LT WILLIAM H. S. BRADY, USN

Class 1938

Born September 20, 1915

Died February 2, 1943

Age 27

Hometown Jackson, Wyoming

Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1938 Lucky Bag:

WILLIAM HARLAN SIMPSON BRADY

Simp

Track 4, 3, 2, 1; Small Bore 1; Black N********; Lieutenant.

“Go west, young man” meant nothing to Simp and having a mind of his own he came East to better the class of ‘38. We have come to know this Wyoming cowboy with the ever ready smile as a hard working, hard playing, regular fellow. Watching the stream of woodens flow into his room for a hand on the latest Nav problem, one realizes why Bill works out the time of moonrise during leave as a pastime. But Nav is not his only hobby, for any spring day will find him rivaling the stars by soaring into space at the end of a vaulting pole. We join him in hoping that his air-mindedness carries him high into the flying corps, his great ambition. Good luck, Simp.

Loss

William was lost on February 2, 1943, in the vicinity of Guadalcanal at the end of that campaign. He was a member of Escort Scouting Squadron (VGS) 11, which was operating as a land-based unit “throughout January and February 1943.”

That squadron flew both TBF Avenger torpedo bombers and F4F-4 Wildcat; unable to determine which William may have been aboard or piloting. The squadron lost one TBF and two F4F-4’s during landing and while the base was being bombed.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

William’s mother was Mrs. George Barker of Jackson. In April 1930 in Themopolis, William and his sister Margaret were staying with their grandparents, attorney William and Margaret Simpson.

On June 8, 1940, William married Maurine Gatewood at the Transfiguration Episcopal Church, a famous log cabin church at Moose, Wyoming. Best man was Charles Welty (’38), school friend at Sherwood Hall in Laramie and the Naval Academy. The bachelor’s party was held at the famous Van Vleck cabin on Jackson Lake.

The couple honeymooned through Yellowstone National Park and Colorado Springs, Colorado. They then went to Pensacola where William was stationed.

Sherwood Hall housed the Cathedral School for Boys and was built in September 1925. It is now known as Hunter Hall and is located next to the historic St. Matthew’s Cathedral.

His wife was listed as next of kin.

Note one listing has LCDR; this was likely related to his being held in a missing status until December 1945. Not sure it was ever official. LT in other listings.

Career

From naval aviation historian Richard Leonard via email on February 9, 2018:

NAS Pensacola attached for HTA flight training, 6/24/1940

NAS Pensacola designated NA # 6869, 11/12/1940

Date of rank LTJG from 1 Jul 1941 USN Register, 6/2/1941

Date of rank LT from 1 Jul 1942 USN Register, 6/15/1942

USS Long Island (CVE-1) aboard for TAD, 9/30/1942 (usually this means CarQuals)

USS Long Island (CVE-1) detached and transferred to NAS San Diego TAD complt, 10/8/1942

VGS-11 MCAB Henderson Field KIFA, 2/2/1943

Photographs

From the Jackson's Hole Courier on June 13, 1940

From the Jackson's Hole Courier on March 11, 1943

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.