ROBERT C. HAVEN, LTJG, USN

Robert Haven '30

Date of birth: April 9, 1906

Date of death: January 29, 1935

Age: 28

Lucky Bag

From the 1930 Lucky Bag:

ROBERT CLARENCE HAVEN

Grand Forks, North Dakota

"Benny" "Bob"

AFTER capturing the state honors on the cinders, Bob bent his course towards the Naval Academy. Still not satisfied with his victories on the track he stopped off at Chicago and took several honors in the national school boys' classics. Determined to become a naval officer, Bob met and passed the acid tests and started his brilliant career as a midshipman.

As a Plebe, Bob was famous for the West Pointer's song, "Benny Havens, Oh," and has been left with the name Benny. Academics never were an obstacle for Benny, always standing well up in the small numbers. Besides being a fine student Benny is a warrior of many conflicts on the gridiron and lacrosse field. He also caught (punches) on the class boxing team. He has the good old Navee fight that we all like so well, for he can win in any fray if he makes up his mind to do it.

The fair sex have never occupied a prominent or necessary place in his life. Stag hops have been his joy in life and D. O.'s his afflictions. But on Sunday afternoon, Benny is always seen with one of his many crabs.

As a companion and wife, Bob cannot be equaled; a roommate who always designates everything as "ours," if they don't belong to him. And when it comes to chasing away the gloom, there are none better; he can work and smile at the same time.

"These barbers will make me bald yet."

"Second hour recitation tomorrow, fruit; did anybody buy the Saturday Evening Post yesterday?"

Football 4, 3, 2, 1, Captain B Squad 1; Boxing 4, 3, 2; Lacrosse 3, 2, 1; N—; Two Stripes.

ROBERT CLARENCE HAVEN

Grand Forks, North Dakota

"Benny" "Bob"

AFTER capturing the state honors on the cinders, Bob bent his course towards the Naval Academy. Still not satisfied with his victories on the track he stopped off at Chicago and took several honors in the national school boys' classics. Determined to become a naval officer, Bob met and passed the acid tests and started his brilliant career as a midshipman.

As a Plebe, Bob was famous for the West Pointer's song, "Benny Havens, Oh," and has been left with the name Benny. Academics never were an obstacle for Benny, always standing well up in the small numbers. Besides being a fine student Benny is a warrior of many conflicts on the gridiron and lacrosse field. He also caught (punches) on the class boxing team. He has the good old Navee fight that we all like so well, for he can win in any fray if he makes up his mind to do it.

The fair sex have never occupied a prominent or necessary place in his life. Stag hops have been his joy in life and D. O.'s his afflictions. But on Sunday afternoon, Benny is always seen with one of his many crabs.

As a companion and wife, Bob cannot be equaled; a roommate who always designates everything as "ours," if they don't belong to him. And when it comes to chasing away the gloom, there are none better; he can work and smile at the same time.

"These barbers will make me bald yet."

"Second hour recitation tomorrow, fruit; did anybody buy the Saturday Evening Post yesterday?"

Football 4, 3, 2, 1, Captain B Squad 1; Boxing 4, 3, 2; Lacrosse 3, 2, 1; N—; Two Stripes.

Loss

From Naval History and Heritage Command:

Lt. (jg) Robert C. Haven fatally injured when BF2C-1 from VB-5B flying out of the Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Va., crashed during night flight training. 29 January 1935.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

A state-wide track star in high school, Robert attended three years at Grand Forks and his senior year at Central. In the annual May festival on May 5, 1925, Robert won the ½ mile in 2 minutes, 8 1/5 seconds, and placed second in the 440 yard dash. In the 23rd annual state interscholastic field and track meet on May 22, Robert, pushed to the limit by others, won the ½ mile in 2 minutes, 6 seconds.
Robert was track captain his last two years, was Athletic Association president his senior year, was a special editor on the Centralian, the school newspaper, and played football at Grand Forks High School.
Ironically, the Central yearbook’s poem announcing the senior class was written by Tennyson: “Not of the sunlight, not of the moonlight, not of the starlight! O young Mariner, down to the haven, call your companions, launch your vessel and crowd your canvas, and, ere, it vanishes over the margin, after it, follow it, follow the gleam.” Words eerily foretelling Robert’s life and death.
Robert was survived by his mother Cora, his brother Albert, and six sisters.

He is buried in Florida.

Photographs

From his high school yearbook
From his high school yearbook

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.