WILLIAM C. LEEDY, LT, USN
William Leedy '38
Lucky Bag
From the 1938 Lucky Bag:
WILLIAM CLARK LEEDY
Brooks, Oregon
Clark
Out of the West came a young Lochinvar ready to show us all some of the secrets of enjoying life. Imbued with a home training that will never be forgotten even in the ol' Nyvee, he has always found an attraction in the finer things of life. Clark found life a bit different here when he first hit these Eastern shores, but the first thing he did was to smile and calmly survey the scene. It was that same smile and esprit that enabled him to attack with success the heart of every person exposed to his cherubic countenance and strong personality. Never much troubled with academics, Speedy made his life a series of attempts at self-improvement. The pool, the classics, and good music have been his greatest loves and have combined to make this boy who came, saw, and conquered, a cultured man.
Star 4; Swimming 4; Crew 3, 2; Quarter Deck 4, 3, 2, 1; Football Manager 4; Masqueraders 2, 1; Trident 2, 1; Lieutenant (j.g.).
WILLIAM CLARK LEEDY
Brooks, Oregon
Clark
Out of the West came a young Lochinvar ready to show us all some of the secrets of enjoying life. Imbued with a home training that will never be forgotten even in the ol' Nyvee, he has always found an attraction in the finer things of life. Clark found life a bit different here when he first hit these Eastern shores, but the first thing he did was to smile and calmly survey the scene. It was that same smile and esprit that enabled him to attack with success the heart of every person exposed to his cherubic countenance and strong personality. Never much troubled with academics, Speedy made his life a series of attempts at self-improvement. The pool, the classics, and good music have been his greatest loves and have combined to make this boy who came, saw, and conquered, a cultured man.
Star 4; Swimming 4; Crew 3, 2; Quarter Deck 4, 3, 2, 1; Football Manager 4; Masqueraders 2, 1; Trident 2, 1; Lieutenant (j.g.).
Loss
William was lost on May 18, 1943 when the PBY-5A Catalina patrol bomber he was piloting crashed into a mountain near Adak, Alaska. Eight others aboard were also killed.
One of the later reports were that the bombs carried by the plane detonated after the crash.
Photographs
Other Information
The Corvallis Gazette-Times on May 26, 1943 reported he had graduated Roseburg high school in 1934 and was survived by his parents and wife, "Meredith Jenkins of Roseburg, now living in Seattle." Other survivors were his brothers Ralph (USNA '43) and James.
His body was recovered and he was buried in California in 1948.
Career
From naval aviation historian Richard Leonard via email on February 9, 2018:
- Date of rank LTJG from 1 Jul 1941 USN Register, 6/2/1941
- NAS Pensacola attached for HTA flight training, 10/2/1941
- NAS Pensacola designated NA # 11849, 3/4/1942
- Date of rank LT from 1 Jul 1942 USN Register, 6/15/1942
- VP-62 FAW-4 NAF Adak MIA BNR, 5/18/1943
Memorial
The News-Review of Roseburg, Oregon reported on July 28, 1943 that the mountain he crashed into, as well as a nearby lake, had been named in his honor.
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
January 1939
October 1939
June 1940
November 1940
April 1941
Memorial Hall Error?
William 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 (incidental to combat flights) has been inconsistent across WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
