ALFRED E. GROVE, LCDR, USN
Alfred Grove '30
Lucky Bag
From the 1930 Lucky Bag:
ALFRED EDGAR GROVE
St. Louis, Missouri
"Alf" "Ed" "Lefty" "Chub" "Bud"
FROM out in the Mid-West where the largest thing that floats is a flat-bottomed Mississippi River scow, Al heard the call of Neptune and came to see what Uncle Sam could offer in the way of water travel. He "prepped" at Hall's War College, and seems to have made a good job of it, as he never has to worry about his Academics.
Fall always finds him out on Worden Field chasing a soccer ball around, and the rest of the year finds him in the gym with a handball or out on the track. He says the ladies never worry him, but there are quite a few letters on pink stationery, and never a hop passes that you don't find the Dutchman right out in front. He'll bear watching.
Cruises to Al are just things to be borne or rather slept, but he is always bright and ready for leave. Next to sleeping he likes best to argue. All you have to do is say something and Al's right there with the other side of the question, and when it comes to getting the best of him he's just as stubborn as a Missouri mule. But with all his sins he is still our red-nosed little Dutchman and our pal Bud.
Plebe Varsity Soccer, Numerals, Soccer 3, 2, 1, aNf; Track 4; Buzzard.
ALFRED EDGAR GROVE
St. Louis, Missouri
"Alf" "Ed" "Lefty" "Chub" "Bud"
FROM out in the Mid-West where the largest thing that floats is a flat-bottomed Mississippi River scow, Al heard the call of Neptune and came to see what Uncle Sam could offer in the way of water travel. He "prepped" at Hall's War College, and seems to have made a good job of it, as he never has to worry about his Academics.
Fall always finds him out on Worden Field chasing a soccer ball around, and the rest of the year finds him in the gym with a handball or out on the track. He says the ladies never worry him, but there are quite a few letters on pink stationery, and never a hop passes that you don't find the Dutchman right out in front. He'll bear watching.
Cruises to Al are just things to be borne or rather slept, but he is always bright and ready for leave. Next to sleeping he likes best to argue. All you have to do is say something and Al's right there with the other side of the question, and when it comes to getting the best of him he's just as stubborn as a Missouri mule. But with all his sins he is still our red-nosed little Dutchman and our pal Bud.
Plebe Varsity Soccer, Numerals, Soccer 3, 2, 1, aNf; Track 4; Buzzard.
Loss
Alfred was lost when the Japanese "Hell Ship" he was aboard, Arisan Maru, was sunk by an American submarine on October 24, 1944.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Alfred was appointed to the Naval Academy by Representative Cleveland A. Newton in December, 1925.
On June 10, 1932, Alfred married Miss Abbie Burke at her parents’ home in Newport, Rhode Island. In 1940, Alfred, his wife and daughter lived in Honolulu.
His father Orville was a bank manager of the mortgage and loan division of the Mississippi Valley Trust Company. He died in December, 1945. His mother was Rose, and his sister was Helen Rose (Mrs. Rose Warren.)
The April 1941 Navy Directory lists him aboard USS Houston (CA 30); sometime before the war began he became the Assistant Communications-Intelligence Officer on the Asiatic Fleet Staff.
From Find A Grave:
NEWPORT MERCURY AND WEEKLY NEWS, NEWPORT, R.I., FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 1942, FRONT PAGE
WIVES RESIDING IN THIS CITY RECEIVE TELEGRAMS: WERE ON DUTY IN PHILIPPINES WHEN THAT AREA CAPITULATED, FURTHER DETAILS AWAITED
Mrs. Alfred E. Grove of 128 Mill street and Mrs. Arthur P. Moore of 37 Catherine street Wednesday received telegrams that their husbands, officers on duty in the Philippines, were listed as missing, pending further information from the Japanese as to the identity of prisoners taken when that area capitulated.
