon must have given Roger the idea of venturing within these gray walls. Imperturbable, he fought a knock-down-and-drag-out battle with academics and emerged smiling and unruffled. An avid reader, he rarely misses an item in any of the periodicals; yet almost any spring afternoon you’ll find him out on the tennis courts showing us amateurs what an American twist service really looks like.

Loss

Roger was lost when USS Atlanta (CL 51) was destroyed on November 13, 1942 during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. The ship was scuttled following damage from Japanese torpedoes and gunfire from USS San Francisco (CA 38).

Wartime Service

He began the war in USS Salt Lake City (CA 25). He was temporarily promoted to Lieutenant on January 7, 1942.

Roger was Officer of the Deck during the Battle of Savo Island. (He is listed once as 1st Lieutenant and once as “Asst. Comm. Sig. & “C” Div. Off.”)

He is listed as a recipient of the Silver Star, presumably for heroism during that action.

Roger left Salt Lake City on October 14, 1942 “for temporary duty on the staff of COM TASK FOR 64.” This staff was embarked in USS Atlanta (CL 51).

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz: “He graduated in 1931 from Grant High School. Classical Course; University of Oregon. His widowed mother was Viola, a high school teacher.”

His wife was listed as next of kin.

His memorial is at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Philippines.

Namesake

USS Currier (DE 700) was named for Roger; the ship was sponsored by his widow.

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.