BURTON L. DOGGETT, LCDR, USN

Burton Doggett '24

Date of birth: January 24, 1900

Date of death: August 16, 1942

Age: 42

Lucky Bag

From the 1924 Lucky Bag:

BURTON LEE DOGGETT

Oklahoma

Bertie

"NOW then, all together!—Let's have the Ball Ohio and lots of volume!" is enough to introduce "B.L.," who hails from the wilds of Oklahoma. His singing classes are famous and always draw large audiences. Not having the price of a violin, he has turned to teaching, (here comes Mark Anthony!)

"B. L." is the Nav shark, par excellence—the originator of the catch-as-catch-can declination system. The only flaw lies in the fact that his efforts are as yet unappreciated, as are those of all true genius.

His other claims to fame consist of being a charter member on the extra duty squad and a politician of the first degree. Any time you can find one who parked in the hospital more times than our "Bertie", he must be a member of the "Lost Battalion". He even worked the graft so successfully as to miss Second Class cruise, enjoying instead four glorious month's leave while his classmates fought the bitter "battle of Culebra".

As for athletics, his characteristic workout consists of planting himself firmly in a chair, hoisting his feet upon the table and opening a current magazine. Surrounded by an oil-laden atmosphere, he holds sway as the "President of the Radiator Club".

"When you can't go down for an ice-cream cone without getting rammed there ain't no justice. I just can't keep off the pap."

BURTON LEE DOGGETT

Oklahoma

Bertie

"NOW then, all together!—Let's have the Ball Ohio and lots of volume!" is enough to introduce "B.L.," who hails from the wilds of Oklahoma. His singing classes are famous and always draw large audiences. Not having the price of a violin, he has turned to teaching, (here comes Mark Anthony!)

"B. L." is the Nav shark, par excellence—the originator of the catch-as-catch-can declination system. The only flaw lies in the fact that his efforts are as yet unappreciated, as are those of all true genius.

His other claims to fame consist of being a charter member on the extra duty squad and a politician of the first degree. Any time you can find one who parked in the hospital more times than our "Bertie", he must be a member of the "Lost Battalion". He even worked the graft so successfully as to miss Second Class cruise, enjoying instead four glorious month's leave while his classmates fought the bitter "battle of Culebra".

As for athletics, his characteristic workout consists of planting himself firmly in a chair, hoisting his feet upon the table and opening a current magazine. Surrounded by an oil-laden atmosphere, he holds sway as the "President of the Radiator Club".

"When you can't go down for an ice-cream cone without getting rammed there ain't no justice. I just can't keep off the pap."

Loss

Burton was lost when the transport plane he was aboard crashed near Kodiak, Alaska, on August 16, 1942.

From Wartime Press, this undated passage:

Plane With 14 Missing in Alaska - A U.S. Navy plane with a crew of four and ten passengers enroute from Kodiak to Whitehorse, Alaska was reported overdue by the Navy Department, which notified next of kin of those aboard that the crew and passengers were missing. The flight was a routine one from Kodiak to Seattle, Wash. Three planes started on the trip and were forced to fly by instrument soon after taking off. Two made their way through the bad weather to Whitehorse. Naval aircraft have been making searches for the missing plane and other agencies were asked to assist in the search.

Those aboard the missing plane were Commander Joyce A. Ralph, USN; Lieut. Comdrs. Burton Lee Doggett, USN, Jerome H. Sparbo. USNR and Paul H. Tobelman, USN; Captain Arthur Barrows. USMC; Lieuts. Joseph A. Crook, USN and Thomas E. Johnson. Jr. (ChC), USN; Lieuts. (j.g.) Thomas G. Cherikos, USNR. Charles E. Deterding, USN and Jay A. Noble, Jr.. USN: Ensign Charles L. Mixon, USNR; Charles E. Barber. ACRM. USN; H. A. Scott, ACRM, USN, and C O. Walton, AMM2c. USN.

The aircraft was never located, and all 14 passengers and crew were declared dead a year and a day following their disappearance. The aircraft was a part of Transport Squadron (VR) 2.

His wife was listed as next of kin; he was also survived by his son, Burton Jr., a member of the Naval Academy Class of 1951. (Burton Lee Doggett III died in 2017.)

Career

He had previously had command of USS Gilmre (DD 233), from July 1940 to August 1941.

Related Articles

Joyce Ralph '23, Paul Tobelman '26, Joseph Crook '36, Charles Deterding, Jr. '40, and Jay Noble, Jr. '40 were also passengers aboard this aircraft.

Class of 1924

Burton is one of 41 members of the Class of 1924 on Virtual Memorial Hall.

• ← John Waldron '24
• John Wymond '24 →