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.

REAMOR E. DELABARRE, LTJG, USN

From USNA Virtual Memorial Hall
Reamor Delabarre '27

Date of birth: January 3, 1906

Date of death: November 1, 1938

Age: 32

Lucky Bag

From the 1927 Lucky Bag:

1927 DeLaBarre LB.jpg

Reamor Evans De La Barre

Funk, Nebraska

"Reamor" "Dely" "Red"

THE casual observer frequently errs in his judgment of lanky men. There are those who opine that the ideal type designed to produce prolonged fluttering in feminine hearts is designed on a generous scale and originates in the wider of the open spaces, sometimes known as the Corn Belt. This is not always the case, and we are happy to present a Red Mike of the deepest dye, who comes from so far out in the silo country that his mental attitude still wavers between soy beans and sweet clover. It took him a year on the Severn to really learn to know himself, but after having met and become fully acquainted with the fascinating personality that was his, he blossomed forth as a cornfed philosopher, and resulting epigrams are history.

His activities have been confined to those quaint Swedish observances practiced in the gymnasium. He has spent five happy years on the weak squad, to say nothing of the more onerous hours learning to swim.

Reamor is a man ordinarily hard to know. He keeps his own counsel, and covers beneath an apparently stolid exterior a wealth of grey matter, a keen wit, and a sturdy sense of humor. It is unfortunate that his aversion to work, and more particularly to study, is so pronounced. But we believe he will get there.

1927 DeLaBarre LB.jpg

Reamor Evans De La Barre

Funk, Nebraska

"Reamor" "Dely" "Red"

THE casual observer frequently errs in his judgment of lanky men. There are those who opine that the ideal type designed to produce prolonged fluttering in feminine hearts is designed on a generous scale and originates in the wider of the open spaces, sometimes known as the Corn Belt. This is not always the case, and we are happy to present a Red Mike of the deepest dye, who comes from so far out in the silo country that his mental attitude still wavers between soy beans and sweet clover. It took him a year on the Severn to really learn to know himself, but after having met and become fully acquainted with the fascinating personality that was his, he blossomed forth as a cornfed philosopher, and resulting epigrams are history.

His activities have been confined to those quaint Swedish observances practiced in the gymnasium. He has spent five happy years on the weak squad, to say nothing of the more onerous hours learning to swim.

Reamor is a man ordinarily hard to know. He keeps his own counsel, and covers beneath an apparently stolid exterior a wealth of grey matter, a keen wit, and a sturdy sense of humor. It is unfortunate that his aversion to work, and more particularly to study, is so pronounced. But we believe he will get there.

Loss

Reamor died by suicide on November 1, 1938 aboard USS Oahu (PR 6) in the Whangpoo River, China. He was the gunnery officer.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Reamor enlisted in the Navy on June 21, 1922. He was appointed to the Naval Academy by Congressman W. E. Andrews.

In May, 1929, he attended the Chemical Warfare School at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland.

He married Helen Elizabeth Bechtold, a school teacher, and they had one son, Reamor, Jr., born April 5, 1934, in San Diego.

In April, 1935, he was detached from the USS Brazos and assigned to the Naval Academy. He was next assigned to the 13th district, Seattle, in June, 1936.

In March, 1937, he was assigned to Yangtze patrol; and in April, his wife and son sailed from Hong Kong to Seattle.

Reamor’s father Charles was a stockbroker. The family lived in Denver in 1910, and his parents divorced by 1918. In 1920, he lived with his mother Amelia in Hamilton, Montana. Later, his mother was a school teacher in Funk, Nebraska. In the spring of 1925, she joined her sons, Reamor and Cecil, in Blacksburg, Virginia, where she later died.

He has a memorial marker in Arlington National Cemetery.

Photographs

Spelling of Last Name

Though it occurs variously with and without spaces, believe that Memorial Hall's no-spaces spelling is most correct. It appears this way ("DeLaBarre") on his headstone, and the headstones of several of his family.

Memorial Hall Error

Suicide is not a criteria for inclusion in Memorial Hall.


Class of 1927

Reamor is one of 43 members of the Class of 1927 on Virtual Memorial Hall.

QR code

The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.