FRANK J. PETERSON, LCDR, USNR

Frank Peterson '33

Date of birth: June 1, 1909

Date of death: February 19, 1945

Age: 35

Naval Academy Register

Frank James Peterson was admitted to the Naval Academy from Collingswood, New Jersey on July 6, 1929 at age 20 years 1 months.

Lucky Bag

Frank is listed as a "Forced Landing" from Youngster Year.

Photographs

"LCDR Frank J. Peterson, CO of VC-77, wears a Gydeway compass and whistle together on what appears to be a dog tag chain. He was K.I.A. on 2/19/45 when the TBM-1C he was piloting was hit by anti-aircraft fire while attacking ground targets on Iwo Jima. His plane was seen to crash off the island's coast with no survivors."

Loss

From Find A Grave:

Aviation Cadet F. J. Peterson, USNR, was designated Naval Aviator #5300 in 1937. Entered active service via the pre-war Aviation Cadet (AVCAD) program.
Lt. Cmdr Peterson was lost as a member of Composite Squadron Seventy-Seven (VC-77) while conducting flight operations over Iwo Jima.

He was flying a TBF-1C Avenger from USS Rudyerd Bay (CVE 81); as noted in the picture he was commanding officer of Composite Squadron (VC) 77.

Other Information

From the 1953 edition of the book "Double Three Roundup," published by the class of 1933:

Frank left the Academy Youngster Year and was employed by Ludington Flying Service (subsidiary of Ludington Air Lines), obtaining a private pilot's license and aircraft mechanic's license in 1932. In 1933 he went to work for Cities Service Transportation Company as a Seaman, and was promoted to Quartermaster, Boatswain and Third Officer before transferring to the Isthmian Steamship Company as Third Officer in 1935. He returned to the service as an Aviation Cadet in July 1936, and after graduating from Pensacola in August 1937, reported to the Aviation Unit aboard the OMAHA the next month. In September 1939 Frank was transferred to the QUINCY Unit, VCS-7, and two years later he went to the Air Station at Jacksonville as an instructor. In January 1943 he was ordered back to cruiser duty in the SAN FRANCISCO for eight months, participating in the attack on Kiska Island that July. Torpedo bomber and operational training followed, then assignment as Commanding Officer of Composite Squadron Seventy Seven. He led his squadron through the various Pacific Operations until 19 February 1945 when the plane he was flying was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crashed into the sea near Iwo Jima.
Frank is survived by his wife, the former Elizabeth Jenkins Edmunds of Lykens, Pennsylvania, whom he married on August 1, 1938 at Villefranche-sur-mer, France; two daughters, Judith Lyn (1940) and Elizabeth Edmunds (1941) and a son Frank (1945). Their address is 653 North Second Street, Lykens, Pennsylvania.
Frank was awarded the Air Medal for the Kiska action and the Purple Heart Medal, posthumously, in addition to his various campaign medals. Elizabeth tells us that he had quite an array of avocations, including writing poetry (none published), model trains, boats and reading professional, biographical and philosophical books.

His wife was listed as next of kin; they were "married in Villefranche, France, in 1938." (Her obituary is unclear, but it appears that Frank and she had three children together.) His remains were interred on Hawaii in June 1949.

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Frank was born in Pennsylvania and in 1920 the family lived in Collingswood, New Jersey. His father Frank was a marine captain, his mother was Margaret, and his younger brother was John. Frank graduated from Collingswood High School in 1927. The yearbook from 1926 shows Frank as treasurer of the debating club and includes a poem Frank wrote. In the 1940 census, Frank was living with his wife Elizabeth and daughter Judith of two months in Norfolk, Virginia.

A sailor's life shall be my life,
A life that's wild and free.
Away from land, its toil and strife,
With freedom on the sea.
Let others wield the farmer's plow,
And work at irksome toil,
While on the sea I will not bow,
To those who walk the soil.
Tho' wind and wave, the landsman's heart
May cow, not so with me,
Let strong winds drive my oaken barque,
Far off across the sea.
Let those on shore, stay on the shore,
If happy they can be,
But life on shore, holds joy no more,
For those who know the sea. FRANK PETERSON, '27

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.