Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1943 Lucky Bag:

WILEY THEODORE MACKIE

Mack entered the academy as an ultra conservative son of North Carolina, but a great transformation soon took place and it soon was difficult to find him not smilingly contemplating some mischievous scheme. Wiley was not exactly a snake but was usually dragging blind for his roommates. His only vice was a mania for hot swing records, of which he had quite a collection. His every afternoon was spent on the track. Though not spectacular, his spirit and determination made the miles go faster. As his stars proclaimed, academics were no problem. A real gentleman, we were proud to have Mack’s companionship along the sea of life.

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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

Wiley was one of 202 officers and men lost when USS Rowan (DD 405) sank in less than a minute following a torpedo hit from a German E-boat in the Gulf of Salerno early on the morning of September 11, 1943.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Wiley was valedictorian of the senior class in 1937 at Gastonia High School and was a member of the Spanish Club. In July 1937, Wiley attended the Boy Scout Jamboree in Washington, D. C. He then attended the University of North Carolina and was a member of Alpha Tau Omega.

From The Daily Tar Heel, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, May 17, 1938:

Sunday morning, as Jick Garland and Wiley Mackie, Mangum dormitory residents, were hanging up their tuxedoes, they were greeted by rancous [sic] “meow” from a dark corner of the closet.

Pussy, the Mangum cat, had given birth to four kittens. While the boys were frolicking to Red Norvo’s music, some bright reveler had put the cat in the closet.

His father was a purchasing agent for Textiles, Inc. His mother died in 1941.

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

Mack was born on 13 July, 1920 in Gastonia, North Carolina. He was appointed from North Carolina and entered the Academy on 13 July, 1939. After graduation he reported to the destroyer USS ROWAN. The ROWAN participated in the Invasion at North Africa and the Palermo Landings in support of the Sicilian Invasion. Shortly after the landing at Salerno the ROWAN was torpedoed and immediately sunk on 11 September, 1943 in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Mack was then serving as the Assistant Engineering Officer and was killed in that enemy action. He wore the Purple Heart, American Defense Service Medal with Fleet Clasp, the American Campaign Medal and the European-African-Middle East Area Campaign Medal with two bronze stars. He was survived by his father, Mr. Hadden Spurgeon Mackie who at Mack’s death resided at 403 West 5th Avenue, Gastonia, North Carolina.

Wiley has a memory marker in North Carolina. His father was listed as next of kin.