JOHN O. R. COLL, LCDR, USN
John Coll '27
Date of birth: September 30, 1902
Date of death: January 21, 1943
Age: 40
Lucky Bag
From the 1927 Lucky Bag:
Loss
John was lost on January 21, 1943, when the aircraft he was aboard crashed near Ukiah, California while enroute from Pearl Harbor to San Francisco. The flying boat, a Pan Am Clipper, was being operated by Pan Am employees but was a contracted Navy flight, and all ten passengers were Navy officers.
He was the gunnery and torpedo officer on the staff of Commander, Submarines Pacific.
He was survived by his wife; they are buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Legion of Merit
From Hall of Valor:
(Citation Needed) - SYNOPSIS: Commander John O. R. Coll, United States Navy, was awarded the Legion of Merit (Posthumously) for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States as gunnery and Torpedo Officer on the staff of Commander Submarines Pacific from the outbreak of hostilities in 1941 to January 1943.
General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 355 (October 1946)
Service: Navy
Rank: Commander
Related Articles
Robert English '11, Donald Godwin '11, Robert Smith '20, John Crane '26, Francis Black '26, William Myers '26, and George Stone '31 were also lost in the crash of Pan Am Flight 1104. Eight of the ten passengers were Naval Academy graduates.
Class of 1927
John is one of 43 members of the Class of 1927 in Memorial Hall.
