ROBERT L. VAUGHAN, LT, USN
Robert Vaughan '14
Lucky Bag
From the 1914 Lucky Bag:
Robert Louis Vaughan
Texarkana, Texas
"Tex" "Billiken" "Cherub"
BEGONE, lubbers! Efface yourselves, ye nonentities, and stand clear while the human Tower or Babel distributes himself among you. This is little Bobbie Vaughan, champion handsome man of Texas. Be careful! the cause of those blonde eyebrows is a state secret (obtainable in bottles at the store).
Tex is really one of the main tent exhibits of our class. From the start he took a leading place in athletics and has had a throttle hold on football and crew for four years. N. B. He also holds several inter-company Mexican A. A. Records.
It would indeed be hard to find a sunnier disposition than that of our dear little Billiken. He is so congenial that he never fails to make friends and to hold them until he begins to sing.
Afloat, Tex becomes a different man. He was one of a gang of misguided athletes who took a dinghy ashore at six o'clock every morning, and was also one of the inexperienced youths who were so amazed at the sumptuous elegance of the W. O. quarters that they forgot to "beat it" at the critical moment.
The place to view Tex to advantage is at a quarter-deck hop. He smooths down his locks, adjusts his smile, selects some pale, tiny, delicate little damsel, and, bending over her like a weeping willow over a violet, wiggles off with the ease of a plebe rating youngster for the first time. Always happy, full of nonsense, and ofttimes overwhelmingly ludicrous, Tex will leave a broad trail of sunshine wherever he goes.
"Gimme a drag, kid!"
Bird (5th Co.); Football Numerals (4); 1914 Cross-oared Crew; Wrestling Heavyweight Championship (3); Crew (3, 2, 1); Crew N (3); Football (3,2, I); Football N* (2) ; B. S. (4, 3, 2, 1).
Robert Louis Vaughan
Texarkana, Texas
"Tex" "Billiken" "Cherub"
BEGONE, lubbers! Efface yourselves, ye nonentities, and stand clear while the human Tower or Babel distributes himself among you. This is little Bobbie Vaughan, champion handsome man of Texas. Be careful! the cause of those blonde eyebrows is a state secret (obtainable in bottles at the store).
Tex is really one of the main tent exhibits of our class. From the start he took a leading place in athletics and has had a throttle hold on football and crew for four years. N. B. He also holds several inter-company Mexican A. A. Records.
It would indeed be hard to find a sunnier disposition than that of our dear little Billiken. He is so congenial that he never fails to make friends and to hold them until he begins to sing.
Afloat, Tex becomes a different man. He was one of a gang of misguided athletes who took a dinghy ashore at six o'clock every morning, and was also one of the inexperienced youths who were so amazed at the sumptuous elegance of the W. O. quarters that they forgot to "beat it" at the critical moment.
The place to view Tex to advantage is at a quarter-deck hop. He smooths down his locks, adjusts his smile, selects some pale, tiny, delicate little damsel, and, bending over her like a weeping willow over a violet, wiggles off with the ease of a plebe rating youngster for the first time. Always happy, full of nonsense, and ofttimes overwhelmingly ludicrous, Tex will leave a broad trail of sunshine wherever he goes.
"Gimme a drag, kid!"
Bird (5th Co.); Football Numerals (4); 1914 Cross-oared Crew; Wrestling Heavyweight Championship (3); Crew (3, 2, 1); Crew N (3); Football (3,2, I); Football N* (2) ; B. S. (4, 3, 2, 1).
Loss
Robert was lost on February 26, 1920 when the seaplane he was aboard as an observer crashed near Agua Dulce, Panama.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Robert went by his middle name Louis in his youth.
From the Houston Post, June 5, 1910:
Annapolis, Md., June 2. – Louis Vaughan, 18 years old, tall, broad-shouldered, and impatient, is at the Church Home and Infirmary waiting for his “trigger” finger to get well, so he can enter the United States naval academy. Until the first digit on his right hand assumes its normal shape he will have to forego the pleasures of being a plebe at Uncle Sam’s training school for the navy, and thereby hangs a tale.
