Wallace Greayer "Grubby" Clover (April 14, 1897 – August 30, 1918) was an American aviator in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He was the namesake for Clover Field, the original name of

Santa Monica Airport Santa Monica Airport (Santa Monica Municipal Airport) is a general aviation airport largely in Santa Monica, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles area. It opened on April 15, 1923, making it one of the United States' oldest a ...

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

He graduated from

Los Angeles High School Los Angeles High School is the oldest public high school in the Southern California region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are royal blue and white and the teams are called the Romans. Los Angeles High School is a publ ...

in 1915, winning the state interscholastic tennis cup as a senior. He attended

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

for a year, then transferred to

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. He left Yale in his sophomore year to join the

American Field Service AFS Intercultural Programs (or AFS, originally the American Field Service) is an international youth exchange organization. It consists of over 50 independent, not-for-profit organizations, each with its own network of volunteers, professional ...

in Europe as an ambulance driver. He persuaded five classmates to join him in this venture. In France, he served for six months in the French Army, seeing active duty in the trenches as Fort Malmaison was recaptured. On the United States entry into the war he joined the American service as a second lieutenant and began training as an aviator. He was killed on a formation practice run on August 30, 1918.''Los Angeles High School Semi-Annual Winter 1923'' Los Angeles High School. 1923, p. 48-49. An aspiring writer, he kept a diary while serving which was published in 1919 under the title ''A Stop at Suzanne's: And Lower Flights,'' with an introduction by his father,

Samuel Travers Clover Samuel Travers Clover (August 13, 1859 – May 28, 1934) was a British-American writer, editor and publisher in Chicago and Los Angeles in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Early life Born in Bromley, Middlesex, Middlesex County, south ...

Honors

What would eventually become

was originally named Clover Field in his honor. The field was dedicated to him in 1923 before a crowd of 50,000. Cloverfield Boulevard in Santa Monica recalls the airport's original name. Greayer's Oak Park, named for him, is located where West Avenue 38 dead-ends into North

Figueroa Street Figueroa Street is a major north-south street in Los Angeles County, California, spanning from the Los Angeles neighborhood of Wilmington, Los Angeles, Wilmington north to Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, Eagle Rock. A short, unconnected continuation of ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. A group of childhood friends planted an oak tree in his honor there in the early 1920s. On present-day maps the name is often incorrectly given as "Greaver." He and 19 other Los Angeles High School graduates who died in World War I are honored by a stained glass window in Los Angeles High School's Memorial Library.

Publications

References

External links

* American aviators Aviators from Los Angeles 1897 births 1918 deaths United States Army Air Service pilots of World War I American Field Service personnel of World War I French military personnel of World War I American military personnel killed in World War I Military personnel from California American male tennis players 20th-century American sportsmen {{USAF-bio-stub