The FReeper Foxhole Profiles Fleet Admiral William (Bull) Halsey, Jr. USN - Apr. 19th, 2003

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq36-5.htm ^

[SAMWolf]

Dear Lord,

There's a young man far from home,
called to serve his nation in time of war;
sent to defend our freedom
on some distant foreign shore.

We pray You keep him safe,
we pray You keep him strong,
we pray You send him safely home ...
for he's been away so long.

There's a young woman far from home,
serving her nation with pride.
Her step is strong, her step is sure,
there is courage in every stride.
We pray You keep her safe,
we pray You keep her strong,
we pray You send her safely home ...
for she's been away too long.

Bless those who await their safe return.
Bless those who mourn the lost.
Bless those who serve this country well,
no matter what the cost.

Author Unknown

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FReepers from the The Foxhole
join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time.

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Fleet Admiral
William Frederick Halsey, Jr. USN

(1882-1959)

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William Frederick Halsey, Jr., was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on October 30, 1882, the son of the late Captain William F. Halsey, U. S. Navy. As a Navy junior, he made the usual round of schools prior to his appointment to the Naval Academy. President McKinley gave him an appointment in 1900.

While at the Naval Academy he distinguished himself in class committees and athletics, but not in scholarship. He was a member of the "Lucky Bag" yearbook staff, won his letter in football as a fullback and was president of the Athletic Association. As a First Classman, he had his name engraved on the Thompson Trophy Cup as the Midshipman who had done the most during the year for the promotion of athletics.

Upon graduation in February 1904, he was assigned to USS Missouri and later transferred to USS Don Juan de Austria in which he was commissioned an Ensign after having completed the two years at sea -- then required by law. In 1907, he joined USS Kansas and made the famous World Cruise of the Fleet in that battle ship.

For the next almost 25 years practically all his sea duty with the Fleet was in destroyers, starting in 1909 with command of USS DuPont (TB-7 commissioned in 1897), USS Lamson, USS Flusser and USS Jarvis. In 1915 he went ashore for two years of duty in the Executive Department at the Naval Academy.

During WWI he served in the Queenstown Destroyer Force in command of USS Benham and USS Shaw. From 1918 to 1921 he continued his destroyer service in command of USS Yarnell, USS Chauncey, USS John Francis Burnes and Destroyer Division Thirty-two. In October of 1920 he assumed command of USS Wickes and of Destroyer Division Fifteen. At that time a destroyer division commander also commanded the division flagship. Another shore cruise sent him to duty in the Office of Naval Intelligence, in Washington, -- which was his only duty assignment in that city. In October 1922, he was ordered as Naval Attache at the American Embassy in Berlin, Germany. One year later, he was given additional duty as Naval Attache at the American Embassies in Christiana, Norway; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Stockholm, Sweden.

On completion of that cruise he returned to sea duty, again in the destroyers in European waters, in command of USS Dale and USS Osborne. Upon his return to the U.S. in 1927, he served one year as Executive Officer of the battleship USS Wyoming -- and then for three years in command of USS Reina Mercedes, station ship at the Naval Academy. He continued his destroyer duty on his next two-years at cruise starting in 1930 as Commander Destroyer Division Three of the Scouting Force. In 1932 he went as a student to the Naval War College.



Then in 1934, he embarked on his aviation career when he reported to the Naval Air Station, Pensacola for flight training. He was designated a Naval Aviator on 15 May 1935, and went in command of the carrier USS Saratoga for two years, followed by one year in command of the Naval Air Station, Pensacola. In 1938, when he reached flag rank, he held successive commands of Carrier Division Two in USS Yorktown and Carrier Division One in Saratoga. In 1940, he became Commander Aircraft Battle Force with the rank of Vice Admiral. He was in USS Enterprise in that command when World War II broke out. In April 1942 he was designated Commander Task Force Sixteen, in Enterprise to escort the carrier USS Hornet to within 800 miles of Tokyo to launch the Army planes for the initial bombing of Japan.

In October l942 he was made Commander South Pacific Forces and South Pacific Area. With the rank of Admiral, and for the next 18 months he was in command of that area during the offensive operations of the U. S. Forces. In June 1944 he assumed command of the Third Fleet, and was designated Commander Western Pacific Task Forces. As such, he operated successfully against the Japanese in the Palaies, Philippines, Formosa, Okinawa and South China Sea. Subsequent to the Okinawa campaign in July 1945, his forces struck at Tokyo and the Japanese mainland. The last attack of his forces was on 13 August 1945. Admiral Halsey's flag was flying on USS Missouri on 2 September in Tokyo Bay when the formal Japanese surrender was signed onboard.