Here’s the way it happened:
Young Vaughan was appointed to the naval academy by Senator Culberson of Texas, and straightway hied himself to Annapolis to undergo treatment by one of the foremost coaches down there. After a very studious month he was passed by the examining board and told to prepare for the physical examination.
That was easy for Vaughan. His six feet three contains all the necessities for a hundred per cent mark on physical make-up, so he went on his way rejoicing, dreaming of the day when he would be a power in the great American navy.
Last April a big man delivered a package of laundry to the young Texas (his home is in Texarkana) and three days later the man met Vaughan on the street in Annapolis. The man said that Vaughan hadn’t paid the right amount for the wash, and in the argument the man used a short and ugly word, a word which down in Texas has caused a great deal of trouble.
A second later the man was stretched out on a bit of grass, with his eyes peacefully closed in sleep. Vaughan looked at him, and seeing that he was out of the way of passing traffic, went on about his business.
As he strolled up one of Annapolis’ streets he felt a kink in his right hand and then a sharp pain, and as it continued to swell he went to a doctor’s office to have it fixed. It was dressed and began to improve. Soon it was forgotten as an agency of trouble, and the young Texas prepared for his physical test necessary to enter the academy.
The examination board said that Vaughan was all right and, after hearing the incident which caused his injured hand, declared that he was as good with his fists as the ordinary United States regulation six-pounder, but that because his finger was broken he would be debarred for admission to the academy. The fact that it was his “trigger” finger decided the case.
Senator Culberson was sick in New York at the time and Vaughan went to see Congressman Shepherd of Texas and told him his trouble. He was sent to Surgeon General Stokes and, after examining the injured finger, the surgeon general pronounced it a bad fracture. It developed that Vaughan had not only broken his first finger, but had shattered a bone in his hand and dislocated his first knuckle joint.
What became of the man?” asked the surgeon general.
“I left him in the road,” said the Texan, “and never thought to inquire further.”
“I’ll bet he’s dead,” laughed the physician, “or at least he’ll never be the same again.”
General Stokes advised Vaughan to see an orthopedic surgeon and have the injured finger given immediate attention. Vaughan came to Baltimore and sought out Dr. William S. Baer. It was necessary to break the finger and reset it, which was done last Friday. Vaughan is now at the hospital with splints and bandages enveloping his whole arm from the elbow down and impatiently awaiting the time when he can go back to Annapolis. Dr. Baer says the hand will get well, but advised the young man to use a low gear next time he meets a recalcitrant laundry gent.
Robert married Ethel Louise Lee on December 30, 1915, in Manhattan, New York.
Robert had orders to transfer to Honolulu shortly. After his death, his father brought his daughter-in-law and grandsons to live with him in Honolulu.
Robert was survived by his wife, Ethel Louise Lee Vaughan, and two young sons, Henry Lee Vaughan (later retired USN Captain), and Robert Louis Vaughan, Jr. (later USNA '40). He was also survived by his father, Horace Worth Vaughan, who was at the time a US District Court judge in Hawaii and later a Representative and Senator from Texas.
Robert is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Photographs
From the 1914 Lucky Bag
Caption from Find A Grave: ""Bobby" Vaughan is shown here in his football gear, from a picture taken of the US Naval Academy football team, in the Fall of 1913. The complete photo is available on "Shorpy's site"."
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 1916
January 1917
March 1918
January 1919
January 1920
Career
Researcher Kathy Franz located an information card for Robert. In addition to some information already above, it records:
Duty OLYMPIA: 11/7/16 - 7/6/17
Duty FULTON, under instruction: 7/9/17 - 11/16/17
Duty under instruction in submarines, New London, Conn.: 11/16/17 - 3/8/18
Duty Union Iron Works, San Francisco, Calif., in connection with the fitting out of the R-18, and for duty on board when commissioned: 3/20/18 - 11/16/19.
Oddly enough, this document does not give his final duty assignment.
He was promoted to Ensign upon graduation, 6/6/14; Lieutenant (jg) on 6/6/17; and Lieutenant (temporary) on 8/31/17.
Note on Date of Death
Though his headstone has February 22, official records and contemporaneous newspaper clippings have February 26 as his date of death.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
