JAMES S. O'ROURKE, LT, USN
James O'Rourke '37
Lucky Bag
From the 1937 Lucky Bag:
JAMES STEPHEN O'ROURKE
Lowell, Massachusetts
"Jimmie"
Jimmy is a true son of Erin. His first disappointment in life occurred plebe year when he found that in the Navy not even an Irishman could wear the traditional green on Saint Patrick's day. Aside from his recognized athletic activities, Jim has been one of the mainstays of the sub squad. Great was the rejoicing when he finally passed. Jimmie has never succumbed to feminine influence; he's a confirmed Red Mike. He has, however, a great love for the plebes, and is always the center of an admiring group.
Cross Country 4, 3, 2; Track 4, 3; Reception Committee; Radio Club 2, 1; C.P.O.
JAMES STEPHEN O'ROURKE
Lowell, Massachusetts
"Jimmie"
Jimmy is a true son of Erin. His first disappointment in life occurred plebe year when he found that in the Navy not even an Irishman could wear the traditional green on Saint Patrick's day. Aside from his recognized athletic activities, Jim has been one of the mainstays of the sub squad. Great was the rejoicing when he finally passed. Jimmie has never succumbed to feminine influence; he's a confirmed Red Mike. He has, however, a great love for the plebes, and is always the center of an admiring group.
Cross Country 4, 3, 2; Track 4, 3; Reception Committee; Radio Club 2, 1; C.P.O.
Loss
James was taken as a prisoner of war following the fall of Corregidor and was killed on December 15, 1944 when American aircraft mistakenly attacked the POW ship (Oryoku Maru) he was aboard.
From Find A Grave: "He was held at Japanese POW Camp 1, Cabanatuan 1-2-3, Nueva Province, Luzon, Philippines 15-121."
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz: "James was appointed to the Naval Academy by Representative Rogers of Massachusetts. His father was an iron moulder in a foundry who died in September 1918 of influenza. His parents were both born in Ireland."
Unable to find which unit he had been with prior to his capture. (The April 1, 1941 Navy Directory has him aboard USS Guam (PG 43), a ship that had been renamed and re-designated a few months before. In any event, the ship is the only US Navy ship to be surrendered… but that occurred in China, and the officers and crew were held in Shanghai, so James has to have been transferred or traveling for some reason at the outbreak of the war.)
His wife was listed as next of kin. James has a memory marker in Massachusetts.
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.
October 1939
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