JULIAN D. GREER, CAPT, USN
Julian Greer '27
Lucky Bag
From the 1927 Lucky Bag:
Julian David Greer
Marion, Kansas
"June" "Judy"
JUNE came to Annapolis from Marion High, after three years of football and two years of track at that institution. Since then, he has continually been trying to put us into a fear and reverence of his native state, and one may gain much valuable knowledge of that Paradise by listening to his lengthy discussion of its good points.
From the beginning of Plebe year, June has had tendencies toward being a ladies' man, and could be found at every hop. Since Second Class cruise, he has written consistently to a certain West Coast city, and says that the West Coast is the only place to go to on graduation.
Early Plebe year he had visions of bilging, but after much worrying and boning he found out that it was easier to let Nature have her way, and from then on spent his study hours in the task of writing letters.
Although a star athlete in his home state, June, after trying lacrosse for a year, decided to take part in the Radiator Club meetings, and any day after drill he could be heard saying, "How about a little game tonight?"
June is always ready to help anyone less savvy, and would do anything for a friend. His winning smile and hearty friendship will make a place for him in the Service.
Lacrosse: Class (4, 3) Class Numerals (4).
Julian David Greer
Marion, Kansas
"June" "Judy"
JUNE came to Annapolis from Marion High, after three years of football and two years of track at that institution. Since then, he has continually been trying to put us into a fear and reverence of his native state, and one may gain much valuable knowledge of that Paradise by listening to his lengthy discussion of its good points.
From the beginning of Plebe year, June has had tendencies toward being a ladies' man, and could be found at every hop. Since Second Class cruise, he has written consistently to a certain West Coast city, and says that the West Coast is the only place to go to on graduation.
Early Plebe year he had visions of bilging, but after much worrying and boning he found out that it was easier to let Nature have her way, and from then on spent his study hours in the task of writing letters.
Although a star athlete in his home state, June, after trying lacrosse for a year, decided to take part in the Radiator Club meetings, and any day after drill he could be heard saying, "How about a little game tonight?"
June is always ready to help anyone less savvy, and would do anything for a friend. His winning smile and hearty friendship will make a place for him in the Service.
Lacrosse: Class (4, 3) Class Numerals (4).
Loss
Julian was lost when the aircraft he was aboard crashed in a blizzard in Washington on January 28, 1953. He was aboard a PB4Y patrol plane enroute from Alameda, California to Whidbey Island, Washington. He was commanding officer of Fleet Air Wing 6, based at Alameda.
Other Information
From Julie Miller on January 10, 2022 on Julian's "Memorial Monday" post:
Hello. Julian D. Greer was my grandfather. I note in your blog under survivors that it's missing the fact that he also had two daughters at the time of his demise (my mother just passed away at 88 last year).
You may have already found this list of his commands since graduation from the Naval Academy in 1927. Somewhere I have a more specific list of his career. I do know he served on the USS Kalinin Bay (CVE 68), because my mother spoke most often of that duty station because of the ship's history.
I also know other Navy men called him "June", but my grandmother and others called him "Judy." I have a towel embroidered with that name.
From the same post on February 25, 2022:
Julian Greer was my uncle, married to my father's sister Eleanor. I never met him and was 10 at the time of his death. My understanding was that he was coming to Washington state to assume command of NAS Whidbey Island and had hitched a ride on the ill-fated Navy plane, which I believe was a PBY. The plane crashed in the Cascade Mountains, about 50 miles east of Seattle, and the wreckage wasn't found until the Spring, several months later. I remember our family waiting by the phone, hoping for news of his survival, which of course never came. My father always spoke highly of "Judy" and we hoped to visit him at Whidbey after he arrived there. I was stationed there in a VP squadron in the 60's and saw a memorial plaque with his name on the wall of an administration building. Kenton C. Jones
From researcher Kathy Franz:
In the 1922 Marion high school yearbook, Julian played right guard on the football team. “June, has been out weighed by his opponent in every game, but he has kept up the fight, believing that “the bigger they are, the harder they fall.” June will be back to fight for a position next year, and it will take an awfully good man to crowd him out of his Senior year’s work in foot ball.”
Per The Marion Review, Kansas, December 19, 1922: June is the fighting right guard. In every game June could be depended upon to be there with all his fight. He has played three years, faithfully, and is one of the men to graduate this year.
Julian attended the Citizens Military Training Camp at Ft. Des Moines, Iowa, in August 1922.
In March 1945, Julian was a member of Adm. Chester W. Nimitz’ staff in the Pacific.
Per his sisters in 1953, Julian was commander of the carrier Kalinin Bay during the latter part of World War II. He had recently returned from a tour of duty in Korea and Japan where he was commander of three carriers. He had just finished a two-week course of secret instruction at the air base in San Diego. Prior to Korea, he was commander of the air base in Atlanta, Georgia.
Julian was also survived by his wife, mother, two sisters, and a brother. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery; he also has a memory marker in Kansas.
