GLENN L. DUNAGAN, LTJG, USN

Glenn Dunagan '33

Date of birth: June 25, 1909

Date of death: April 10, 1939

Age: 29

Lucky Bag

From the 1933 Lucky Bag:

GLENN LEWIS DUNAGAN

Deming, New Mexico

"Duke" "Dunny"

SOME few years ago a little border town in southern New Mexico lost a promising young cow-hand. For Glenn Dunagan up and left to seek his fortune in the world. Successively a cow-puncher, railroad "braky," student in the University of Colorado, locomotive fireman, flying cadet in the Army, sailor, and midshipman, Glenn seems to have had a varied life since he said goodbye to the desert. He finally cast his lot with the Navy, though even now we are not so sure of his continued presence. Academics will never stop him—but those dreams, oh those dreams! His favorite one is the founding of a gymnosophistic Utopia on a South Sea Island, where to eat, to sleep, to love, to live constitute the reg-book. To Glenn the aimless material strife of modern existence is all futility. Stoop not to drudgery, forget your troubles, be true to your instincts, fear not to live life in all its extremities!—here is what makes the wheels go round in that independent brain. He is fond of books and music, likes to write—even hopes some day to be an author. Perhaps those dreams will not be so unattainable after all for its the life in the mind that matters.

Football 4, 3, 1; Class Wrestling 3; Class Boxing 1; Class Swimming 2; 2 P.O.

GLENN LEWIS DUNAGAN

Deming, New Mexico

"Duke" "Dunny"

SOME few years ago a little border town in southern New Mexico lost a promising young cow-hand. For Glenn Dunagan up and left to seek his fortune in the world. Successively a cow-puncher, railroad "braky," student in the University of Colorado, locomotive fireman, flying cadet in the Army, sailor, and midshipman, Glenn seems to have had a varied life since he said goodbye to the desert. He finally cast his lot with the Navy, though even now we are not so sure of his continued presence. Academics will never stop him—but those dreams, oh those dreams! His favorite one is the founding of a gymnosophistic Utopia on a South Sea Island, where to eat, to sleep, to love, to live constitute the reg-book. To Glenn the aimless material strife of modern existence is all futility. Stoop not to drudgery, forget your troubles, be true to your instincts, fear not to live life in all its extremities!—here is what makes the wheels go round in that independent brain. He is fond of books and music, likes to write—even hopes some day to be an author. Perhaps those dreams will not be so unattainable after all for its the life in the mind that matters.

Football 4, 3, 1; Class Wrestling 3; Class Boxing 1; Class Swimming 2; 2 P.O.

Loss

From Fold3:

While engaged in authorized and required flight in connection with gunnery work, SBU-1 airplane crashed, exploded and burned, at about 10.07 a.m., 10 April 1939, near Del Mar, Calif.:

Lieut, (jg) Glenn Lewis Dunagan, U.S.N.

Lieut, (jg) Thompson Clyde Guthrie, Jr., U.S.N.

The two were members of Scouting Squadron (VS) 2. Glenn had only recently earned his wings as a qualified naval aviator on December 22, 1938.

Career

Glenn graduated on June 1, 1933 with his classmates, but he was not commissioned until August 29, 1935, when he was "Appointed in accordance with act of Aug. 29, 1935" (from Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps of 1936).

Memorial Hall Error

Glenn is not listed with his classmates in Memorial Hall. He was identified through the diligent efforts of Leslie Poche, a volunteer who combed through Shipmate issues to find operational losses not accounted for in Memorial Hall.

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.

Ensign, USS Cincinnati

Others at this command:

LTjg Seymour Owens '31

LTjg Archibald Stone, Jr. '34

January 1938

Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida

Others at this command:

Others at or embarked at this command:

LCDR Arnold Isbell '21 (Training Squadron (VN) 4D8)
CAPT Ernest Pollock '28 (Training Squadron (VN) 2D8)

LT William Pennewill '29 (Training Squadron (VN) 1D8)
LTjg Alden Irons '31 (Training Squadron (VN) 2D8)

July 1938

Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida

Others at this command:

Others at or embarked at this command:

LCDR Arnold Isbell '21 (Training Squadron (VN) 4D8)
CAPT Paul Moret '30 (Training Squadron (VN) 3D8)

LTjg Alden Irons '31 (Training Squadron (VN) 5D8)
2LT Ralph Haas '36 (Marine Barracks)

January 1939

Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida

Others at this command:

Others at or embarked at this command:

LCDR Arnold Isbell '21 (Training Squadron (VN) 2D8)
CAPT Paul Moret '30 (Training Squadron (VN) 3D8)
LT Alden Irons '31 (Training Squadron (VN) 3D8)

LTjg George Ottinger '32 (Training Squadron (VN) 5D8)
LTjg William Widhelm '32 (Training Squadron (VN) 5D8)
2LT Ralph Haas '36 (Marine Barracks)

Class of 1933

Harold is one of 38 members of the Class of 1933 on Virtual Memorial Hall.

The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of the alumni in Memorial Hall.

GLENN L. DUNAGAN, LTJG, USN

Glenn Dunagan '33

Lucky Bag

GLENN LEWIS DUNAGAN

GLENN LEWIS DUNAGAN

Loss

Career

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Class of 1933