Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1935 Lucky Bag:

MAURICE FREDERICK FITZGERALD

Fitz

Track 4, 3, 2, 1, N*. Class Cross Country, Numerals. Cross Country, NA. Company Basketball. Reception Committee. M.P.O.

FITZ represents an unusual type, a student who concerned himself first with principles then considered their application, a doubting Thomas of the constructive type. Track has been his sport. After running a few years at high school, he came to the Naval Academy. Seldom does he finish out of the money in his specialty, the low hurdles. He has not yet broken his habit of building model airplanes. What’s more they fly! A practical knowledge of engineering is put to use over in the Steam Department, where he can be seen building models of reciprocating engines. A dependable young man who will do much for a friend. Just another son of Oshkosh.

Loss

Maurice was lost on August 9, 1938 when he fell from the plane he was piloting near Pensacola, Florida. The officer in the front cockpit took control and safely landed the plane.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Maurice was flying with an instructor in a seaplane over Pensacola Bay when he fell about 500 feet into the bay. He was found with an unopened parachute strapped in place, and the safety belt in the seaplane was found damaged. He had been assigned to the naval air training station for about six weeks.

He graduated in 1930 from Oshkosh High School. Class Vice-president 4; National Honor Society 4; Pi Tau Beta  (forensic society) 3, 4, President 4, Treasurer 4; A. A. 1, 2, 3, 4; track 3, 4.

As president of Pi Tau Beta society, Maurice presented the annual community Christmas tree to the City of Oshkosh on December 20, 1929. In his school’s track meet, he took first place in the mile, half mile, and quarter mile for high point man.

He was nominated to the Naval Academy by Representative Michael K. Reilly of Fond du Lac.

His father James was a public school principal in 1930, mother Edwina, sisters Margaret and Charlotte, and brothers James and Edwin.

He is buried in Florida.

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.