Immediately thereafter, 54 ships of the Third Fleet, with his four-star flag in USS South Dakota, returned to the United States for annual Navy Day Celebrations in San Francisco on 27 October 1945. He hauled down his flag in November of that year and was assigned special duty in the office of the Secretary of the Navy. On December 11, 1945, he took the oath as Fleet Admiral becoming the fourth and last officer to hold the rank.



Later, Fleet Admiral Halsey made a goodwill flying trip through Central and South America covering nearly 28,000 miles, and 11 nations. He was relieved of active duty in December 1946, and upon his own request transferred to the retired list on 1 March 1947. Upon retirement, he joined the board of two subsidiaries of the International Telephone and Telegraph Company and served until 1957. He was active in an unsuccessful effort to preserve the USS Enterprise as a national shrine, and was an elected Honorary Vice President of the Naval Historical Foundation.

He died on 16 August 1959 at Fishers Island Country Club.

PROMOTIONS

Graduated from Naval Academy - Class of 1904
Ensign - February 2, 1906
Lieutenant (junior grade) - February 2, 1909
Lieutenant - February 2, 1909
Lieutenant Commander - August 29, 1916
Commander - February 1, 1918
Captain - February 10, 1927
Rear Admiral - March 1, 1938
Vice Admiral - June 13, 1940
Admiral - November 18, 1942
Fleet Admiral - December 11, 1945

DECORATIONS AND AWARDS

Navy Cross
Distinguished Service Medal with three gold stars
Army Distinguished Service Medal
Presidential Unit Citation
Mexican Service Medal
Victory Medal, Destroyer Clasp
American Defense Service Medal with Fleet Clasp
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Philippine Liberation Medal

The guided missile frigate (later guided missile cruiser) USS Halsey (DLG-23, later CG-23), 1963-1994, was named in honor of Fleet Admiral Halsey.

[Jen]

Yes, you are! :-)

[Jen]

Hi there! Nice to see you here.

[Jen]

Hi Spookie. Have a wonderful weekend with your family. Hugs to each of you.

[AgThorn]

I love history!! A side disorder for genealogists ... just wish I had this love when it would have counted, in my school years! Keep me on the list!

[JustAmy]

I'm sending Happy Easter greetings to all.

Sending prayers for our military, past and present. God Bless each of you; thank you for your service!

[SAMWolf]

You maen you have a live that doesn't include sitting in front of the coputer? How'd you manage that? Don't tell my wife or she might get ideas about me doing that.

[Jen]

Hi Amy! I haven't gotten to your weekly FReep thread yet. Did you have a good one?

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Just Amy.

We have a good team and get some great contributors.

[Jen]

I know what you mean! I hated history in high school and college and learned just enough to pass the test, then quickly forgot it! Now, I love to come to the Foxhole and learn from Sam and so many others who contribute such wonderful information.

You'll stay on the ping list as long as you want to be on it! :-)

[Jen]

Thank you for the prayers for our troops and all you do to support them. Hope you have a happy Easter! I'll be with my family in Alabama tomorrow.

[Jen]

Well, sometimes, but not by CHOICE! hahahaha

[JustAmy]

Hi Jen

Last night's Freep was interesting. We had very few war protestors. Maybe we will be able to spend Fridays someplace other than a street corner in a couple of weeks. Spending 18 months of Fridays on a corner has been fun but it would be nice to be able to meet FReeper FRiends for dinner without meeting them on a corner first. LOL

They will probably be back but we can dream.

[SAMWolf]

Our Military Today
Coming Home and Still Missing

Ex-POW Army Spc Shoshana Johnson waves goodbye as she is carried on a stretcher onto a C17 military plane that goes to Fort Bliss, Texas, at US Air Base in Ramstein, southern Germany, Saturday, April 19, 2003. Together with six other POWs, she was rescued last Sunday in Iraq and taken for medical treatment to Landstuhl Medical Center last Wednesday. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)








Rescued POWs Chief Warrant Officer David S. Williams (L), of Orlando, FL, and Pfc. Patrick Miller, of Park City, KS, wave to the media as they walk to a C-17 Globemaster cargo plane, April 19, 2003 at the Ramstein U.S. Air Base in southern Germany. Seven freed U.S. prisoners of war flew home to the United States on Saturday after spending three days being treated for their wounds at the U.S. military base. REUTERS/Tobias


