Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1927 Lucky Bag:

Harold Peter Richards

Baseball: A Squad (4, 3, 2) Navy Numerals (4, 3, 2); Boxing: A Squad (4, 3) Navy Numerals (4); Hop Committee: (1); Pep Committee: (2, 1).

“HEY Pete, you had better bear a hand, only five minutes to go.”

“Oh, that’s all right, lots of time.”

But he generally gets to his destination in time and especially never fails to be around when the food shows up. When he left Des Moines, Harold’s mother was not certain that he would be capable of taking care of himself. Ask anyone at his table if he gets thin or ever comes out on the bottom of a rough and tumble exploit.

Good marks were not so easy for Pete to acquire during the first two years but it is almost a habit with him to stand well up in the class now and he is still improving. Keep it up, Pete. In addition to being a mainstay of the class football team, Pete is a wrestling protege for all weights over 1 38-pounds. And as a sea lawyer he is not far from excellent. Just try to best him in an argument when he is standing by his own convictions.

The next time you see him ask him, “Don’t you think she is nice?”, and he will immediately think that you know his girl. Common sense and practical ideas backed by a ready grin constitute his worldly wealth.

When the clouds are dark and life looks blue—Go to Pete—He’ll give you a song and a cheer to make the sun comes through.

Loss

From Naval History and Heritage Command:

Lt (jg). Harold P. Richards killed when JF-1 amphibian struck Gamboa Bridge, Canal Zone, and quickly sank. 14 May 1936.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Harold’s plane was struck by lightning as it was flying about 100 feet above the canal in a heavy rain. The pilot and storekeeper aboard escaped, along with the $20,000 naval payroll.

Harold was born in Wisconsin. He attended the Des Moines Catholic Academy (now Dowling Catholic High School.)

His wife was Miriam, and they had three children.

In 1910 his family lived in Belmont, Wisconsin. His father was Philip, mother Matilda, brothers Alvin and Clifford. His sisters were Zella (Mrs. William McManus of Chicago,) Aletha (Mrs. William Gannon of Bondurant, Iowa,) and Ethel.

Harold is buried in Arlington National Cemetery; he was survived by his parents and a 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.