LTjg Francis Weiler '39 died of his wounds on March 26, 1942 in a Japanese Prisoner of War camp. He was a member of the fire control party on USS Houston (CA 30) when that ship was sunk on March 1, 1942.

A native of Philadelphia, the Lucky Bag said: "With the Quaker City as a background, and the addition of a brilliant personality, Boo-Boo soon made for himself a host of friends at the Academy. A well-groomed appearance, and the ability to say the right thing at the right time have been the envy and despair of us all. Hailing from a soccer-famous family, he did not take long to prove his mettle with the Plebe squad. In his academic and social pursuits, he has been a shining example of the Teddy Roosevelt "Work hard—play hard" maxim. The result has been that Boo-Boo soon attained the elusive titles of "smoothie" and "savoir.""

Following his death, Francis' class ring took an almost-unbelievable path to his parents. He gave it to a Dutch nurse, who gave it to a doctor, who gave it to a Japanese officer. In early November 1942 a classmate on Guadalcanal was handed the ring; it had been taken off a dead Japanese soldier. This classmate gave it to a fellow officer, who gave it to a Private when that second officer was posted as a forward artillery observer. (The observer was KIA shortly afterwards.) The Private was then mortally wounded on November 23, 1942; he asked his best friend to return his personal effects to his family. Included was Francis' ring. On March 1, 1943, a year after Houston's destruction, the Private's father wrote to Francis' family.

http://usnamemorialhall.org/index.php/FRANCIS_B._WEILER,_LTJG,_USN