Mrs. Grove, the former Miss Abbie Burke, daughter of Judge John C. Burke off this city, is the wife of Lieutenant Commander Grove, U.S.N., a graduate of the Naval Academy in 1930. Her telegram was received on her tenth wedding anniversary, and came from Rear Admiral Randall Jacobs, chief of the Bureau of Navigation. Commander Grove was on duty at Cebu. He was born in St. Louis, Mo., son of Mr. and Mrs. Orville Grove, and is father of a daughter, Abbie Rhoda, age 6. …
The telegram to Mrs. Grove from the Navy Department, stated that it regretted to inform her that "according to the records of this department, your husband, Lieutenant Commander Alfred E. Grove, U.S.N., while in the performance of his duty, in the service of his country, was in the Cebu area when that station capitulated. He is carried on the records as missing, pending further information. No report of his death or injury has been received, and he may be a prisoner of war. It will be several months before definite information can be expected."
His wife was listed as next of kin; he was also survived by a daughter (see below).
Photographs
From the Newport Mercury on June 19, 1942
Silver Star
From Find A Grave:
THE NEWPORT MERCURY AND WEEKLY NEWS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1946, PAGE FOUR
LATE COMMANDER GROVE CITED FOR GALLANTRY: SILVER STAR MEDAL RECEIVED BY WIFE AT CEREMONY HELD AT NAVAL BASE A Silver Star medal for gallantry in action was awarded posthumously to Lieutenant Commander Alfred E. Grove, U.S.N., and received by his wife, Mrs. Alfred E. Grove of 128 Mill street, at a ceremony held November 15 in the office of Commodore Paul S. Theis, commanding the Naval Base.
The citation accompanying the award said in part that Lieutenant Commander Grove "displayed gallantry in action against the enemy April 10, 1942, in the city of Cebu, Philippine Islands. Although under constant hostile air and naval fire, he assisted in and directed the destruction of enemy warehouses, loaded cargo ships in the harbor, and large stores of food and supplies."
Commander Grove was killed in action in the China Sea in October, 1944, while being transported as a prisoner-of-war from the Philippines to Japan.
Prisoner of War Medal
From Hall of Valor:
Lieutenant Commander Alfred E. Grove (NSN: 0-63174), United States Navy, was captured by the Japanese after the fall of Corregidor, Philippine Islands, on 6 May 1942, and was held as a Prisoner of War until his death while still in captivity.
General Orders: NARA Database: Records of World War II Prisoners of War, created, 1942 - 1947
Service: Navy
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
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.
October 1930
January 1931
April 1931
July 1931
October 1931
January 1932
April 1932
October 1932
January 1933
April 1933
July 1933
October 1933
April 1934
July 1934
October 1934
January 1935
April 1935
ENS Leo Crane '31 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 10S)
October 1935
January 1936
April 1936
July 1936
January 1937
April 1937
LTjg Victor Gaulin '30 (Training Plane Squadron (VN) 8D5, Naval Academy)
September 1937
LT Robert Bedilion '22
LT William Hobby, Jr. '23
LT Richard Baron '24
LT Richard Gingras '25
LT Harold Pound '25
LT William Graham, Jr. '25
LT Andrew Harris '25
LT Ralph Hickox '27
LTjg John Bermingham '29
January 1938
LT Robert Bedilion '22
LT William Hobby, Jr. '23
LT Richard Baron '24
LT Richard Gingras '25
LT Harold Pound '25
LT William Graham, Jr. '25
LT Andrew Harris '25
LT Ralph Hickox '27
LT John Bermingham '29
July 1938
January 1939
October 1939
June 1940
November 1940
April 1941
Memorial
His daughter, Abbie Grove Treichler, sponsored a memorial at the Pacific War Museum.
Book
Alfred's son-in-law, Colonel Don Treichler, USMC (Ret.), authored a self-published book in 2010: "I do Solemnly Swear: Biography of CDR Alfred Edgar Grove, U.S. Navy".
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