Photographs
From his 1922 high school yearbook
From his 1922 high school yearbook
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 1928
April 1928
July 1928
October 1928
January 1929
April 1929
LT LaRue Lawbaugh '20
LT James Carney '21
LT Francis Bridget '21
LT John Jones '21
LTjg William Davis '22
LT James Craig '22
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24
LTjg Hubert Waters '25
LTjg Creighton Lankford '25
July 1929
LT LaRue Lawbaugh '20
LT James Carney '21
LT John Jones '21
LTjg William Davis '22
LT James Craig '22
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24
LTjg Walter Dey '24
LTjg Hubert Waters '25
October 1929
LT John Jones '21
LTjg William Davis '22
LT James Craig '22
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Walter Dey '24
LTjg Hubert Hayter '24
LTjg John Waldron '24
LTjg Hubert Waters '25
ENS Henry G'Sell '26
January 1930
LT Thomas Fisher '18 (Light Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24 (Light Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Charles McDonald '24 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg Charles Signer '26 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Claude Haman '26 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
ENS Henry Twohy '29 (USS Saratoga)
April 1930
LTjg Creighton Lankford '25 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
LTjg Charles Signer '26 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Claude Haman '26 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
ENS Henry Twohy '29 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Jacob Britt '29 (USS Saratoga)
October 1930
LT Van Moore '19 (USS Saratoga)
LT Dixie Kiefer '19 (USS Saratoga)
LT William Sample '19 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
LTjg Creighton Lankford '25 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
LTjg Claude Haman '26 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
LTjg Robert Symes '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Renwick Calderhead '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg John Eldridge, Jr. '27 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
ENS Weldon Hamilton '28 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
ENS Jacob Britt '29 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Charles Hart '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS James Clarkson '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Dudley Morton '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS John Craig '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS James Kyes '30 (USS Saratoga)
January 1931
LT Van Moore '19 (USS Saratoga)
LT Dixie Kiefer '19 (USS Saratoga)
LT William Sample '19 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
LTjg Creighton Lankford '25 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
LTjg Claude Haman '26 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
LTjg Robert Symes '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Renwick Calderhead '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg John Eldridge, Jr. '27 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
ENS Weldon Hamilton '28 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
ENS Jacob Britt '29 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Charles Hart '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS James Clarkson '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Dudley Morton '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS John Craig '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS James Kyes '30 (USS Saratoga)
April 1931
LT Van Moore '19 (USS Saratoga)
LT Dixie Kiefer '19 (USS Saratoga)
LT William Sample '19 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
LTjg Creighton Lankford '25 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
LTjg Claude Haman '26 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
LTjg Robert Symes '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg John Eldridge, Jr. '27 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
LTjg Warren Graf '27 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Weldon Hamilton '28 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
ENS Jacob Britt '29 (USS Saratoga)
ENS James Clarkson '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS James Kyes '30 (USS Saratoga)
July 1931
LT Van Moore '19 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg Claude Haman '26 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg Robert Symes '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Renwick Calderhead '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg John Eldridge, Jr. '27 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
ENS William Arthur '29 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
ENS Lloyd Greenamyer '29 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
ENS James Clarkson '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS James Kyes '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Leo Crane '31 (USS Saratoga)
ENS George Stone '31 (USS Saratoga)
October 1931
LCDR Oscar Erickson '16 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
LT Van Moore '19 (USS Saratoga)
LT Edwin Conway '20 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Claude Haman '26 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg Robert Symes '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Renwick Calderhead '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
ENS Weldon Hamilton '28 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
ENS Jacob Britt '29 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Lloyd Greenamyer '29 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
ENS James Clarkson '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Byron Newell '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS James Kyes '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Leo Crane '31 (USS Saratoga)
ENS George Stone '31 (USS Saratoga)
January 1932
LT Van Moore '19 (USS Saratoga)
LT Edwin Conway '20 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Claude Haman '26 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg Robert Symes '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Renwick Calderhead '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
ENS Weldon Hamilton '28 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
ENS William Arthur '29 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
ENS Lloyd Greenamyer '29 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
ENS James Clarkson '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Byron Newell '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS James Kyes '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Leo Crane '31 (USS Saratoga)
ENS George Stone '31 (USS Saratoga)
April 1932
LT Van Moore '19 (USS Saratoga)
LT Edwin Conway '20 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Robert Symes '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Renwick Calderhead '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
ENS Weldon Hamilton '28 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
ENS William Arthur '29 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
ENS Mathias Wyatt '29 (Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Force)
ENS Lloyd Greenamyer '29 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
ENS James Clarkson '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Byron Newell '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS James Kyes '30 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Leo Crane '31 (USS Saratoga)
ENS George Stone '31 (USS Saratoga)
October 1932
January 1933
April 1933
July 1933
October 1933
April 1934
July 1934
October 1934
January 1935
April 1935
October 1935
January 1936
April 1936
July 1936
January 1937
April 1937
September 1937
January 1938
July 1938
January 1939
October 1939
June 1940
November 1940
April 1941
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