TRUMAN E. CARPENTER, LTJG, USN
Truman Carpenter '32
Lucky Bag
From the 1932 Lucky Bag:
Loss
Truman was lost on January 5, 1938 when the seaplane he was aboard crashed approximately 100 miles from Hawaii while on a training flight. Six others aboard were also lost.
He has a memory marker in California.
He earned his wings as naval aviator #4157 on October 30, 1935.
Family & Remembrance
From Truman's granddaughter, Susan Holte, via email on January 24, 2020:
My grandfather married my grandmother just after he graduated from the Naval Academy and had two daughters before he died. My grandmother was Marguerite Hyde, nickname Maggie. Their first daughter was Patricia Carpenter, born 2/25/1933, and my mother, Sally Ann Carpenter was the youngest, born 11/12/1936. Grandfather's loss devastated my grandmother and she never remarried. Both my mother and aunt have passed away.
Aunt Patty married and had one child, Michael Winters who is alive. My mother married a Naval Academy graduate (class of 1955) and they had 5 children. Our father and my youngest brother have passed away also.
I heard stories of him. He was a humorous, thoughtful, intelligent man. He was well loved by everyone.
My grandmother held the belief for most of the years I knew her, that my grandfather was lost on a Pacific Island. She thought he had been captured by the Japanese. Our government did not give her information about his death and classified the information refusing to tell her anything about the incident. They pronounced him dead very soon after the incident. I have since found out that the plane likely exploded when the copilot mixed the fuel. They found a design flaw and changed the design after the incident. It's a shame they didn't tell her.
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.
October 1932
Ensign, USS Maryland
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
January 1933
Ensign, USS Maryland
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
April 1933
Ensign, USS Maryland
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
July 1933
Ensign, USS Maryland
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
October 1933
Ensign, USS Maryland
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
April 1934
Ensign, USS Maryland
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
July 1934
Ensign, USS Maryland
Others at this command:
October 1934
Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
Others at this command:
LTjg John Duke '26
LTjg Ralph Smith '26
LTjg Lorenz Forbes '31
LTjg Ford Wallace '31
LTjg William Freshour '31
LTjg Vernon Hain '31
January 1935
Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
Others at this command:
LT James Craig '22
LTjg John Duke '26
LTjg Ralph Smith '26
1LT Harold Bauer '30
LTjg Vernon Hain '31
LTjg Thomas Ashworth, Jr. '31
ENS Edward Allen '31
April 1935
Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
Others at this command:
LT James Craig '22
LTjg John Duke '26
LTjg Ralph Smith '26
LTjg Robert Coates '30
1LT Nicholas Pusel '30
1LT Harold Bauer '30
LTjg Vernon Hain '31
LTjg Thomas Ashworth, Jr. '31
ENS Edward Allen '31
October 1935
Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
Others at this command:
LT James Craig '22
LT Richard Moss '24
LTjg John Duke '26
1LT Ernest Pollock '28
LTjg William Pennewill '29
LTjg Robert Coates '30
1LT Nicholas Pusel '30
LTjg Gilbert Carpenter '30
LTjg Lance Massey '30
1LT Harold Bauer '30
January 1936
Lieutenant (j.g.), Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 3B, USS Lexington
Others at or embarked at USS Lexington:
LT James Carney '21 (USS Lexington)
LTjg Philip Ashworth '31 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
LTjg Eugene Lytle, Jr. '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 5B)
ENS George Fuller '35 (USS Lexington)
ENS John Eichmann '35 (USS Lexington)
ENS Richard McGowan '35 (USS Lexington)
April 1936
Lieutenant (j.g.), Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 3B, USS Lexington
Others at or embarked at USS Lexington:
LT William Eaton '21 (USS Lexington)
LT James Carney '21 (USS Lexington)
LTjg Philip Ashworth '31 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
LTjg Eugene Lytle, Jr. '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 5B)
ENS George Fuller '35 (USS Lexington)
ENS John Eichmann '35 (USS Lexington)
ENS Richard McGowan '35 (USS Lexington)
July 1936
Lieutenant (j.g.), Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 3B, USS Lexington
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at USS Lexington:
LCDR Lyman Swenson '16 (USS Lexington)
LT William Eaton '21 (USS Lexington)
LTjg William Freshour '31 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 5B)
LTjg Philip Ashworth '31 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
LTjg Joseph Loughlin, Jr. '32 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
ENS George Fuller '35 (USS Lexington)
ENS John Eichmann '35 (USS Lexington)
ENS Richard McGowan '35 (USS Lexington)
ENS Webster Johnson '36 (USS Lexington)
January 1937
Lieutenant (j.g.), Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 3B, USS Lexington
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at USS Lexington:
LT William Eaton '21 (USS Lexington)
LTjg Lloyd Greenamyer '29 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
LTjg William Freshour '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 2B)
LTjg Philip Ashworth '31 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
LTjg Joseph Loughlin, Jr. '32 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
LTjg Ludwell Pickett, Jr. '33 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
LTjg William Kane '33 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 5B)
ENS John Eichmann '35 (USS Lexington)
ENS Richard McGowan '35 (USS Lexington)
ENS Webster Johnson '36 (USS Lexington)
April 1937
Lieutenant (j.g.), Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 3B, USS Lexington
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at USS Lexington:
LT William Eaton '21 (USS Lexington)
LTjg Lloyd Greenamyer '29 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
LTjg William Freshour '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 2B)
LTjg Philip Ashworth '31 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
LTjg Joseph Loughlin, Jr. '32 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
LTjg Ludwell Pickett, Jr. '33 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
LTjg William Kane '33 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 5B)
ENS John Eichmann '35 (USS Lexington)
ENS Richard McGowan '35 (USS Lexington)
September 1937
Lieutenant (j.g.), Patrol Squadron (VP) 7
January 1938
Lieutenant (j.g.), Patrol Squadron (VP) 7
Class of 1932
Truman is one of 53 members of the Class of 1932 on Virtual Memorial Hall.