Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1943 Lucky Bag:

WILLIAM MARSHALL KNAPP

“I’m a Navy Junior and proud of it!” How often have those words proclaimed Bill’s faith in his kind. Perhaps that same energy with which he defends his side of any argument accounts for his flair for athletics. Plebe year, soccer, swimming and Glee Club left him little spare time. Came youngster year, and Bill decided that his real love was swimming. His spot on the varsity squad will be a hard one to fill. “Life with Willy” had its surprises. It took a real man to indulge in symphony and cake before breakfast, but such was Bill’s capacity for the unusual. We feel confident that a second capacity, for work, will carry him far.

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He was 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 & Obituary

William was lost on June 18, 1947, when the “trainer plane” he was piloting collided with another near Saufley Field, Pensacola, Florida. The other pilot was also killed.

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

Bill was born on 27 February 1921 in Washington, D.C. He was appointed from California and entered the Academy on 10 June 1938. After graduation he reported to the carrier USS LEXINGTON which was commissioned in the Atlantic but saw combat action in the Pacific and received the Presidential Unit Citation during this period. Bill was detached in June 1944 and underwent pre-flight training in Dallas, Texas. He then at tended Ordnance and Gunnery School in Washington, D.C. and put the cruiser USS LOS ANGELES in commission. Bill left the LOS ANGELES to complete his flight training at Corpus Christi, Texas in November 1945.

While conducting simulated combat fight operations from NAS Pensacola on June 18, 1947 Bill was killed in a mid-air collision three miles north of Canal Field, Florida. He wore the following medals: American Defense Service with Fleet Clasp, American Area Campaign, Asiatic-Pacific Area Campaign with four bronze stars and the WWII Victory Medal. He was survived by his wife Patsy Webb and two sons.

On May 14, 1949 Patsy became the wife of Henry J. Hosmer Cook, Bill’s classmate.

Other Information

He is buried in Texas. He was survived by his wife and two sons (William R., and Robert M.); William R. was a midshipman as of 1966. William’s wife was remarried to a classmate of his, Henry J. H. Cooke. (Emailed William R ‘69 on February 18, 2019.)

(Note: William is not the man with the same name who was the first qualified Navy helicopter pilot.)