HENRY F. GRAHAM, SR., LCDR, USN

Henry Graham, Sr. '40

Date of birth: December 10, 1917

Date of death: April 11, 1945

Age: 27

Lucky Bag

From the 1940 Lucky Bag:

HENRY FORESTER GRAHAM

Sea Cliff, Long Island, New York

Phil

There is not a better specimen of the fellow who loves athletics just for the love of playing. Hank can enter a game and play it well, regardless of the sport. Another hobby is music — confined to swing; the day just hasn't started out right if an electric razor interrupts his post-reveille program. Hank doesn't let many things worry him, but he never could savvy anything so abstract as juice, or so indeterminate as a blind drag. Hank is an all-round fellow, likable in every way. We expect his ability to make friends to carry him upward, rapidly. Best of luck. Hank; knowing you has been a rare treat.

Fencing FNT*, 4, 3, 2, 1; Tennis T10T, 4, 3, 2, 1; Boat Club 3, 2, 1; 2 Stripes.

HENRY FORESTER GRAHAM

Sea Cliff, Long Island, New York

Phil

There is not a better specimen of the fellow who loves athletics just for the love of playing. Hank can enter a game and play it well, regardless of the sport. Another hobby is music — confined to swing; the day just hasn't started out right if an electric razor interrupts his post-reveille program. Hank doesn't let many things worry him, but he never could savvy anything so abstract as juice, or so indeterminate as a blind drag. Hank is an all-round fellow, likable in every way. We expect his ability to make friends to carry him upward, rapidly. Best of luck. Hank; knowing you has been a rare treat.

Fencing FNT*, 4, 3, 2, 1; Tennis T10T, 4, 3, 2, 1; Boat Club 3, 2, 1; 2 Stripes.

Loss

Hank was lost when his F4U-4 Corsair was shot down while attacking targets in Tokunoshima (near Okinawa) on April 11, 1945. He was a member of Bombing Fighting Squadron (VBF) 83, flying from USS Essex (CV 9).

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Henry graduated from Sea Cliff High School in 1935 where he was president of the senior class and earned letters in track, basketball and baseball. He was vice-president of his junior class. He then attended Nassau Collegiate Centre in Garden City.
He was nominated to the Naval Academy by Congressman Robert L. Bacon.
He was a member of the crew of the West Virginia which was sunk at Pearl Harbor. He was not injured, but he lost everything except his class ring and watch. A month later, he called his mother from Seattle saying “I haven’t a scratch but I have to start from scratch.”
Several months later, he transferred to naval flight training and received his wings at Pensacola. He met Barbara Twigg-Smith in Honolulu, and they were married in Pensacola. In May 1944, Henry was stationed in Wildwood, New Jersey. He was promoted to Lt. Commander in the Air Arm of the Navy in December, 1944.
In 1930, his father Henry P. was an auditor for the railroad. His brother was Lawrence.
Henry was survived by his mother Johanna, his wife, and year-old son, Henry F. At 3 months old, his son sailed with his mother to Honolulu in July 1944.

His wife was listed as next of kin.

Henry is remembered at the Courts of the Missing in Hawaii.

Photographs

From the Lucky Bag

Distinguished Flying Cross

From Hall of Valor:

(Citation Needed) - SYNOPSIS: Lieutenant Commander Henry F. Graham, Sr. (NSN: 0-85210), United States Navy, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (Posthumously) for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as a Fighter Pilot and Division Leader over Kyushu, Japan, from 18 March 1945 to 11 April 1945.
General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 348 (March 1946)
Action Date: March 18 - April 11, 1945
Rank: Lieutenant Commander

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.