FREDERICK R. BUSE, LT, USN

Frederick Buse '20

Date of birth: March 6, 1899

Date of death: May 14, 1928

Age: 29

Lucky Bag

From the 1920 Lucky Bag:

Frederick Rowland Buse

Ridley Park, Pennsylvania

"Booze" "Buzz" "Buzzy"

GEEMINY Christmas, but I bilged!"—and enter the one and only original "Buzzy."

Wooden? Not by a long shot. Study? Never. Happy? Always. All these traits go to make Rowland a most desirable member in a bunch of good fellows, but in the last trait lies his greatest charm. In his most downcast moments his presence makes an ordinary fellow feel happier, and when he is feeling at his best the Sphinx would have a hard time taking life seriously. Not that he tries to be that way, because at times he really tries to rhino, but he doesn't succeed at it any better than he did in English.

As an athlete Rowland is a first string ladies' man and tennis player. He tried baseball Youngster year and ended up on the lacrosse squad, so, if the ladies don't get him and Hooley will have him, he will sweeten his disposition this spring by breaking lacrosse sticks over heads similar to his own.

As a true friend Buse is hard to beat. If he has anything you want ask him for it and you'll get it. If you want to have a good time remember that he is familiar with all grape juice concoctions, and if you are feeling blue, talk to him for a while and you'll soon feel like most of us do—that when assignments are made we would like to see his orders, and ours, read exactly alike.

Honors: Buzzard; Tennis Squad, 4, 3, 1; Mandolin Club, 3, 1; Lacrosse Squad, 4, 3, 1.

The Class of 1920 was graduated in June 1919 due to World War I. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.

Frederick Rowland Buse

Ridley Park, Pennsylvania

"Booze" "Buzz" "Buzzy"

GEEMINY Christmas, but I bilged!"—and enter the one and only original "Buzzy."

Wooden? Not by a long shot. Study? Never. Happy? Always. All these traits go to make Rowland a most desirable member in a bunch of good fellows, but in the last trait lies his greatest charm. In his most downcast moments his presence makes an ordinary fellow feel happier, and when he is feeling at his best the Sphinx would have a hard time taking life seriously. Not that he tries to be that way, because at times he really tries to rhino, but he doesn't succeed at it any better than he did in English.

As an athlete Rowland is a first string ladies' man and tennis player. He tried baseball Youngster year and ended up on the lacrosse squad, so, if the ladies don't get him and Hooley will have him, he will sweeten his disposition this spring by breaking lacrosse sticks over heads similar to his own.

As a true friend Buse is hard to beat. If he has anything you want ask him for it and you'll get it. If you want to have a good time remember that he is familiar with all grape juice concoctions, and if you are feeling blue, talk to him for a while and you'll soon feel like most of us do—that when assignments are made we would like to see his orders, and ours, read exactly alike.

Honors: Buzzard; Tennis Squad, 4, 3, 1; Mandolin Club, 3, 1; Lacrosse Squad, 4, 3, 1.

The Class of 1920 was graduated in June 1919 due to World War I. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.

Loss

Frederick was lost on May 14, 1928 when his aircraft crashed "while making a speed test at NAS Anacostia."

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Frederick told his uncle and friends that he had a premonition that he would not live to take part in the Curtiss Marine trophy race for seaplanes. His plane was an O-2-U Vought observation plane previously used by the Assistant Secretary of the Navy Robinson on aerial missions. The crash hurled both the engine and Frederick from the plane.
Frederick was nominated to the Naval Academy by the Hon. Thomas S. Butler.
On April 1, 1920, when the census was done, Frederick’s ship USS Pittsburgh was in Venice, Italy.
His fiancée Marion Robertson died instantly in an automobile accident in Leiperville in October, 1923. Marion and Frederick’s sister Elizabeth had just attended the wedding of Winifred Sloan to James Lukens. Elizabeth sustained a broken nose and cuts and bruises. Shortly thereafter, Frederick was transferred from a battleship to the Air Service.
In October, 1927, he flew 7,000 miles from Washington, D. C., to Seattle, Washington, over the “Lindbergh Trail” and back. He next flew in the local Navy Day at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
His father Harry was a typewriter salesman for the Remington Rand Company, and his mother was Clara. His parents were away from the home when the notification came that Frederick had died. His brother Henry William was home with the mumps and was being cared for by his sister Elizabeth “Betty.” Henry William later graduated from the Naval Academy, class of 1934, and had a long career in the Marines.

He was designated naval aviator #3143 in 1924.

He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Photographs

From The Philadelphia Inquirer on May 15, 1928
From The Oakdale Sentinel on June 14, 1928

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.

January 1920

Ensign, USS Pittsburgh

Others at this command:

LT William Garrett '18

January 1921

Ensign, USS Pittsburgh

Others at this command:

LT William Garrett '18

January 1922

Ensign, USS Edsall

May 1923

Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Coghlan

July 1923

Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Coghlan

September 1923

Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Coghlan