Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1945 Lucky Bag:

James Henry Dawley, Jr.

“Jamie-Boy” was one of the few men who went along as smoothly over the rough spots of academics as he did over the smooth ones. Nothing held his attention long, but he did each job well. It was hard to decide which was more important to Jim, Cornell, Syracuse, or the Navy, but after three years the Navy has won out by a comfortable margin. He was the best possible roommate, a likable fellow, easy going, always willing to help out in a pinch, or to listen to someone’s troubles. Jim has a yen for light cruisers and with the one word that doesn’t exist in his vocabulary “Defeat,” you can bet that he will get along.

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The Class of 1945 was graduated in June 1944 due to World War II. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.

Loss

James was lost on December 16, 1947 when the patrol bomber he was aboard collided with a fighter and then crashed while on approach to the Norfolk Naval Station. Five others aboard the bomber were killed, as was the pilot of the fighter.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

In December 1939, James was captain of the school team and toastmaster at the annual football dinner at Pebble Hill School.

In November 1946, he was transferred from Corpus Christi to Pensacola.

His father was a realtor.

It seems James was aboard the bomber as a passenger; he is not listed as a qualified naval aviator in the Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps of 1947. The aircraft was assigned to “Amphibious Group 3,” which seems to have been a surface ship organization.

James is buried in New York.

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Conrad Grove, Jr. ‘45, Lloyd Wyatt, Jr. ‘45, Arthur Day ‘45, Robert Billings ‘45, Jack Flanagan ‘45, Alfred Sawyer ‘45, Richard Hodsdon ‘45, and John Horn ‘45 were also in 8th Company.