Harry Felt
| Harry D. Felt | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Birth name | Harry Donald Felt |
| Nickname(s) | Don |
| Born |
June 21, 1902 Topeka, Kansas |
| Died | February 25, 1992 (aged 89) Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Buried | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Navy
|
| Years of service | 1923–1964 |
| Rank |
 Admiral
|
| Commands held |
Pacific Command Sixth Fleet |
| Battles/wars |
World War II Vietnam War |
| Awards |
Navy Cross Navy Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit Distinguished Flying Cross |
Admiral Harry Donald Felt (June 21, 1902 – February 25, 1992) was an aviator in the United States Navy who led U.S. carrier strikes during World War II and later served as commander in chief of Pacific Command (CINCPAC) from 1958 to 1964.
Born in Topeka, Kansas to Harry Victor Felt and the former Grace Greenwood Johnson, Felt attended public school in Goodland, Kansas before moving with his family to Washington, D.C. at the age of ten. Lacking money for college, Felt entered a cram school for the U.S. Naval Academy and was appointed to the academy in 1919. At the Academy, Felt received good marks but graduated in 1923 with the unremarkable class rank of 152 out of 413, having accumulated almost as many demerits as anyone in his class.
As a junior officer, Felt served five years aboard the battleship Mississippi and the destroyer Farenholt before applying for flight training out of sheer boredom. From then on, naval aviation was his life. While training at Naval Air Station Pensacola from 1928 to 1929, Felt met his future wife, Kathryn Cowley, whom he married on August 3, 1929 after warning her that the Navy would always come first. She later reported that even as a newlywed, Felt's life was "just fly, fly, fly."
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Felt was transferred to command the air group on the carrier Saratoga, with promotion to Commander in January 1942. During the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on August 24, 1942, Felt led Air Group 3 (AG-3) from Saratoga in an attack that sank the Japanese light carrier Ryujo. Diving with his second wave of bombers through enemy flak and fighters, Felt personally scored the first of his group's several 1000-lb bomb hits on the carrier.
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Wikipedia