DONALD G. WILLIS, 1LT, USMC
Donald Willis '24
Lucky Bag
From the 1924 Lucky Bag:
Loss
Donald was lost on September 21, 1931 when the plane he was piloting crashed five miles off the coast of Point Loma, California, near San Diego. The other crewman aboard was also killed.
He is buried in Vermont. Donald was survived by his wife, Ida, and his mother.
Memorial Hall Error
Donald is not listed with his classmates in Memorial Hall. This omission was discovered by Mr. Tim Barbosa, who was researching alumni from the classes of 1921-1924.
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.
July 1924
2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia
Others at this command:
September 1924
2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia
Others at this command:
November 1924
2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia
Others at this command:
January 1925
2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
March 1925
2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
May 1925
2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
July 1925
2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia
Others at this command:
October 1925
2nd Lieutenant, Expeditionary Forces, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia
January 1926
2nd Lieutenant, Expeditionary Forces, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia
October 1926
2nd Lieutenant, Expeditionary Forces, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia
January 1927
2nd Lieutenant, Aircraft Squadrons, East Coast Expeditionary Forces, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia
April 1927
2nd Lieutenant, Aircraft Squadrons, East Coast Expeditionary Forces, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia
October 1927
2nd Lieutenant, staff, Marine Base, San Diego, California
January 1928
2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii
April 1928
2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii
July 1928
2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii
October 1928
2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii
January 1929
2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii
April 1929
2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii
July 1929
2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii
October 1929
2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii
January 1930
2nd Lieutenant, Marine Barracks, Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii
April 1930
2nd Lieutenant, Aircraft Squadrons, East Coast Expeditionary Force, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia
Others at this command:
October 1930
1st Lieutenant, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
Others at this command:
LT Paul Thompson '19
LT Irving Wiltsie '21
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Robert Larson '24
LTjg James McDonough '24
LTjg John Waldron '24
LTjg Charles McDonald '24
LTjg Richard Moss '24
January 1931
1st Lieutenant, Aircraft Squadrons, East Coast Expeditionary Force, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia
April 1931
1st Lieutenant, Aircraft Squadrons, East Coast Expeditionary Force, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia
July 1931
1st Lieutenant, Aircraft Squadrons, East Coast Expeditionary Force, Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia
October 1931
1st Lieutenant, Aircraft Squadrons, West Coast Expeditionary Force, Naval Air Station San Diego, California
Class of 1924
William is one of 42 members of the Class of 1924 on Virtual Memorial Hall.