RALPH O. ANDERSON, JR., LT, USN

Ralph Anderson, Jr. '40

Date of birth: February 7, 1918

Date of death: July 4, 1943

Age: 25

Lucky Bag

From the 1940 Lucky Bag:

RALPH OLAUS ANDERSON, JR.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Rollo

Andy: a man who flows through life waging a constant war against any theoretical knowledge not capable of being proved before his eyes. His practical insight is tremendous and when he allows theory and practice to merge, his results are on a plane far above the average. He drifts, yes, but with this drifting his mind constantly piles up positive information that someday can make his name renowned. Aerodynamics have claimed the principal part of his time for four years and constantly appearing professional periodicals have engendered thought germs which will place him high in his chosen field — aviation.

Football N, 4, 3, 2, 1; Baseball N, 4, 3, 2, 1; Log Staff 4; Trident Staff 1.

RALPH OLAUS ANDERSON, JR.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Rollo

Andy: a man who flows through life waging a constant war against any theoretical knowledge not capable of being proved before his eyes. His practical insight is tremendous and when he allows theory and practice to merge, his results are on a plane far above the average. He drifts, yes, but with this drifting his mind constantly piles up positive information that someday can make his name renowned. Aerodynamics have claimed the principal part of his time for four years and constantly appearing professional periodicals have engendered thought germs which will place him high in his chosen field — aviation.

Football N, 4, 3, 2, 1; Baseball N, 4, 3, 2, 1; Log Staff 4; Trident Staff 1.

Loss

Andy was lost in an aircraft accident at Lee Field, FL, on July 4, 1943.

Other Information

Andy was promoted to Lieutenant on October 1, 1942 after completing an aviation course. He had been a fighter pilot for two years, and had seen action in the Pacific, Atlantic, and North African areas.

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Andy was survived by his father Ralph Sr. of Cleveland and grandparents Mr. & Mrs. J. P. Anderson of Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Sandy Lake High School and spent two years at Carnegie Tech.

Photographs

From the Lucky Bag
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on July 8, 1943

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.