James Carney '21
Date of birth: February 14, 1898
Date of death: December 16, 1942
Age: 44
Lucky Bag
From the 1921 Lucky Bag:
James Valentine Carney
O'Neill, Nebraska
"Jimmie" "Mick" "Steve" "Sook"
OUT from the land where corn husking is the national pastime came "Sook" alias Jimmie Valentine. Young "golden-ear" girded about him three innocent roommates and hardly had Plebe year been underway when we began to hear of Nebraskey. "What! Never heard of O'Neill. Well———" and he was good for hours. He has faced death itself in defending that famous podunk and as the argument waxed warmer, the tighter became that grip and the more violently he slashed the air with that index finger in his efforts to convince, a mannerism that has added to his fame.
By chance this was not the one finger he lost in the notorious looting of the Kaydet's artillery, following that 6-0 battle of 1919. The accident, however, caused him two long months in the hospital where he acquired that finesse which has made him the envy of his wife and all who dared to swap stories.
Occasionally the Academics have slipped over an on-side kick on the boy but the game has been mostly in midfield, and the final whistle will find Jimmie among the fold staging that old uphill fight that must ultimately land him success.
Buzzard.
The Class of 1921 was the last of the wartime-accelerated classes. "1921A" was graduated on June 3, 1920; the second half, "1921B", was graduated on June 2, 1921. James was graduated with 1921B.
Loss
James was lost on December 16, 1942 when the SBD Dauntless he was piloting developed engine problems and crashed near Guadalcanal.
He was the commanding officer of Naval Construction Battalion 14, which had repaired Henderson Field and was nearly complete in completing an emergency runway at Koli Point, Guadalcanal, when James was lost. (He had landed and taken off earlier to test the work.) The crewman aboard was also killed.
He was designated naval aviator #3195 in 1925.
His wife was listed as next of kin. He was originally buried in Guadalcanal, but is now buried in California.
Namesake
The airstrip his battalion constructed was named "Carney Field" in his honor.
Class of 1921
James is one of 32 members of the Class of 1921 in Memorial Hall.
