FORREST W. SIMONEAU, LT, USN

Forrest Simoneau '36

Date of birth: April 29, 1914

Date of death: January 10, 1943

Age: 28

Lucky Bag

From the 1936 Lucky Bag:

Forrest White Simoneau

Waterville, Maine

"Funster"

Long years ago news leaked to Maine that there was an institution of learning other than Colby College. Hearing the rumor, Forrest decided to investigate and thus the Navy spirited away one of Maine's loyal sons. Once here, Sime found that the water had been his real love all along so each evening found him on the river cajoling, bullying, and coaxing the crew to "give him ten." Away from the river, the funster dropped his role of taskmaster and assumed the character that has made him many friends. Always easy going and cheerful, he made the ideal roommate—how can you argue with a fellow who won't do anything but smile? Here's to Maine's addition to '36 and to the success he's sure to have.

Plebe Lightweight Crew. Coxswain; 150 lb. Crew 3, 2; Class Wrestling 4, 3; M.P.O.

Forrest White Simoneau

Waterville, Maine

"Funster"

Long years ago news leaked to Maine that there was an institution of learning other than Colby College. Hearing the rumor, Forrest decided to investigate and thus the Navy spirited away one of Maine's loyal sons. Once here, Sime found that the water had been his real love all along so each evening found him on the river cajoling, bullying, and coaxing the crew to "give him ten." Away from the river, the funster dropped his role of taskmaster and assumed the character that has made him many friends. Always easy going and cheerful, he made the ideal roommate—how can you argue with a fellow who won't do anything but smile? Here's to Maine's addition to '36 and to the success he's sure to have.

Plebe Lightweight Crew. Coxswain; 150 lb. Crew 3, 2; Class Wrestling 4, 3; M.P.O.

Loss

Forrest was lost when USS Argonaut (APS 1) was sunk by a Japanese surface forces near Rabaul on January 10, 1943.

Other Information

From the Class of 1936's "Golden Lucky Bag," published in 1986 (via Marianne Bradley, daughter of LCDR John Ellis '36, USN (Ret.)):

Mrs. Henry (Lillian) Vineburg
5350 McDonald Avenue
Montreal, Quebec H3X 3V2
Canada
Children: Karin.
Forrest's first duty after graduation was in Oklahoma during which tour he married Lill Ramer, an attractive coed of Oslo, Norway. He had met Lill first on the midshipman cruise in 1935 and saw her again when Oklahoma visited the port of Gothenberg, Sweden, the following year. Their marriage came two years later.
In 1941, Forrest was ordered to Submarine School at New London and then to Argonaut, based at Pearl Harbor. When the Japanese attacked on 7 December, the submarine was on patrol off Midway Island. In August 1942, Argonaut, then at Pearl Harbor, took on board some 100 marines and, in company with Nautilus, set course for Makin Island to carry out a commando raid. For his part in the operation, Forrest was awarded the Bronze Star.
On 10 January 1943, Argonaut was on patrol off Rabaul, where she made a submerged attack on a convoy of five ships with three escort destroyers. A U.S. Army Air Force aircraft which, by happenstance, was flying overhead saw a Japanese destroyer hit by a torpedo, whereupon the other two destroyers dropped depth charges forcing Argonaut's bow to rise steeply out of the water. The disabled submarine rose to the surface where she became a vulnerable target for the destroyers' guns. In minutes the Argonaut sank with the loss of all hands.
Forrest is remembered by his classmates as coxswain of the 150-lb. crew and for his cheerful, easygoing temperament which made him many friends. He is survived by his widow, Lill, now Mrs. Henry Vineburg, and his daughter, Karin, born six days after his death.

He, and all other officers and crew of the boat, were given letters of commendation posthumously.

Forrest was survived by his wife, Magnhild Rainer Simoneau of Long Beach. In 1930, his father Edward was superintendent of schools in Waterville, Maine. His mother's name was Carrie.

Forrest is remembered at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.

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.