Miguel Nava '17
On February 7, 2024 Captain Miguel Nava, USMC '17 was killed in a helicopter crash. Please consider a donation to his family to honor his service, and the incredible sacrifice of his wife and five-month-old son.

CHARLES J. WESCHLER, LT, USN

From USNA Virtual Memorial Hall
Charles Weschler '32

Date of birth: July 9, 1909

Date of death: January 16, 1945

Age: 35

Lucky Bag

From the 1932 Lucky Bag:

1932 Weschler LB.jpg

CHARLES JOHN WESCHLER

Erie, Pennsylvania

"Wesch" "Charley"

"Go West, young man, go West," but heedless of this good advice he, none other than Charles Weschler, came East. Oh, the pity of it! Yes, when the Naval Academy claimed its own "Wesch," Pennsylvania's staunchest supporters and one of '32's savviest volunteers, found himself marking ink in one hand and piccolo in the other.

Wherever you travel with "Wesch"—whether on the heights of Tibidabo, drifting through Pompeii, knocking about London, or merely rambling up and down the Seaward Terrace—you will find him your true pal and constant friend. Keeping "Wesch" happy is a problem no bigger than his appetite. In fact we attribute the major portion of his academic victories to a plenteous supply of baked "spuds," although when the Hill and Dale season comes around "Charley" is apt to be a shade slimmer than usual.

If it were Einstein's privilege to know "Wesch," that eminent scientist would wonder with the rest of us, "That one small head could carry all he knew."

Cross-Country, C32C; Track, 32; Cut Exchange Manager; Lucky Bag Staff; 4 Stripes; Star.


Charles was Regimental Sub-Commander.

1932 Weschler LB.jpg

CHARLES JOHN WESCHLER

Erie, Pennsylvania

"Wesch" "Charley"

"Go West, young man, go West," but heedless of this good advice he, none other than Charles Weschler, came East. Oh, the pity of it! Yes, when the Naval Academy claimed its own "Wesch," Pennsylvania's staunchest supporters and one of '32's savviest volunteers, found himself marking ink in one hand and piccolo in the other.

Wherever you travel with "Wesch"—whether on the heights of Tibidabo, drifting through Pompeii, knocking about London, or merely rambling up and down the Seaward Terrace—you will find him your true pal and constant friend. Keeping "Wesch" happy is a problem no bigger than his appetite. In fact we attribute the major portion of his academic victories to a plenteous supply of baked "spuds," although when the Hill and Dale season comes around "Charley" is apt to be a shade slimmer than usual.

If it were Einstein's privilege to know "Wesch," that eminent scientist would wonder with the rest of us, "That one small head could carry all he knew."

Cross-Country, C32C; Track, 32; Cut Exchange Manager; Lucky Bag Staff; 4 Stripes; Star.


Charles was Regimental Sub-Commander.

Loss

Charles was lost while a Prisoner of War… but it is unclear exactly when or how. The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial and this list have him aboard the Brazil Maru POW ship, perishing on January 16, 1945. However, this other list of POWs has his date of death as December 15, 1944.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Charles married Mary Allen Everett on May 10, 1939, in Portsmouth, Virginia.

His father was a clothing salesman, mother Florence, sisters Florence and Marion, and brothers Frank and Thomas.

The April 1, 1941 Navy Directory lists his station as the 16th Naval District, Cavite, Philippines.

His wife was listed as next of kin. He was also survived by a daughter, Ann Amelia, who was born in ~1940. Charles' brother, Tom, was a 1939 graduate and retired a Vice Admiral.

Charles has a memory marker in Pennsylvania.

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.

October 1932
Ensign, USS Louisville


Others at or embarked at this command:
LT Irving Wiltsie '21 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 10S)
January 1933
Ensign, USS Louisville


Others at or embarked at this command:
LT Irving Wiltsie '21 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 10S)
April 1933
Ensign, USS Louisville


Others at or embarked at this command:
LT Irving Wiltsie '21 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 10S)
July 1933
Ensign, USS Louisville

Others at this command:

Others at or embarked at this command:
LT Irving Wiltsie '21 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 10S)
October 1933
Ensign, USS Louisville

Others at this command:

Others at or embarked at this command:
LT Irving Wiltsie '21 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 10S)
April 1934
Ensign, USS Louisville

Others at this command:

Others at or embarked at this command:
LT Irving Wiltsie '21 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 10S)
July 1934
Ensign, under instruction, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Others at this command:
October 1934
Ensign, under instruction, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Others at this command:
January 1935
Ensign, under instruction, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Others at this command:
April 1935
Ensign, under instruction, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Others at this command:
October 1935
Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

January 1936
Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

April 1936
Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

July 1936
Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Others at this command:
January 1937
Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Others at this command:
April 1937
Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Others at this command:
September 1937
Lieutenant (j.g.), Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia

January 1938
Lieutenant (j.g.), Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia


Others at or embarked at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia:
1LT Chandler Johnson '29 (Marine Barracks, Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia)
July 1938
Lieutenant (j.g.), Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia


Others at or embarked at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia:
1LT Chandler Johnson '29 (Marine Barracks, Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia)
2LT James Crowther '35 (Marine Barracks, Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia)
January 1939
Lieutenant (j.g.), Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia


Others at or embarked at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia:
1LT James Crowther '35 (Marine Barracks, Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia)
October 1939
Lieutenant, Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia


Others at or embarked at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia:
2LT Dorrance Radcliffe '38 (Marine Barracks, Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia)
November 1940
Lieutenant, Navy Yard, Cavite, Philippines


Others at or embarked at Navy Yard, Cavite, Philippines:
MAJ Stuart King '20 (Marine Barracks)
April 1941
Lieutenant, Navy Yard, Cavite, Philippines


Others at or embarked at Navy Yard, Cavite, Philippines:
MAJ Stuart King '20 (Marine Barracks)
1LT Alben Robertson '37 (Marine Barracks)
2LT Willard Holdredge '39 (Marine Barracks)
2LT William Hogaboom '39 (Marine Barracks)

Namesake

The great cabin aboard SSV Oliver Hazard Perry is named for Charles.


Class of 1932

Charles is one of 53 members of the Class of 1932 on Virtual Memorial Hall.

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