JOSEPH L. WOLFE, 2LT, USMC

Joseph Wolfe '26

Date of birth: February 4, 1903

Date of death: February 20, 1930

Age: 27

Lucky Bag

From the 1926 Lucky Bag:

Joseph Leon Wolfe

Coeburn, Virginia

"Doc"

HEY, M. C! Where's my mail." Thus did Doc always hail the new day. He was by no means a Sheik; but he was known to have occasionally dragged and she was always from Virginia. He, however, was as very quiet about her as he is about most things.

Doc began his Naval career with '25, but a trip to the hospital terminated in a good long sick leave home. However, he was not ready to quit the Navy and came back with '26 for what he claimed was his second Plebe year, but we are inclined to believe his long vacation spoiled him. He was a charter member of the Radiator Club, and except for some little gym work his principal activities were playing classical music on the piano and reading French classics. The most he ever wished for was an afternoon alone with a good book, but he was seldom allowed this pleasure, since the new regime started. According to him: "Between extra duty and the Sub-Squad I'm pretty well dated up."

"Yes! but I am more conservative than most people."

Class Gym (3, 2, 1), Numerals (3, 2, 1).

Joseph Leon Wolfe

Coeburn, Virginia

"Doc"

HEY, M. C! Where's my mail." Thus did Doc always hail the new day. He was by no means a Sheik; but he was known to have occasionally dragged and she was always from Virginia. He, however, was as very quiet about her as he is about most things.

Doc began his Naval career with '25, but a trip to the hospital terminated in a good long sick leave home. However, he was not ready to quit the Navy and came back with '26 for what he claimed was his second Plebe year, but we are inclined to believe his long vacation spoiled him. He was a charter member of the Radiator Club, and except for some little gym work his principal activities were playing classical music on the piano and reading French classics. The most he ever wished for was an afternoon alone with a good book, but he was seldom allowed this pleasure, since the new regime started. According to him: "Between extra duty and the Sub-Squad I'm pretty well dated up."

"Yes! but I am more conservative than most people."

Class Gym (3, 2, 1), Numerals (3, 2, 1).

Loss

Robert was lost on February 20, 1930 when the plane he was aboard crashed near Quantico, Virginia.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Joseph was flying in formation with five other planes. They were given the order to break formation and land. Joseph dove directly into the Potomac River followed by Ostertag. A later report presumed Joseph mistook the smooth surface of the river and miscalculated his distance. Ostertag was probably depending upon Wolfe.
In July 1928, Joseph sailed from China to San Francisco. His home address was listed as Mather Field, Sacramento.
Joseph was survived by his father Isaac Errett, a physician, mother Lucy, and sister Kathleen.

He had "served a year in China, and later at the naval air station at Pensacola, Florida, before his transfer to Quantico." He earned his wings as naval aviator #3501 on August 10, 1929 as a 2LT.

Robert is buried in Virginia.

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.