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Shaun Thomas (Underdog), OSC
to remember
Lee, Willis Augustus, Jr., VADM.
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Contact Info
Home Town Natlee, KY
Date of Passing Aug 25, 1945
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
In early 1942, following his promotion to the rank of Rear Admiral, Lee became Assistant Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet. In August 1942, Rear Admiral Lee was sent to the Pacific to command a battleship division.
Flying his flag on the battleship Washington, he was active throughout the Guadalcanal Campaign and led his force to victory over a Japanese surface group in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on the night of November 14, 1942. The victory ended Japanese attempts to reinforce their troops on Guadalcanal, and thus marked a turning point in both the Guadalcanal Campaign and the Pacific War. He was later promoted and placed in charge of the Pacific Fleet's fast battleships.
In May 1945, he was sent to the Atlantic to command a special unit researching defenses against the Kamikaze threat. While serving in that position on August 25, 1945, Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee died suddenly after suffering a heart attack.
Death and Burial
Willis Augustus Lee Jr. died of a heart attack on 25 August 1945 in Casco Bay, Maine. During his career, he was awarded the Navy Cross, two Distinguished Service Medals and the Legion of Merit. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, Section: 6, Site: 5691 on 28 August 1945.
Other Comments:
NAME SAKE
U.S.S. Willis A. Lee (DL-4)
Early Life
Willis Augustus Lee Jr. was born on 11 May 1888 in Natlee, Owen County, Kentucky. His nickname was “Mose”. His father, Willis Augustus Lee Sr., born 20 February 1852 in Owen County, Kentucky, died 3 December 1931 in Owenton, Owen County, Kentucky, was a Lawyer.
His mother, Susan Ireland "Susie" Arnold was born on 12 February 1855 in Owen County, Kentucky and died on 5 October 1913 in Owen County, Kentucky. Willis’ parents were married in 1880. Willis was the third of four children in the family; he had two older sisters and one younger sister.
On 14 July 1919 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, he married Mabelle Allen Elspeth, born about 1898 in Illinois, died 1949. They had no children.
Military
From Find-A-Grave.com
Willis Augustus Lee Jr. graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1908. Over the next two decades, he served on several ships and on shore duty as an inspector of ordnance, while also representing the Navy in rifle competitions.
He was Commanding Officer of three destroyers during the 1920s and attended the Naval War College late in that decade. During the 1930s and early 1940s, Lee was several times assigned to the Fleet Training Division, commanded the light cruiser Concord, and served on the staff of Commander, Cruisers, Battle Force.
This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org/). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen person's name and read his/her story.
If you have any details, photos, or corrections for this story, please email me by clicking on my name. CDR Robert "Red" Mulvanny-Contributing Author, Stories Behind the Stars
Central Pacific Campaign (1941-43)/Battle of Tarawa
From Month/Year
November / 1943
To Month/Year
November / 1943
Description The Battle of Tarawa (US code name Operation Galvanic) was a battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II, fought from November 20 to November 23, 1943. It took place at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, located in what is now the nation of Kiribati. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, and Americans died in the fighting, mostly on and around the small island of Betio.
The Battle of Tarawa was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region. It was also the first time in the war that the United States faced serious Japanese opposition to an amphibious landing. Previous landings met little or no initial resistance. but this time the 4,500 Japanese defenders were well-supplied and well-prepared, and they fought almost to the last man, exacting a heavy toll on the United States Marine Corps. The U.S. had suffered similar casualties in other campaigns, for example over the six months of the Guadalcanal Campaign, but in this case the losses were incurred within the space of 76 hours.
