JAY C. MOSS, LT, USN

Jay Moss '41

Date of birth: July 19, 1918

Date of death: August 24, 1944

Age: 26

Lucky Bag

From the 1941 Lucky Bag:

JAY CRITTENDEN MOSS

Long Beach, California

Jay received the nickname, "Honest George," along with many others, when a plebe and it seems that it will follow him always. Lest the sobriety sometimes associated with Jay be predominant, let it be said that he has been the proponent of countless jokes on his classmates which often have boomeranged in spectacular fashion.

Pursuing his academics and searching for an O. A. O. to end all O. A. O.'s, he has not yet "starred" in either but just as surely as the old battle cry, "It's gonna be different next time," rings after every exam week, he is certain to have his steadfastness of purpose rewarded. All of which shows that Jay never gives up the ship. Few are the arguments he has lost, as can be testified by his hecklers. He always closes with the punch line, "Aw, that's just your defense mechanism!"

But no matter how hard the knocks which may conic his way, one can always find a gleam in his eye, a ready "crack" on his tongue, and plenty of vim, vigor, and vitality.

Quarterdeck Society 2, 1; Language Club.

The Class of 1941 was the first of the wartime-accelerated classes, graduating in February 1941.

JAY CRITTENDEN MOSS

Long Beach, California

Jay received the nickname, "Honest George," along with many others, when a plebe and it seems that it will follow him always. Lest the sobriety sometimes associated with Jay be predominant, let it be said that he has been the proponent of countless jokes on his classmates which often have boomeranged in spectacular fashion.

Pursuing his academics and searching for an O. A. O. to end all O. A. O.'s, he has not yet "starred" in either but just as surely as the old battle cry, "It's gonna be different next time," rings after every exam week, he is certain to have his steadfastness of purpose rewarded. All of which shows that Jay never gives up the ship. Few are the arguments he has lost, as can be testified by his hecklers. He always closes with the punch line, "Aw, that's just your defense mechanism!"

But no matter how hard the knocks which may conic his way, one can always find a gleam in his eye, a ready "crack" on his tongue, and plenty of vim, vigor, and vitality.

Quarterdeck Society 2, 1; Language Club.

The Class of 1941 was the first of the wartime-accelerated classes, graduating in February 1941.

Loss

Jay was lost when his PV-1 Ventura patrol bomber had a mid-air collision with Ventura "near Lake City Naval Air Station at Lake City, Fla."

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Jay graduated from Poly High School in 1936 as president of the senior class, vice president of Ad Club, and a member of Comus Club.
He served two years in the South Pacific aboard a cruiser and was stationed at Pearl Harbor at the time of the attack. He participated in seven major naval battles. He trained at Dallas and graduated from Pensacola flying school in December 1943. He was detailed as an instructor at Pensacola.
Jay was survived by his widow, the former Gloria Dale Wetterer whom he married on May 4, 1943; parents Gordon and Elizabeth; and sister Joyce. His father ran a poultry ranch in 1930 and was a salesman for a gasoline refinery in 1940.

He is buried in California.

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.