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Home Town San Juan, Puerto Rico
Date of Passing Jul 01, 1971
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Edmund Ernest García
Rear Admiral Edmund Ernest García (1905–1971) was a United States Navy officer who commanded the destroyer escort USS Sloat (DE-245) during World War II and participated in the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, and France.
Edmund Ernest Garcia was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on 27 March 1905, son of Mrs. Antonia Rumirez of San Diego, California, and the late Enrique Garcia. He attended high schools in Chillicothe, Ohio and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and after preparing for the US Naval Academy at Severn School, Severna Park, Maryland, entered that institution as a Midshipman on 14 June 1922. He graduated and was commissioned as an Ensign on 2 June 1927, and through subsequent promotions attained the permanent rank of Captain, on 1 July 1949, having served in that rank (temporary) from 3 May to 1 December 1947. He retired in 1955 as a Rear Admiral.
Early years
Garcia was born to Enrique García and Antonia Rumirez in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the capital city of the island. There he received both his primary and secondary education. Garcia was born into a family with a long tradition of military servitude. His father, Enrique Garcia, was a Captain in the United States Army. In 1922, Garcia graduated from high school and received an appointment to the United States Naval Academy from Emmet Montgomery Reily, who served as appointed Governor of Puerto Rico from (1921–1923).
Naval career
Garcia, was supposed to graduate from the academy in 1926, however he did not graduate and receive his commission of Ensign until June 17, 1927, because of his academic deficiency in mathematics.
Garcia's first assignment was aboard the USS Wyoming where he served as an artillery officer from 1927 to 1928. He was later assigned to the USS Galveston and in 1928 was trained as a naval aviator at Pensacola, Florida. Garcia received addition training in various military institutions which included the Torpedo School of San Diego, California.
World War II
In February 1942, Garcia assumed command of the USS Cormorant (AM-40) at the Navy Yard, in Washington DC.. In June 1943 he reported to the Brown Shipbuilding Co. in Houston, Texas where the USS Sloat was being built. The USS Sloat (DE-245) was an Edsall-classdestroyer escort which was launched on January 21, 1943 and commissioned on August 16, 1943, under the command of then Lieutenant Commander Garcia.
On November 11, the Sloat, was assigned to the Escort Division (CortDiv) 7, and sailed out of New York Harbor with convoy UGS-24 bound for Norfolk and North Africa. The convoy arrived at Casablanca on December 2, and returned to New York on December 25, 1943. On January 10, 1944, the Sloat sailed to Casablanca and returned to New York on March. That same month the Sloat joined a convoy, consisting of 72 merchant ships and 18 LST's, which was guarded by Task Force (TF) 64. En route to Bizerte, Tunisia, the convoy was attacked by the Luftwaffe on April 1, approximately 56 miles west of Algiers. Two planes were shot down and two damaged while only one ship in the convoy was damaged. The convoy arrived at Bizerte on April 3. Eight days later, Sloat joined another convoy and returned to New York on May 1. García was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with a "V" device for his actions. Part of the citation reads as follows:
"Meritorious achievement during operations against enemy forces while serving as Commander of a unit of ships of an escort group protecting trans-Atlantic Convoys during World War II...'
From June 15 to July 15, the Sloat operated in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean in search of GermanU-boats. Garcia, as commander of the destroyer escort USS Sloat saw action in the invasions of Africa, Sicily, and France.
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Awards and recognitions
Among Rear Admiral García's decorations and medals were the following:
Bronze Star with "V device" 2nd Nicaraguan Campaign Medal China Service Medal American Defense Service Medal American Campaign Medal European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with star device Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) National Defense Service Medal (Korean War)
Description Operation Avalanche was the codename for the Allied landings near the port of Salerno, executed on 9 September 1943, part of the Allied invasion of Italy. The Italians withdrew from the war the day before the invasion, but the Allies landed in an area defended by German troops. Planned under the name Top Hat, it was supported by the deception plan Operation Boardman.
The landings were carried out by the US Fifth Army, under American General Mark W. Clark. It comprised the U.S. VI Corps, the British X Corps and the US 82nd Airborne Division, a total of about nine divisions. Its primary objectives were to seize the port of Naples to ensure resupply, and to cut across to the east coast, trapping the Axis troops further south.
In order to draw troops away from the landing ground, Operation Baytown was mounted. This was a landing by the British Eighth Army in Calabria in the 'toe' of Italy, on 3 September. Simultaneous sea landings were made by the British 1st Airborne Division at the port of Taranto (Operation Slapstick). British General Bernard Montgomery had predicted Baytown would be a waste of effort because it assumed the Germans would give battle in Calabria; if they failed to do so, the diversion would not work. He was proved correct. After Baytown the Eighth Army marched 300 miles (480 km) north to the Salerno area against no opposition other than engineer obstacles.
The Salerno landings were carried out without previous naval or aerial bombardment in order to achieve surprise. Surprise was not achieved. As the first wave approached the shore at Paestum a loudspeaker from the landing area proclaimed in English, "Come on in and give up. We have you covered." The troops attacked nonetheless.
The Germans had established artillery and machine-gun posts and scattered tanks through the landing zones which made progress difficult, but the beach areas were captured. Around 07:00 a concerted counterattack was made by the 16th Panzer Division. It caused heavy casualties, but was beaten off. Both the British and the Americans made slow progress, and still had a 10 miles (16 km) gap between them at the end of day one. They linked up by the end of day two and occupied 35–45 miles (56–72 km) of coastline to a depth of 6–7 miles (9.7–11.3 km).
Over 12–14 September the Germans organized a concerted counterattack by six divisions of motorized troops, hoping to throw the Salerno beachhead into the sea before it could link with the British Eighth Army. Heavy casualties were inflicted, as the Allied troops were too thinly spread to be able to resist concentrated attacks. The outermost troops were therefore withdrawn in order to reduce the perimeter. The new perimeter was held with the assistance of naval and aerial support, although the German attacks reached almost to the beaches in places. Allied pilots slept under the wings of their fighters in order to beat a hasty retreat to Sicily in the event German forces broke the beachhead.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
September / 1943
To Month/Year
September / 1943
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories During World War II was commander of the destroyer Sloat, and saw action in the invasions of Africa, Sicily, and France.
