LTJG CHARLES N. TOZER, USN
Lucky Bag Yearbook
From the 1963 Lucky Bag:
CHARLES NEWTON TOZER
Loss
Charles was lost on November 16, 1966 when the helicopter he was aboard crashed off the coast of San Diego, California. He was a pilot, but was traveling as a passenger from USS Hornet (CV 12) to shore.
Other Information
From the January 1967 issue of Shipmate:
Lt.(jg) Charles N. Tozer, USN, died on 16 Nov. in an accident while a passenger in a helicopter en route from USS HORNET to the Naval Air Station, Ream Field, Calif. He was serving with Air Anti-Submarine Squadron 37 at the time of the accident. Memorial services were held in the North Island Naval Air Station Chapel.
Lt. Tozer, who was born in Ramona, Calif., was graduated from the Naval Academy in 1963. After receiving his wings at Pensacola he reported to VS-37 for duty, serving as the legal and public affairs officer. He was under instruction to become the Squadron landing signal officer.
Surviving are his widow, the former Sally Stone, of 213 Ovideo St., Gulf Breeze, Fla.; his father, Mr. Eugene N. Tozer of 430B East Line St., Bishop, Calif.; his mother, Mrs. Rebecca G. Petersen, and a brother Samuel E. Tozer of 320 3rd St., Ramona, Calif.
Other Information
From USNA Class of 1963:
Charles was one of two sons born to Eugene Newton Tozer and his first wife, Gertrude Stoker. Born in Ramona, California, he attended local schools. He attended the University of California at Riverside and then entered the United States Navy. As an enlisted man, he was selected to go to the United States Naval Academy and graduated as a naval officer in 1963. He was a Navy Aviator until his death November 16, 1966 in a helicopter accident in North Island Bay near San Diego. His body was not recovered.
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Charles, who went by Chuck, graduated from Ramona High School in 1956. He played on the football and basketball teams. He ran track and won three first places in a meet in May: the 100 yard dash, 180 low hurdles and the broad jump – setting new school records in the latter two. He won the Top Letterman’s Trophy in Track that year and a gold football. Named the most valuable athlete. Class president. His speech at commencement was “Building a Better World Thru Science.” Nickname: Chuck. Ambition: To be a chemist. Cause of Death: Discovered a new chemical.
That summer he worked for a Riverside Aircraft Company.
He won a $400 scholarship from the Standard Oil Company to the University of California at Riverside where he studied science and was on the football team. The summer of 1957 he worked in the citrus experimental laboratory at the college and as a life-guard in Riverside.
Charles worked for the Bank of America for several months before joining the Navy in June 1958. He was an apprentice petty officer first class who graduated on June 20, 1958, from recruit training at the Naval Training Center in San Diego. While there, he took a competitive exam which admitted him to the Naval Academy Preparatory School at Bainbridge. A nuclear field seaman apprentice at the time, he graduated from Bainbridge on May 11, 1959.
After graduating from the Naval Academy, he spoke at the Ramona Rotary meeting on July 10. He spoke on “the emphasis on competitive sports at the academy with three hours a day devoted to strenuous physical programs.”
In January 1964, he graduated from naval pre-flight training in Pensacola.
He married Sally Ann Stone on August 22, 1964, in St. John’s Episcopal Church in Pensacola. They spent their honeymoon in Panama City.
After serving on the USS Hornet since September 1965, Charles came to his mother’s home in March 1966, for a belated Christmas Party with family. “The gifts were wrapped in colored newspapers and pages of colored magazines and tied with fancy ribbons. Most of the gifts were fun-type things.”
He was then stationed in Coronado. In August, he served with a unit of the Department of Defense Manned Spacecraft Pacific Recovery Force, #130, on the USS Hornet. In September he was with Air Anti-Submarine warfare support. VS-37 was strategically placed in a 2300-mile recovery zone for the upcoming first Apollo mission.
His father was Eugene of San Diego. His brothers were Samuel Everett and Robert Peterson.
His mother was Mrs. Rebecca Gertrude Petersen who was employed at the telephone company and also taking a college course to teach Home Economics in 1963. She later managed her own beauty salon and graduated from San Diego State in June 1966. “I never had a girl of my own, but this way, I hope to share my love of cooking and sewing with many girls.” She credited her three sons with helping her through those years.
His Find A Grave page is here.
Photographs
Charles is one of 29 members of the Class of 1963 on Virtual Memorial Hall.
