JEP C. JONSON, LT, USN

Jep Jonson '38

Date of birth: November 28, 1914

Date of death: June 15, 1942

Age: 27

Lucky Bag

From the 1938 Lucky Bag:

JEP C. JONSON

Greenville, Kentucky

Pappy, Pinky

We think it is true what they say about these Dixie fellers, at least as exemplified by our Pappy. He is congenial, easy going and possesses excellent sporting qualities, being ever ready for a frolic or a tussle. Being an ideal shipmate, Jep is the friend of all who know him. You don't have to ask him if he's having a grand time in life. It's in his face and every action. His many nicknames speak loudly. In short, we think he's a grand little guy. He never lets academics worry him until grades are posted and not for long then. He came to us from the "blue grass" state and purchased shoes like his brother's. He aspires to follow that brother to his dive bombing squadron. We'll cruise again, Jep.

Wrestling w38t; Bugle Corps 4; M.P.O.

JEP C. JONSON

Greenville, Kentucky

Pappy, Pinky

We think it is true what they say about these Dixie fellers, at least as exemplified by our Pappy. He is congenial, easy going and possesses excellent sporting qualities, being ever ready for a frolic or a tussle. Being an ideal shipmate, Jep is the friend of all who know him. You don't have to ask him if he's having a grand time in life. It's in his face and every action. His many nicknames speak loudly. In short, we think he's a grand little guy. He never lets academics worry him until grades are posted and not for long then. He came to us from the "blue grass" state and purchased shoes like his brother's. He aspires to follow that brother to his dive bombing squadron. We'll cruise again, Jep.

Wrestling w38t; Bugle Corps 4; M.P.O.

Loss

Jep was lost on June 16, 1942 when the seaplane he was piloting crashed into Mount Carlisle in the Aleutian Islands.

From VP Navy:

AK, ALEUTIANS, NAS DUTCH HARBOR, CARLISLE MTN., CARLISELE ISL'S, ALEUTIAN ISL'S Strike: Yes BUNO: 7298 Cause: Pilot was returning from patrol flight west of Dutch Harbor. He landed at sea to pick up a hospital patient from a Naval ship, then took off for base. While climbing through a fog layer, the radar was turned off in order to use power for transmitting take-off report to base. While still in the fog and due to navigational error and no radar, plane crashed into Carlisle Mountain.
Crew & pass: Pilot: Lt(jg). Jep C. Jonson/Killed, Rm2c. Edward "Ted" Harry Scroggins/Killed, Ens. Albert D. Peterson (died 8/7/43), Ens. James K. Morrill/Seriously inj, Amm2c. Samuel Olsen/Seriously inj, Amm3c. Richard C. Hazard/Minor inj, Arm3c. Rolf H. Neilson/Minor inj, and Sea1c. Samuel D. Gladioni (hospital case).

Other Information

From the Messenger Inquirer on June 24, 1942:

Greenville-Lieutenant Jep C. Jonson, 27, a navy flier, and son of Judge W. C. Jonson and Mrs. Jonson, of Greenville, was killed in a plane crash on June 16, according to an official telegram received by the parents here Tuesday night. Details of the accident were not given, but it is presumed the crash occurred in Alaskan territory as the young man was stationed on the Kodiak islands when his parents last heard from him.
Lieutenant Jonson was graduated from Annapolis in 1939 and has been in service of his country since that time. The body is to be returned to Greenville for burial.
Surviving the young officer are his parents, two brothers, Lieutenant Commander W. C. Jonson, Jr., of San Francisco, Calif., Russell Jonson, Annapolis and a sister, Mrs. Henry Blake, Greenville.

Jep is buried in Kentucky.

Career

From naval aviation historian Richard Leonard via email on February 9, 2018:

NAS Pensacola attached for HTA flight training, 8/12/1940

NAS Pensacola designated NA # 7197, 2/26/1941

Date of rank LTJG from 1 Jul 1941 USN Register, 6/2/1941

Date of rank LT from 1 Jul 1942 USN Register, 6/15/1942

VP-41 PatWing4 NAS Dutch Harbor DFC KIFA, 6/16/1942

Photographs

From 3:44 in a US Government-produced film titled "Report From The Aleutians." The thumb in the photograph is a part of the video.

Distinguished Flying Cross

From Hall of Valor:

The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross (Posthumously) to Lieutenant Jep C. Jonson, United States Navy, for heroism and extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight in contact with the enemy while serving as a Pilot with Patrol Wing FOUR in the Territory of Alaska during the Aleutian Islands Campaign, 1 - 15 June 1942. In addition to flying numerous night patrols under extremely hazardous weather conditions, he, with utter disregard for his own personal safety, participated in bombing attacks launched on Japanese vessels in Kiska Harbor in the face of tremendous anti-aircraft fire and fierce aerial opposition. With utter disregard for his own personal safety, he carried on tirelessly and courageously until he was killed in a crash on the fog-shrouded mountainside of an isolated Aleutian Island. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 313 (April 1943)
Action Date: June 1942
Service: Navy
Rank: Lieutenant

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.

July 1938

Ensign, USS Houston

Others at this command:

LT Louis LeHardy '26
LTjg George Davis, Jr. '35

ENS Richard Meyers '36

ENS William Leedy '38

January 1939

Ensign, USS Houston

Others at this command:

LTjg George Davis, Jr. '35

ENS Richard Meyers '36

ENS William Leedy '38

October 1939

Ensign, USS Hull

Others at this command:

LT Thomas Oberrender, Jr. '27

June 1940

Ensign, USS Hull

November 1940

Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida

Others at this command:

April 1941

Ensign, Patrol Squadron (VP) 41, Seattle, Washington

Others at this command:

LT Eugene Davis '27

LT John Riggs, Jr. '28

ENS Charles Reimann '38

Memorial Hall Error

Jep was promoted to Lieutenant on June 15, 1942; he is listed in Memorial Hall as a LT(jg).

Jep is not listed on the killed in action panel in the front of Memorial Hall. While not an obvious error, inclusion on the panel for crashes like this—which appears to be incidental to a combat flight—has been inconsistent across WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

Class of 1938

Jep is one of 72 members of the Class of 1938 on Virtual Memorial Hall.

← Curtis Howard '38

Roy Green, Jr. '38 →

The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.