ANDREW J. GARDNER, LT, USN

From USNA Virtual Memorial Hall
Andrew Gardner '39

Date of birth: April 7, 1915

Date of death: October 12, 1942

Age: 27

Lucky Bag

From the 1939 Lucky Bag:

1939 Gardner LB.jpg

ANDREW JACKSON GARDNER

Somerset, Kentucky

A.J., Andy

From Kentucky he comes, this tall mountain man of the Southlands. In the winter season he can be found in the natatorium where he spends his time in a fish-like manner practicing for the swimming team. In the spring he is found high jumping—a sport which is a natural result of a boyhood where it was necessary to swing on grapevines to jump creeks. Although he is not very savvy in such subjects as Bull, he excels in the theoretical subject of mathematics or any subject in which a thorough knowledge of mathematics is required. There is a lot more to him than one can glean from ordinary relationships with him. When one gets to know him, he has found a friend for life.

Track 4, 3, 2, 1, N**; Swimming 3, 2, 1; Radio Club 1; 1 P.O.

1939 Gardner LB.jpg

ANDREW JACKSON GARDNER

Somerset, Kentucky

A.J., Andy

From Kentucky he comes, this tall mountain man of the Southlands. In the winter season he can be found in the natatorium where he spends his time in a fish-like manner practicing for the swimming team. In the spring he is found high jumping—a sport which is a natural result of a boyhood where it was necessary to swing on grapevines to jump creeks. Although he is not very savvy in such subjects as Bull, he excels in the theoretical subject of mathematics or any subject in which a thorough knowledge of mathematics is required. There is a lot more to him than one can glean from ordinary relationships with him. When one gets to know him, he has found a friend for life.

Track 4, 3, 2, 1, N**; Swimming 3, 2, 1; Radio Club 1; 1 P.O.

Loss

Andrew was lost off the coast of Hawaii on October 12, 1942, while serving as a pilot for Torpedo Squadron (VT) 3. He was on a training mission when his airplane collided with another (from November 1942 Shipmate).

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Andrew married Joy Susan Kiser on September 10, 1941, in Crookston, Minnesota. They lived in Pensacola where he was stationed at the naval base.

His father was William Matlock “Mat”, railway carpenter, mother Laura Essie (Conn,) sisters Elsie, Ola and Louellen; brothers Ralph and Vola.

His wife was listed as next of kin. He is buried in Kentucky.

Photographs

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.

October 1939
Ensign, USS Yorktown


Others at or embarked at this command:
CDR William Sample '19 (Aircraft, Battle Forces)
LTjg James Averill '27 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 5)
LTjg Edward Worthington '34 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 5)
LTjg Thomas Cummins '35 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 5)
LTjg Samuel Adams '35 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 5)
LTjg John Curtis '35 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 5)
LTjg John Daub, Jr. '36 (Carrier Division 2)
LTjg Jack Moore '36 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 5)
June 1940
Ensign, USS Yorktown


Others at or embarked at this command:
LTjg Thomas Cummins '35 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 5)
LTjg Samuel Adams '35 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 5)
LTjg John Curtis '35 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 5)
LTjg Jack Moore '36 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 5)
November 1940
Ensign, USS Yorktown


Others at or embarked at this command:
LTjg Thomas Cummins '35 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 5)
LTjg Samuel Adams '35 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 5)
LTjg John Curtis '35 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 5)
LTjg Frank Robinson '36 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 5)
LTjg Jack Moore '36 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 5)
LTjg James Southerland, II '36 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 5)
ENS John Black '38 (Carrier Division 2)
ENS Keene Hammond '38 (Carrier Division 2)
April 1941
Ensign, USS Yorktown


Others at or embarked at this command:
LTjg Charles Ware '34 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 5)
LTjg John Powers '35 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 5)
LTjg Samuel Adams '35 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 5)
LTjg John Curtis '35 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 5)
LTjg Jack Moore '36 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 5)
LTjg James Southerland, II '36 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 5)
ENS John Black '38 (Carrier Division 2)
ENS Eric Allen, Jr. '38 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 5)
ENS Keene Hammond '38 (Carrier Division 2)


Class of 1939

Andrew is one of 78 members of the Class of 1939 on Virtual Memorial Hall.

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