USNR Lt. Edgar "Bud" Martin Post Jr., a float plane pilot, was born in Keokuk, Lee County, Iowa on December 13, 1912, the son of Edgar Sr. (1881-1967) and Caroline "Carrie" Wenonah Sprowls (1884-1971). His father supported his family as a civil engineer in Fairfield, CT when Edgar Jr. was a small boy. Then, the family moved to Claysville, PA where Edgar Jr. grew up and graduated from high school in 1930. He then enrolled in Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, PA and graduated in 1935.
After graduation, he enlisted in the US Navy's aviation cadet (AVCAD) program on August 24, 1937 in Philadelphia, PA and reported to NAS Pensacola for flight training. He would later return to our fair city as an instructor plus a romantic courtship with one of our Pensacola ladies. She was Helen Aline Stewart (1919), the daughter of George R. Stewart and Etta C. Davis and a graduate of Pensacola High School, class of 1936. The couple would marry in Pensacola on December 22, 1938 as he remained at NAS as an instructor.
By 1942, Edgar had left for the war and Helen had set up housekeeping at 1200 West Garden Street with her mother close by at 314 North Alcaniz Street. In the meantime, Edgar was assigned to the light cruiser USS Denver as a scout plane pilot. The ship had been commissioned on October 15, 1942 however, during her shakedown cruise she had experienced one equipment failure after another. But the problems with her onboard equipment were not enough because on December 30th another incident occurred. She was drilling with her four scout planes when one of them crashed. The pilot and passenger were both recovered. Again, on January 24, 1945, while sailing for the Panama Canal, the scout plane commander Lt. Post personally took off in yet another exercise. While attempting to land, Post had crashed into the sea and began to sink. Sadly, they were able to rescue his passenger, but Post's body was never recovered. He became the ship's first casualty of the war. After losing Post that day, the ship had yet a third scout plane crash but fortunately both crewmen were recovered.
Shortly afterwards, Helen received a telegram from the War Department that simply stated "Killed in a crash at sea. Body not recovered." His mother received the same telegram later that night! These words were extremely harsh and cold for someone to receive especially at night. No explanation, just "dead and gone." But that was a different era back then and telegrams were being delivered to thousands of homes all across America at an unprecedented rate!
Lt. Post's name was etched on Manhattan's East Coast Memorial in New York showing that he was eternally MIA. His wife Helen moved back in with her sister and brother-in-law at 2720 West Jackson and took a job as a bookkeeper. From that point, there was no further information available on Helen.
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