DALE D. CUMMINGS, 2LT, USMC
Dale Cummings '53
Lucky Bag
From the 1953 Lucky Bag:
DALE DUANE CUMMINGS
Saginaw, Minnesota
After a three-year stint in the Marine Corps and a few weeks of propping at Bainbridge, "Bulldog" established base operations at USNA. From Navy he vectored out to give the ladies a break . . . and always returned with tales of fair damsel fairly won. Time not spent with the girls was utilized in lifting weights; Dale was a familiar sight, sweating and straining, muscles bulging, tugging at the bar bell. All brawn and no brains didn't apply in his case, however. Inherently a "goof-off," he performed a minimum amount of brain work and always managed to come up with just short of starring averages. Genuinely sincere, always pleasant. Dale was all all-round good guy.
DALE DUANE CUMMINGS
Saginaw, Minnesota
After a three-year stint in the Marine Corps and a few weeks of propping at Bainbridge, "Bulldog" established base operations at USNA. From Navy he vectored out to give the ladies a break . . . and always returned with tales of fair damsel fairly won. Time not spent with the girls was utilized in lifting weights; Dale was a familiar sight, sweating and straining, muscles bulging, tugging at the bar bell. All brawn and no brains didn't apply in his case, however. Inherently a "goof-off," he performed a minimum amount of brain work and always managed to come up with just short of starring averages. Genuinely sincere, always pleasant. Dale was all all-round good guy.
Loss
Dale was lost when the SNJ Texas trainer aircraft he was aboard crashed near Milton, Florida on April 22, 1954.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
The newspapers reported that he and the pilot Lt. (jg) Newman B. Kemp were in an SNJ Texas trainer plane that went into a sudden spin and crashed in a marsh near Milton, Florida.
Dale attended Proctor High School in Minnesota.
He married Beverly Stoker of Plain City, Ohio, in June 1953.
Besides his parents, his brother was Robert, Jr., and his three sisters were: Mrs. Margaret (Mrs. Ralph Berg,), Donna (Mrs. Robert Woodfield,) and Lt. Shirley Cummings of Sheppard Air Base in Texas. His father Robert was assistant superintendent of the county work farm in Herman Township, Minnesota.
From the June 1954 issue of Shipmate:
Second Lt. DALE D. CUMMINGS, USMC, was killed in an airplane crash at Pensacola, Fla., on 22 April. Funeral serves were held at NAS Pensacola on 26 April. Dale was 27 years old and a member of the 3rd Battalion at the Naval Academy. Prior to entering the Naval Academy, Dale served a three-year tour in the Marine Corps, and upon graduation returned to his mother service. To all of us who remember Dale, his genuinely sincere attitude and pleasing personality are foremost in our memories. Our entire class suffers a great loss and extends its deepest sympathy to Dale's wife, the former Beverly Stoker of Plain City, Ohio, and to his family.
Dale is buried in Florida.
Dale is one of 62 members of the Class of 1953 on Virtual Memorial Hall.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.