KASTAUFFER Posted January 18, 2012 Share #1 Posted January 18, 2012 I have had this group for a while and just got back his entire service record from the NARA in St. Louis. The stack of documents is almost 6" high! The story the documents reveal, is a very interesting one. He was quite a character. Lt Cdr. Walter J. Daly enlisted in the US Navy in 1904 and served for over 40 years. In his first 14 years he moved up the ranks to Chief Boatswain mate, even though he managed to get into trouble often. This pattern of behavior would follow him for 30 years. He did manage to earn a single Good Conduct Medal award between 1904 and 1918. He showed aptitude for aviation and flying and was sent to Pensacola to become a Naval Aviator in 1919 and he graduated, being assigned Naval Aviator # 2706 . He was promoted to Ensign, but he in a short time requested to be a Boatswain ( warrant ) rank instead and his request was granted. In 1921 he was assigned to the USS Langley , the US Navy's first aircraft carrier. in 1922, V.C. Griffin became the first Naval Aviator to fly a plane from her decks and the rest of his group of aviators soon followed, including Daly. By 15 January 1923, Langley had begun flight operations and tests in the Caribbean Sea for carrier landings. In June, she steamed to Washington, DC, to give a demonstration at a flying exhibition before civil and military dignitaries. She arrived at Norfolk on 13 June, and commenced training along the Atlantic coast and Caribbean which carried her through the end of the year. In 1924, Langley participated in more maneuvers and exhibitions, and spent the summer at Norfolk for repairs and alterations, she departed for the west coast late in the year and arrived San Diego, California on 29 November to join the Pacific Battle Fleet. In Sept 1923 Walter transferred to the USS Wright and the seaplane squadron attached to her. In 1924, Boatswain Daly was removed from flight duty for a number of reasons, and he never flew again. He spent the rest of his career on surface ships and his ability to lead enlisted men as a Boatswain was noted by a number of officers. He still got into trouble over the years including a full court martial. That didnt stop his advancements. At the beginning of WWII he was serving on the USS Holland, a sub tender in the Asiatic Fleet. On 22 November 1941 Holland arrived at Cavite Naval Base, Philippines, to service submarines of the Asiatic Fleet. Due to the air raids in early December 1941, Holland was hurried out of Manila Bay under cover of night with her vital cargo of repair and replacement parts for submarines of the Asiatic Fleet. Heading south, she escaped unscathed from two air raids while at Balikpapan, Borneo, then repaired a battle-damaged submarine at Soerabaja, Java where she was joined by two destroyers that gave her escort to Port Darwin, Australia, which she reached on 2 January 1942 for round-the-clock operations which included the building of docks and floats as well as the constant repair and equipping of ships as well as submarines. On 3 February she was underway for Tjilaljap, Java, to remove Rear Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, Jr., and his Asiatic Fleet Submarine Force Staff to Australia. Her outstanding service to the Fleet during the first crucial months of the war brought Holland a Navy Unit Commendation. At this time Boatswain Daly became Ensign Daly and his health began to decline. He was transferred stateside and served honorably until he retired as a Lt. Cdr. in 1947 due to his health. Walter Daly passed away in 1963. He was truly an old salt. Walter never earned or was awarded a Mexican Campaign Medal, but he put it on his ribbon bars and managed to find an un-numbered medal. These all came from his grandson as-is. He also did not earn the subsequent awards to his GCM that are on the ribbon bar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share #2 Posted January 18, 2012 Walters naval Aviator ID book and Aero Club ID Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share #3 Posted January 18, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share #4 Posted January 18, 2012 Walters early Naval Aviation assignments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share #5 Posted January 18, 2012 This document appointed him a Naval Aviator in 1919 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share #6 Posted January 18, 2012 This document with photo also came from his file and note it has the same picture as the one on his ID. It appears to be a record card keeping track of when he received his certificate and wings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share #7 Posted January 18, 2012 This is the flight helmet Walter wore while serving on the Langley. It is a typical WWI style helmet except that he removed the visor that had been sewn to the front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigJohn#3RD Posted January 18, 2012 Share #8 Posted January 18, 2012 Kurt, As always another outstanding grouping. I have one question are not the addition of two stars on the good conduct ribbon indication of additional awards of the good conduct medal or is that a campaign ribbon? Regards, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share #9 Posted January 18, 2012 Kurt,As always another outstanding grouping. I have one question are not the addition of two stars on the good conduct ribbon indication of additional awards of the good conduct medal or is that a campaign ribbon? Regards, John Hi John The additional stars are supposed to represent additional awards of the GCM, but according to his records he only earned one award. It seems he self awarded the 2 stars. Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vicjoy1945 Posted January 18, 2012 Share #10 Posted January 18, 2012 :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: Outstanding early Naval Aviation grouping !!! Love the early AVIATOR CERT !! Vic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croix de Guerre Posted January 18, 2012 Share #11 Posted January 18, 2012 Love this early aviation material! Congrads on a great presentation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MWalsh Posted January 18, 2012 Share #12 Posted January 18, 2012 Nice Kurt! A couple questions... Were you able to match up any of his ship assignments and sevice dates to a date where he was on it when one of those ships was somehow near or in support of the oeprations which qualified one for the Mexican medal? To where he for some reason thought he was entitled to the medal? Also, any idea what the procedure was when one was at one time a rated Aviator, but then lost or gave the rating up? Still allowed to wear wings or not? MW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teufelhunde.ret Posted January 18, 2012 Share #13 Posted January 18, 2012 This Mustang has one terrific history of service, love all the stories about these old salt's - in a word OUTSTANDING! Did he have broken time? Enlisting in 1904 would have put him over 40 years at the time of his retirement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share #14 Posted January 18, 2012 This Mustang has one terrific history of service, love all the stories about these old salt's - in a word OUTSTANDING! Did he have broken time? Enlisting in 1904 would have put him over 40 years at the time of his retirement. You are right! I latched on to the number on his separation document that said " over 30 years" in the years of service box. I think 30 was the magic number and more than that didnt matter. He did have continuous service. Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share #15 Posted January 18, 2012 Nice Kurt! A couple questions... Were you able to match up any of his ship assignments and sevice dates to a date where he was on it when one of those ships was somehow near or in support of the oeprations which qualified one for the Mexican medal? To where he for some reason thought he was entitled to the medal? Also, any idea what the procedure was when one was at one time a rated Aviator, but then lost or gave the rating up? Still allowed to wear wings or not? MW He was on the USS Seattle at one point and he might have thought he earned it there. Whats funny too is that on his final ribbon bar, he left it off. He was still entitled to wear the wings and at one point he had to petition the Navy to put that qualification back on his record listed in the " Navy Register ". In the photo I have of him from the 30's he is clearly not wearing wings, Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDK Posted January 18, 2012 Share #16 Posted January 18, 2012 Nice group! Congrats. JD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark leonard Posted January 18, 2012 Share #17 Posted January 18, 2012 Great group Kurt! I think it outstanding to have something from one of the first aviators of the USS Langley , WOW! Really like the two photo I.D's. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchbuff Posted January 18, 2012 Share #18 Posted January 18, 2012 Kurt, I love your presentation of this group. The old Navy always had room for "Characters" as long as they did their job and had something offer. Today's Navy has no room for them. Pretty sad. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share #19 Posted January 18, 2012 Kurt, I love your presentation of this group. Seems like the old Navy always had room for "characters" as long as they could do a good job and had something to offer. No room for them in today's Navy. Pretty sad. Mark Very True Mark, in today's Navy would a guy like John Finn even have been around to earn the MOH? Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack's Son Posted January 18, 2012 Share #20 Posted January 18, 2012 Kurt, I'm sorry I'm so late to congratulate you on such a fine group and research. Top notch!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason G Posted January 18, 2012 Share #21 Posted January 18, 2012 Just great. And, alas, I have to say that in today's politically correct Navy, he would have been GONE and never got to serve his time, and the sailors under him wouldn't have benefitted from his leadership. Wasn't it Halsey or Nimitiz who actually grounded a ship at one point? Imagine the Navy keeping him on today after THAT? Wouldn't happen. I'd love to hear more about his service and the why's and wherefores of his 'issues'. Great group and the history 'makes it' even better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share #22 Posted January 18, 2012 Just great. And, alas, I have to say that in today's politically correct Navy, he would have been GONE and never got to serve his time, and the sailors under him wouldn't have benefitted from his leadership. Wasn't it Halsey or Nimitiz who actually grounded a ship at one point? Imagine the Navy keeping him on today after THAT? Wouldn't happen. I'd love to hear more about his service and the why's and wherefores of his 'issues'. Great group and the history 'makes it' even better! Nimitz grounded a ship in 1907 and was court martialled and issued a letter of reprimand! The problem now is people arent allowed to learn from their mistakes and are " deep sixed" after one mistake. Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason G Posted January 18, 2012 Share #23 Posted January 18, 2012 Bingo! I knew it was one or the other. I concur 100 percent sir. Zero defects/politically correct mentality prevails. Sad but true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted April 13, 2014 Author Share #24 Posted April 13, 2014 BTT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KASTAUFFER Posted June 15, 2017 Author Share #25 Posted June 15, 2017 back up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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