GEORGE W. LEHMAN, LT, USN

George Lehman '23

Date of birth: March 26, 1901

Date of death: April 29, 1927

Age: 26

Lucky Bag

From the 1923 Lucky Bag:

George Watson Lehman

Warsaw, Indiana

"Bull" "Torro" "Knight"

EITHER an inherent desire for water which can't be used for bathing purposes, or a local pogrom in "Moscow", caused this noble youth to migrate from the old homestead and affiliate himself with the disciples of J. P. Jones. At any rate, here he is; much and many, as was admitted by his omnipotent contemporaries, who sacrificed many brooms and much energy to impress him with their doctrine of R. H. I. P.

This gentle treatment led our "Torro" to believe that, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," had no bearing on the existence of "Plebes". Result—he and the Executive Department tangled, and the latter, being victorious, shanghaied him for three months of sea duty on the good ship Reina.

Women, especially the peroxide type, prove fatal to our hero. He is powerless to resist them, even to the extent of swimming the Severn in mid-winter.

But, despite the knocks, "Torro's" career has been an enviable success and the best wishes of his friends, a multitude of them, will always go with him.

Football Squad (4, 3, 2); Class Lacrosse (4, 3, 2); Black N****.

George Watson Lehman

Warsaw, Indiana

"Bull" "Torro" "Knight"

EITHER an inherent desire for water which can't be used for bathing purposes, or a local pogrom in "Moscow", caused this noble youth to migrate from the old homestead and affiliate himself with the disciples of J. P. Jones. At any rate, here he is; much and many, as was admitted by his omnipotent contemporaries, who sacrificed many brooms and much energy to impress him with their doctrine of R. H. I. P.

This gentle treatment led our "Torro" to believe that, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," had no bearing on the existence of "Plebes". Result—he and the Executive Department tangled, and the latter, being victorious, shanghaied him for three months of sea duty on the good ship Reina.

Women, especially the peroxide type, prove fatal to our hero. He is powerless to resist them, even to the extent of swimming the Severn in mid-winter.

But, despite the knocks, "Torro's" career has been an enviable success and the best wishes of his friends, a multitude of them, will always go with him.

Football Squad (4, 3, 2); Class Lacrosse (4, 3, 2); Black N****.

Loss

George was lost on April 29, 1927 when the aircraft he was co-piloting crashed in a storm while en route from Philadelphia to NAS Hampton Roads.

He is buried in Indiana; he was survived by his parents.

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.