Miguel Nava '17
On February 7, 2024 Captain Miguel Nava, USMC '17 was killed in a helicopter crash. Please consider a donation to his family to honor his service, and the incredible sacrifice of his wife and five-month-old son.

JOHN F. GILLON, LCDR, USN

From USNA Virtual Memorial Hall
John Gillon '20

Date of birth: September 21, 1896

Date of death: May 7, 1937

Age: 40

Lucky Bag

From the 1920 Lucky Bag:

1920 Gillon LB.jpg

John Francis Gillon

Taunton, Massachusetts

"Jack"

HERE'S the negatively rhino bird from Massachusetts, always cheerful, ready with a smile and a helping word for the rest of the gang (we poor unfortunates always seeing reflections of the U-boat in our mirrors, or else our names on the Ac Department's weekly effort) for he is both savvy and blessed with regness. He does have a habit of not being findable toward the end of a meal, but that only worries his three-striper; and on the cruise his habit of showing up at 12:30 a. m. is annoying, but he always is able to explain it away so that it doesn't make any difference anyway.

He is a follower (and often one of the followed) of the great American game, and spring always finds him out on the diamond at second base.

You can be sure that the squad will never get rhino, and that a division always will come through with him in it. So here's hoping we get in that division if we haven't made that squad.

Honors: Buzzard; Baseball Squad, 4, 3, 1.


The Class of 1920 was graduated in June 1919 due to World War I. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.

1920 Gillon LB.jpg

John Francis Gillon

Taunton, Massachusetts

"Jack"

HERE'S the negatively rhino bird from Massachusetts, always cheerful, ready with a smile and a helping word for the rest of the gang (we poor unfortunates always seeing reflections of the U-boat in our mirrors, or else our names on the Ac Department's weekly effort) for he is both savvy and blessed with regness. He does have a habit of not being findable toward the end of a meal, but that only worries his three-striper; and on the cruise his habit of showing up at 12:30 a. m. is annoying, but he always is able to explain it away so that it doesn't make any difference anyway.

He is a follower (and often one of the followed) of the great American game, and spring always finds him out on the diamond at second base.

You can be sure that the squad will never get rhino, and that a division always will come through with him in it. So here's hoping we get in that division if we haven't made that squad.

Honors: Buzzard; Baseball Squad, 4, 3, 1.


The Class of 1920 was graduated in June 1919 due to World War I. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.

Loss

John was lost on May 7, 1937, when his aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from USS Saratoga (CV 2). He was the commanding officer of Scouting Squadron (VS) 2B.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

John graduated from the grammar and high school department of St. Mary’s parochial school. He was valedictorian of the class of 1915. He next attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In November, 1915, Congressman William S. Greene received a report that John had scored the highest on the final examination for admission the Naval Academy and was therefore the principal candidate.

John married Eileen O’Neil in 1922. Their daughter Marie was born in February, 1923, in Connecticut.

On August 29, 1934, in Rome, Italy, Premier Benito Mussolini conferred high decorations on 99 Americans who aided General Italo Balbo’s 24-plane armada to Chicago in July 1933. John was listed among the 99 and was made an Officer of the Crown. [The day John died, Mussolini banned all but three English newspapers charging the English press with “conducting a campaign of lies” in regard to Italian defeats in Spain].

Per The Boston Globe, May 8, 1937: Lieut. Gillon was considered an authority on aviation. He had made several maps and written several books on aviation and Col. Lindbergh is said to have used both maps and books that were published by Lieut. Gillon. He prized a personal letter from Lindbergh complimenting him on his books on aviation.

He was survived by his wife, Eileen, and two daughters, Marie and Nancy.

From Marie's obituary:

Her father, John Francis Gillon, was a graduate of the US Naval Academy and had a distinguished military career as a pilot in the US Navy. Her mother Eileen, sister Nancy, and she moved often, mostly in the east and west coasts of the United States, to be where Lt. Commander Gillon was stationed.

In 1937, her father died when the airplane he was flying off the USS Saratoga crashed into the ocean during military maneuvers. Eileen, Nancy, and Marie then moved to the family home in Rhode Island, and after one year drove back across the country to reside in Point Loma, San Diego.

Marie was a member of the WAVES during WWII; she included it on her headstone sixty years later.

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.

January 1920
Ensign, USS Rhode Island

January 1921
Ensign, staff, Destroyer Force, Pacific Fleet

Others at this command:
January 1922
Ensign, USS LaVallette
May 1923
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS T-2
July 1923
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS R-15

Others at this command:
September 1923
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS R-15
November 1923
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS R-15
January 1924
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS R-15
March 1924
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS R-15
May 1924
Lieutenant (j.g.), commanding officer, USS R-15
July 1924
Lieutenant (j.g.), commanding officer, USS R-15
September 1924
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS R-15
November 1924
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS R-15
January 1925
Lieutenant (j.g.), commanding officer, USS R-15
March 1925
Lieutenant (j.g.), commanding officer, USS R-17
May 1925
Lieutenant (j.g.), commanding officer, USS R-17
July 1925
Lieutenant (j.g.), Receiving Ship, San Francisco

Others at this command:
October 1926
Lieutenant, staff, Aircraft Squadrons, Scouting Fleet, USS Wright

Others at this command:
January 1927
Lieutenant, Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 1

April 1927
Lieutenant, Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 1

October 1927
Lieutenant, Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 9S

Others at this command:
January 1928
Lieutenant, Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 9S

April 1928
Lieutenant, Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 9S

October 1930
Lieutenant, Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 5S, USS Marblehead

Others at or embarked at USS Marblehead:
ENS Victor Gaulin '30 (USS Marblehead)
January 1931
Lieutenant, Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 5S, USS Marblehead

