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Saturday, July 10, 2010

THE SAILOR'S "SAILOR"

FIGHTING ADMIRAL
                     WILLIAM F. "BULL" HALSEY
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The Navy’s feisty counterpart to Army General George Patton,William Halsey was a tough aggressive warrior whose credo, “Hit Hard, Hit fast, Hit Often!” made his Third Fleet the most feared - and successful - Naval force in the Pacific.
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The young Naval ensign stood on the deck of the battleship Kansas watching the shoreline fade into the
horizon as she sailed from Yokohama. The warship was part of President Theodore Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet.

This first Roosevelt had literally lined up all of America’s 16 battleships in single file, painted them white for peace, and sent them around the world to demonstrate to the other major powers that the United States was one of them. In particular though, Theodore Roosevelt wanted to impress upon the Japanese Empire that America had the ability to wage war on them. War clouds between the two nations were growing ever-ominous. The President hoped this disguised goodwill gesture would clear the atmosphere.

The Fleet sailed from the United States on 16 December 1907. The young ensign, William Halsey, was among the officers who had seen Roosevelt himself waving good-bye to them as they sailed off.

Upon their arrival, the Japanese had showered the Americans with attention and gifts.Halsey ignored his fellow officers as they talked about how they had misjudged the Japanese and how genuine the affection seemed for America. The new graduate from Annapolis had felt something different from the Japanese.
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The above is a 'lead-in' to my article to whom I believe was the best of the best when it came to "Naval Admirals"...this guy was pure 'blood and guts' when it came to a fight.  He was a 'tough ole bird' as they say, but he was always 1000% behind his men...be they a simple deck sailor....or an 'officer'...in his view they were all there to do a job...his job was just different that what others had to do to win.

If you'd care to give this 12 or so page article a going over...just click: HERE  and it will pop up for you to read at your leisure.

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cshortridge73@gmail.com




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