DAVID PURDON, JR., LCDR, USN
David Purdon, Jr. '40
Lucky Bag
From the 1940 Lucky Bag:
DAVID PURDON, JR.
Laurelton, New York
Dave
There are few midshipmen who have more staunch friends than Dave. This is not without reason, since he has a facility for making and holding personal allegiances. Dave's happy attitude throughout the day, and his knack of converting worries into trivialities make him an exceptionally good roommate. He is a natural athlete and a natural student — during those last frantic moments before class we can always rely on Dave to savvy the difficult probs. Despite the fact that he persists in buying Sunday papers sans comics, we unanimously predict that Dave will be one of the best young officers in the fleet.
Boxing 40, 4; Baseball N.A., 3, 2; 2 Stripes.
DAVID PURDON, JR.
Laurelton, New York
Dave
There are few midshipmen who have more staunch friends than Dave. This is not without reason, since he has a facility for making and holding personal allegiances. Dave's happy attitude throughout the day, and his knack of converting worries into trivialities make him an exceptionally good roommate. He is a natural athlete and a natural student — during those last frantic moments before class we can always rely on Dave to savvy the difficult probs. Despite the fact that he persists in buying Sunday papers sans comics, we unanimously predict that Dave will be one of the best young officers in the fleet.
Boxing 40, 4; Baseball N.A., 3, 2; 2 Stripes.
Loss
David was lost in a crash of an AJ-1 Savage immediately following takeoff from USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV 42) near Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The crash also killed another crewman. The bombardier/navigator was able to escape and was rescued. All were members of Composite Squadron (VC) 5 based in Norfolk.
There is a video of the crash:
Other Information
He was survived by his wife, Blanche Tallulah Grantham, who lived in Norfolk at the time. They were married on 10/27/1943 in Duval, Florida.
From researcher Kathy Franz:
He was a graduate of Eramus Hall High School.
David’s father was unable to attend his graduation from the Naval Academy due to illness. He died in October 1940. He was a Lieutenant in the Navy who helped recondition the engines of the German liner Vaterland which was seized during the 1st World War. He also served on the U. S. S. Maine but was transferred right before it was sunk.
David’s mother was Berthe; two brothers Roger and Emmet, and a sister Grace. His children were daughter Tallulah and son David.
From Find A Grave:
How very grateful I am to have found this memorial! David Purdon passed away with my uncle, Edward Barrett while on an exercise with the US Navy in 1950. My father forever mourned his only brothers passing. I only wish I could have shared with him the information I have been able to find and given him some peace. The circumstances surrounding this accident have been somewhat of a mystery and my family has long spoken of this "unknown" soldier that passed along with our uncle Ed. I hope that they were good friends. Rest in peace, David Purdon. Its nice to have a picture of you and will hold you in a place of honor in our hearts. Kimberly Barrett Johnson, June 2, 2015
Photographs
From the Lucky Bag
Memorial Hall Error
David is listed in the Lucky Bag and other sources as a "Jr.;" this is omitted from Memorial Hall.
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.
June 1940
November 1940
April 1941
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.