Others at or embarked at USS Marblehead:
ENS Victor Gaulin '30 (USS Marblehead)
April 1931
Lieutenant, Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 5S, USS Marblehead

Others at or embarked at USS Marblehead:
ENS Victor Gaulin '30 (USS Marblehead)
July 1931
Lieutenant, Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 5S, USS Marblehead

Others at or embarked at USS Marblehead:
LT Raymond Tuttle '22 (USS Marblehead)
ENS Victor Gaulin '30 (USS Marblehead)
October 1931
Lieutenant, Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 5S, USS Marblehead

Others at or embarked at USS Marblehead:
LT Raymond Tuttle '22 (USS Marblehead)
January 1932
Lieutenant, Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 5S, USS Marblehead

Others at or embarked at USS Marblehead:
LT Raymond Tuttle '22 (USS Marblehead)
April 1932
Lieutenant, Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 5S, USS Marblehead

Others at or embarked at USS Marblehead:
LT Raymond Tuttle '22 (USS Marblehead)
October 1932
Lieutenant, Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D.C.

January 1933
Lieutenant, Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D.C.

April 1933
Lieutenant, Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D.C.

July 1933
Lieutenant, Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D.C.

October 1933
Lieutenant, Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D.C.

April 1934
Lieutenant, Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D.C.

July 1934
Lieutenant, Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D.C.

October 1934
Lieutenant, Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D.C.

January 1935
Lieutenant, Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D.C.

April 1935
Lieutenant, Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D.C.

Others at this command:
October 1935
Lieutenant, Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B, USS Saratoga


Others at or embarked at USS Saratoga:
CDR Walter Webster '11 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LT Arnold Isbell '21 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LT Charles McDonald '24 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Charles Signer '26 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Ralph Smith '26 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg Harold Richards '27 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LTjg Elmer Cooper '27 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Leonard Southerland '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Ford Wallace '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg James Murphy '31 (Torpedo Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Thomas Ashworth, Jr. '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Alfred Tucker, III '31 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg Albert Gates, Jr. '32 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Paul Burton '33 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Wendell Froling '34 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Maurice Fitzgerald '35 (USS Saratoga)
January 1936
Lieutenant Commander, Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B, USS Saratoga


Others at or embarked at USS Saratoga:
CDR Walter Webster '11 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LT Arnold Isbell '21 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LT Charles McDonald '24 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LT Richard Moss '24 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Charles Signer '26 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Harold Richards '27 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LTjg Elmer Cooper '27 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Leonard Southerland '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Ford Wallace '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg James Murphy '31 (Torpedo Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Thomas Ashworth, Jr. '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Albert Gates, Jr. '32 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg Edwin Hurst '32 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
ENS Wendell Froling '34 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Maurice Fitzgerald '35 (USS Saratoga)
April 1936
Lieutenant Commander, Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B, USS Saratoga


Others at or embarked at USS Saratoga:
CDR Walter Webster '11 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LT Arnold Isbell '21 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LT Charles McDonald '24 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LT Richard Moss '24 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Charles Signer '26 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Harold Richards '27 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LTjg Elmer Cooper '27 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Leonard Southerland '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Ford Wallace '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg James Murphy '31 (Torpedo Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Thomas Ashworth, Jr. '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Albert Gates, Jr. '32 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg Edwin Hurst '32 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
ENS Wendell Froling '34 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Maurice Fitzgerald '35 (USS Saratoga)
July 1936
Lieutenant Commander, Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B, USS Saratoga

Others at this command:

Others at or embarked at USS Saratoga:
LT Charles McDonald '24 (Torpedo Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LT Richard Moss '24 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Elmer Cooper '27 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Gerald Dyson '27 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Leonard Southerland '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg William Pye, Jr. '28 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg John Collett '29 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LTjg Lloyd Greenamyer '29 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LTjg Finley Hall '29 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LTjg Ford Wallace '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Thomas Ashworth, Jr. '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Albert Gates, Jr. '32 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg George Bellinger '32 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Edwin Hurst '32 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
ENS Wendell Froling '34 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Maurice Fitzgerald '35 (USS Saratoga)
January 1937
Lieutenant Commander, commanding officer, Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B, USS Saratoga

Others at or embarked at USS Saratoga:
LCDR Dixie Kiefer '19 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LT John Waldron '24 (USS Saratoga)
LT Richard Moss '24 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LT Gerald Dyson '27 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Leonard Southerland '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LT William Pye, Jr. '28 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg John Collett '29 (Torpedo Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Ford Wallace '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Thomas Ashworth, Jr. '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Clarence Kasparek '32 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 4B)
LTjg Albert Gates, Jr. '32 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg George Bellinger '32 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Edwin Hurst '32 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
ENS Maurice Fitzgerald '35 (USS Saratoga)
April 1937
Lieutenant Commander, commanding officer, Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B, USS Saratoga

Others at or embarked at USS Saratoga:
LCDR Dixie Kiefer '19 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LT John Waldron '24 (USS Saratoga)
LT Richard Moss '24 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LT Gerald Dyson '27 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LT Leonard Southerland '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LT William Pye, Jr. '28 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg John Collett '29 (Torpedo Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Ford Wallace '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Thomas Ashworth, Jr. '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Clarence Kasparek '32 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 4B)
LTjg Albert Gates, Jr. '32 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg George Bellinger '32 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Edwin Hurst '32 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
ENS Maurice Fitzgerald '35 (USS Saratoga)

Memorial Hall Error

Memorial Hall has his rank as CDR; all references found (and his headstone) are LCDR.


Class of 1920

John is one of 27 members of the Class of 1920 on Virtual Memorial Hall.

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