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Contact Info
Home Town Eldorado
Last Address Birth: Jul. 24, 1915 in Eldorado, Jackson County, Oklahoma Death: Aug. 5, 2009 Riverside Regional Medical Center Newport News, Virginia Complications after a fall.
Date of Passing Aug 05, 2009
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Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Navy Admiral Ralph Wynne Cousins led Naval Air Operation in Vietnam.
A HIGHLY DECORATED Navy aviator during World War II and commander of the attack carrier strike force during some of the heaviest fighting of the Vietnam War, retired Admiral Ralph W. Cousins died in Newport News, Va., in August at the age of 94. From 1967 to 1969, Cousins commanded the attack carrier strike force and led the Gulf of Tonkin naval operations that were carried out from aircraft carriers. In 1970 he was promoted to four-star admiral and became the Vice Chief of Naval Operations (VCNO).
A dive bomber pilot on the Lexington during the Battle of the Coral Sea Noun 1. battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942, Cousins led bombing attacks against the Japanese aircraft carrier Shoho and survived the sinking of his own ship. He was awarded the Navy Cross in WWII. His other military decorations included three awards of the Distinguished Service Medal, two awards of the Legion of Merit and two Air Medals.
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
September / 1945
Description The plan of the Pacific subseries was determined by the geography, strategy, and the military organization of a theater largely oceanic. Two independent, coordinate commands, one in the Southwest Pacific under General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and the other in the Central, South, and North Pacific (Pacific Ocean Areas) under Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, were created early in the war. Except in the South and Southwest Pacific, each conducted its own operations with its own ground, air, and naval forces in widely separated areas. These operations required at first only a relatively small number of troops whose efforts often yielded strategic gains which cannot be measured by the size of the forces involved. Indeed, the nature of the objectivesùsmall islands, coral atolls, and jungle-bound harbors and airstrips, made the employment of large ground forces impossible and highlighted the importance of air and naval operations. Thus, until 1945, the war in the Pacific progressed by a double series of amphibious operations each of which fitted into a strategic pattern developed in Washington.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1942
To Month/Year
December / 1942
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories During World War II, he served aboard the USS Lexington, an aircraft carrier that was sunk during the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942. In that battle, Adm. Cousins led dive-bombing attacks against a Japanese aircraft carrier, despite heavy antiaircraft fire, and was awarded the Navy Cross, the service?s second-highest award for valor.
