Oral Histories

In this brief memoir, Admiral Grant concentrates on his wartime service in command of the seaplane tending destroyer William B. Preston (AVD-7). His ship was awarded a unit commendation after successful operations under enemy attack in the Philippines, Dutch East Indies, and Australia. He later put the seaplane tender Cumberland ...

This oral history is of particular significance because it contains the recollections of one of the early line officers commissioned by the U.S. Navy and later the Navy’s first black commander, captain, rear admiral, and vice admiral.

The first volume overs his early career up to his command of the Seventh Fleet. Was designated naval aviator in 1930 and served as scouting pilot in the Chester, then Scouting Squadron Six in the USS Enterprise (CV-6). In 1949 was Commander Carrier Group Nine aboard the USS Essex (CV-9) ...

As the member of a large family, Mr. Hair grew up in South Carolina and Florida at a time when life in the South was still rigidly segregated. In 1935 his brother-in-law Estes Wright, a man Hair idolized, was lynched. For two years Hair studied at Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona ...

This memoir concentrates on the two major aspects of Admiral Hamilton's career – in athletics and in naval aviation. He played for the Naval Academy's national championship football team in 1926 and was later coach and athletic director for the Academy. After retirement he was athletic director for the University ...

As he grew up in California, Harralson developed a great love for radio. Following his enlistment in the Navy in 1937, he attended boot camp and then radio school. Early assignments included the aircraft carrier Saratoga (CV-3) and the flag allowance of Commander Aircraft Battle Force (RADM Ernest J. King) ...

After enlisting in the Naval Reserve in April 1942, Hawkins went through cadet training in Texas prior to being designated a naval aviator and commissioned in January 1943. During World War II, as a fighter pilot in VF-31, he flew in combat from the light carriers USS Cabot (CVL-28) and ...

As Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Hayward was noted for his role in formulating U.S. maritime strategy and for drastically reducing the amount of illegal drug use on the part of Navy officers and enlisted personnel. He entered the service in World War II through the V-5 Naval Aviation Cadet ...

Hedding served on the USS Maryland (BB-46) after Naval Academy graduation, and in 1926 was designated naval aviator. He received his MS from MIT in 1931, served in the USS Saratoga (CV-3), was in Bureau of Aeronautics in Washington, commanded Fighting Squadron 2-B based on the USS Lexington (CV-2), and ...

The son of a World War II Naval Reserve officer, Hetu served a year in 1948-49 as an enlisted man. He went through boot camp and then served as a hospital corpsman in Philadelphia. After graduating from John Carroll University, in 1952, he was commissioned that same year through Officer ...

After graduated from the Naval Academy in 1931, served for seven years in the Pensacola and Cushing; then attended MIT and received MA in electrical engineering. In 1942 was gunnery officer in the battleship USS Washington (BB-56), participating in the Solomons and Gilbert campaigns, then on staff of Commander, Service ...

After graduation from the USNA in 1909, he served in the armored cruiser West Virginia (Armored Cruiser No. 5), cruising from the West Coast to many ports in the Orient. Following studies at George Washington University, he received a Master of Science degree in 1914. He then joined the Utah ...