JOHN L. BRAINERD, LT, USN
John Brainerd '55
Lucky Bag
From the 1955 Lucky Bag:
JOHN LOWELL BRAINERD
Norfolk, Virginia
During his stay at Navy John succeeded in what most of us have tried at one time or other — dragging every weekend and then hitting those books all week. The rest of us let these activities lap over. John had the attributes for such a life as could be evidenced by his progress on the wrestling team — won his N Plebe year — and his fine class standing. Summer cruises were a pleasure for John because he enjoyed the relaxation — and work? We are sure that John will be respected in the future as a result of his fine traits.
JOHN LOWELL BRAINERD
Norfolk, Virginia
During his stay at Navy John succeeded in what most of us have tried at one time or other — dragging every weekend and then hitting those books all week. The rest of us let these activities lap over. John had the attributes for such a life as could be evidenced by his progress on the wrestling team — won his N Plebe year — and his fine class standing. Summer cruises were a pleasure for John because he enjoyed the relaxation — and work? We are sure that John will be respected in the future as a result of his fine traits.
Loss
John was lost on September 19, 1960 when the S2F Tracker plane he was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean 300 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The copilot was also killed; they were members of Air Anti-Submarine Squadron (VS) 26.
Other Information
From the November 1960 issue of Shipmate:
We are deeply saddened by the loss of JOHN LOWELL BRAINERD, who lost his life as a result of an aircraft accident on 19 Sept 1960 which occurred during ASW operations at sea with VS-26 aboard the USS RANDOLPH. He had been flying with Task Group Alfa for 2 years. He is survived by his widow, Roberta Gross Brainerd, and 3 children, Roberta, John and Philip.
From researcher Kathy Franz:
In May 1950, John played a Roman soldier in the drama “The Triumph of Love.” It was presented in the Elm Avenue Methodist Church by the Men's Christian Fellowship of Oakdale Presbyterian Church of Norfolk.
John attended three years at Norview High School in Norfolk where he played football and was a member of the Mechanical Drawing Club.
He graduated from the Falls Church High School in 1951: “Johnny”—Norfolk, Va. 1-2-3; Football tackle 4; Track 4; Jaguar Staff 4; Forensic Club, Sec. 4; Debating Team 4; F.C.H.S. Representative in State Wrestling Meet 4.
His wife was the former Roberta Gross. In 1958 John was stationed in Pensacola when his son John, Jr., was born. Son Philip was born in 1959 when John was stationed in Norfolk.
John wrote a letter to the editor which was published in The Pensacola News-Journal on January 5, 1958:
I concur wholeheartedly with your editorial in today's (Jan. 2) paper. However, I would like to amplify on one point. As long as we continue trying to achieve parity with Communist technological and scientific advances, we will continue falling behind until we wake up one day staring down the barrel of a new superweapon with which we cannot possibly cope. I'm sure everyone realizes this is the problem, but all we seem to be doing about it is parrying the thrusts as they come. Some of the congressional leaders have been talking about bipartisanship. This is a good brand if they carry it out. While the Russians have been conquering space, our congressional representatives and senators have been conquering voters.
One thing we most assuredly need, perhaps not the most important single project, but one which definitely should have a high priority, is an integrated space conquest program. Of course, it is a shame we did not embark on such a project right after World War II, or earlier, in 1926, when one of our own scientists, Prof. Robert H. Goddard, successfully launched the first liquid-fueled rocket at Auburn, Mass.
A manned space station is an essential step on the road toward space conquest. It would be like a large submarine in orbit 1,000 miles from the earth. Aside from the obvious benefits accrued from such an enterprise, finding out more about space, feasibility of shooting rockets to the moon and closer planets, experience in combatting the problems of living in space, the scientific experiments and technological advances which could be made would adequately justify the expenses of the project. Different fields such as meteorology, astronomy, biology, communications, mapping and navigation would reap tremendous rewards. As we unlock the secrets of the cosmos, who knows what new energy sources we may find?
Everyone but the most naïve among us knows that we can't put a manned satellite into space by simply building larger rockets and developing better fuels. There are several problems facing the rocket engineers and scientists which can only be overcome by an integrated space conquest program. We must figure out where we are going, and plan to conquer the obstacles facing us methodically instead of flailing around, initiating several different crash programs to meet crises as they come up. The services should work on related aspects of the program, and all research data should be made available to all services and corporations working with them.
We must be willing to spend the time, energy and money which will be necessary for this program. The costs will seem prohibitive, but the results will justify the expenses. We have two choices. We can attain space supremacy and our position as leader of the free world, or we can settle back and take second place in science and technology and become slaves in a Communist dominated world.
He has a memory marker in Arlington National Cemetery.
Photographs
From the Lucky Bag
John and Phillip.
Phil and John from their 1951 high school yearbook
Phil and John from the Ledger Star on January 20, 1950
John on the 1950 high school wrestling team
Related Articles
John's brother, Phillip Brainerd '56, was lost in an aircraft crash almost exactly a year and a half before.
Bobby Broome '57 was also lost in this crash.
Robert Bartlett '55 was also in the 13th Company; they share the same page in the Lucky Bag.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.