JOHN L. EVERETT, JR., LT, USNR

John Everett, Jr. '32

Date of birth: March 17, 1911

Date of death: January 10, 1943

Age: 31

Lucky Bag

From the 1932 Lucky Bag:

JOHN LEAK EVERETT, JR.

Rockingham, North Carolina

"John L."

"And Marse Jim beat that [n------] [edited by VMH] 'til he was daid." Thus our first introduction to the rebel-born, mammy-reared, and plantation-bred John L. The story is of no importance—but he's got all the ideas in his head that the quotation implies, such as Legree-esque overseers and rolling fields of cotton and pickaninnies playing around the barns and the coach rolling up to the door with the "marstuh back from the woe." Our John is a real Southern gentleman.

But he's a tea houn'. Doggone his soul, he is. With his other Tarheel companions in crime, he makes the rounds of the Annapolitan parlors of a Sunday afternoon. Thus has he earned himself entree into all the back parlors and salons which, to the common chaff standing on the outside looking in, have assumed the proportions of a mystic shrine.

He dabbles here and there in athletics. His chief claim to fame is as a swimmer, but he has, at various times, touched lightly, as becomes a Southerner, football, lacrosse, water polo, and the faintest suggestion of soccer.

Swimming; 2 P.O.

JOHN LEAK EVERETT, JR.

Rockingham, North Carolina

"John L."

"And Marse Jim beat that [n------] [edited by VMH] 'til he was daid." Thus our first introduction to the rebel-born, mammy-reared, and plantation-bred John L. The story is of no importance—but he's got all the ideas in his head that the quotation implies, such as Legree-esque overseers and rolling fields of cotton and pickaninnies playing around the barns and the coach rolling up to the door with the "marstuh back from the woe." Our John is a real Southern gentleman.

But he's a tea houn'. Doggone his soul, he is. With his other Tarheel companions in crime, he makes the rounds of the Annapolitan parlors of a Sunday afternoon. Thus has he earned himself entree into all the back parlors and salons which, to the common chaff standing on the outside looking in, have assumed the proportions of a mystic shrine.

He dabbles here and there in athletics. His chief claim to fame is as a swimmer, but he has, at various times, touched lightly, as becomes a Southerner, football, lacrosse, water polo, and the faintest suggestion of soccer.

Swimming; 2 P.O.

Loss

John was lost when USS Argonaut (APS 1) was sunk by a Japanese surface forces near Rabaul on January 10, 1943.

His wife was listed as next of kin.

Memorial Hall Error

John's memory marker, the September 1946 issue of Shipmate, and the June 1943 All Hands Bulletin all identify him as a LT, USNR; he is listed as "LCDR, USN" in Memorial Hall.

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.

October 1932

Ensign, USS West Virginia

Others at this command: CDR James Logan '10, LTjg Francis Jordan '29, ENS Philip Ashworth '31, ENS Ernest Hodge '32, and ENS John Speer '32.

Others at or embarked at this command: LTjg Ted Marshall '24 (Observation Plane Squadron (VO) 4B).

January 1933

Ensign, USS West Virginia

Others at this command: CDR James Logan '10, LTjg Francis Jordan '29, ENS Philip Ashworth '31, ENS Ernest Hodge '32, and ENS John Speer '32.

Others at or embarked at this command: LTjg Ted Marshall '24 (Observation Plane Squadron (VO) 4B).

April 1933

Ensign, USS West Virginia

Others at this command: CDR James Logan '10, LTjg Francis Jordan '29, ENS Philip Ashworth '31, ENS Ernest Hodge '32, and ENS John Speer '32.

Others at or embarked at this command: LTjg Ted Marshall '24 (Observation Plane Squadron (VO) 4B) and ENS Willis Thomas '31 (Battleship Division 4).

July 1933

Ensign, USS West Virginia

Others at this command: CDR James Logan '10, ENS Philip Ashworth '31, ENS Ernest Hodge '32, ENS John Speer '32, and ENS Ludwell Pickett, Jr. '33.

Others at or embarked at this command: ENS Willis Thomas '31 (Battleship Division 4).

October 1933

resigned August 15, 1933

November 1940

Lieutenant (j.g.), naval reserve, Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 2, Norfolk, Virginia

April 1941

Lieutenant (j.g.), naval reserve, USS Schenck

Others at this command: ENS Wade Shaffer, Jr. '38.

Class of 1932

John is one of 52 members of the Class of 1932 on Virtual Memorial Hall.