Rescued POW Apache helicopter pilots Chief Warrant Officer Ronald D. Young (R) and Chief Warrant Officer David S. Williams wave the U.S. flag on top of a C-17 Globemaster cargo plane April 19, 2003 at Ramstein Air Base, southern Germany. Seven freed U.S. prisoners of war flew home to the United States on Saturday after spending three days being treated for their wounds at a U.S. military base in Germany. REUTERS/Jim Murphy


Rescued POWs Spc. Edgar Hernandez, 21, of Mission Tx (L), and Sgt. James Riley, 31, of Pennsauken, NJ, wave to the media as they walk onto a C-17 Globemaster cargo aircraft, April 19, 2003 at Ramstein U.S. Air Base, in southern Germany. Seven freed U.S. prisoners of war flew home to the United States on Saturday after spending three days being treated for their wounds at a U.S. military in Germany. REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz


Brenda Wilson (L) stands alongside her son Raymond Wilson (R) as she holds a photo of son, PFC Tomorio Burkett in front of their Buffalo, New York home on March 29, 2003. Burkett, 21, is listed as Missing In Action and is a member of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade. Seven other Marines involved in that battle are also listed MIA. They were attempting to secure a bridge near Nassiriya, Iraq when they came under heavy enemy fire. REUTERS/Gary Wiepert


An empty chair and table draped in black sits in the center of the mess hall at Camp As Sayliyah near Doha,in remembrance of soldiers listed as missing in action or prisoners of war, April 19, 2003. The table and chair care placed there by the camp command as soon as an MIA or POW is reported to remind all others that their colleagues are missing. REUTERS/Andrew Winning

[SpookBrat]

"1989 Daphne Du Maurier English writer (Rebecca, Jamaica Inn), dies at 82"

Rebecca is a great book.

Thought for the day :
"Nobody talks so constantly about God as those who insist that there is no God."

LOL

[Victoria Delsoul]

Happy Easter everyone! Hope your weekend is going well.

[SAMWolf]

Good afternoon Victoria. Big plans for Easter?

[Victoria Delsoul]

Hi Sam. Nah, just little plans, but I'm happy and free, hehehe. Most important, I'm enjoying my weekend.

[GailA]

Today's graphic

[Light Speed]

Hello Florida

I enjoy research..finding that "Hinge point" where their is a break thru..or a clear turning point.

In 1942 and 43 Nimitz was probably simply saying...."All I need is time...buy it for me however you can".

In my mind...the U.S. Navy's cruisers held the line for 42 and 43.
Here Halsey and so many others gamed Japan in slug fests like Guadalcanal with its many complex navy engagements.

The Crusiers had the firepower to defend aswell as the range to torment the Japanese surface movements.
"Tin cans" or little Wolves were critical too..by 43 another 300 would join the fleet.

42 AND 43 were crusier time...Nimitz worked them...his leaders like Halsey ran them on the Japanses at every chance.....the price was high.

Maybe Halsey "Missed" the confrontations of 42 and 43...He was a fighter..but his assignments found him with the fast carriers..which did serve tatcially in so many ways....entangling the Japanses in distant places via air..keeping them off guard is places like Formosa...Okinawa region before the ops their started on full.
But the visual reality of seeing gun deuls like Kolombagara and Biak...Kula Gulf etc where past,battles where the U.S. Navy lost 2-3 crusiers in each engagement.

I can see why Halsey raced North from his assignment in 44 to "Get the Japanese".
I think He wanted to "Fight"...see "Big guns" of his boys ,battleships and new battle crusiers like USS Alaska get it on.

However History assays the "Bull"...he was there when it counted...he sent them in HARMS WAY...knew the price.

Halsey was great...

**I however do agree with you on the impulsive mode off Leyte...which could have lead to a huge naval disaster.

If the Japanese had the forsight to use the Submarine more offensively...they could have wounded TF 54 ....broke in on Leyte shipping lanes...target the U.S.attack transports with troops coming up for the Phillipines.
Halsey left the door open.....Japanese failed in their planning...they should a driven something in the gap.

When Admiral Yamamoto died..the Japanese were truly finished....they fought stupidly thru 44-45.

[SAMWolf]

Afternoon Gaila. Today's graphic is sooooooooooo cute!