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Altmann, Richard Gustaf, RADM.
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Contact Info
Home Town Brooklyn, NY
Last Address Flat Rock, NC
Date of Passing Jan 04, 2008
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Wall/Plot Coordinates Section 60, Site 8911
Military Service Number 299 545
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Richard G. Altmann, 85, of Flat Rock, North Carolina, died January 4, 2009, at the Elizabeth House.
Admiral Altmann was born in Brooklyn, New York, but was a native of Long Island, New York. In June 1943, at the age of 19, he was commissioned an Ensign Naval Aviator. In 1944, he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Navy?s highest combat award, as a torpedo bomber pilot, for gallantry in action against the Japanese fleet at the battle of Leyte Gulf, Philippine Islands.
Admiral Altmann attended the Naval War College and held a master of science degree in international relations from George Washington University, and a bachelor?s degree in business administration from Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois.
Admiral Altmann retired after 33 years on active duty. He was also awarded the Legion of Merit with Gold Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with four gold stars and the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Service Award in 1976.
Aircraft: TBM, F2H, FJ-4, A4D, F4U.
Ships/Units/Deployments include: USS Kalinn Bay, USS Albany, USS Bennington.
Associations/Service Organizations: Assn Of Naval Aviation, Tailhook Association, Community Foundation, Navy Relief Assn., Naval Aviation Museum Foundation, and United Way.
RAdm. Richard G. Altmann was Deputy Director of the Naval Reserve at the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington, D.C. (1973/74)
After retiring from the Navy, the Admiral had three other major careers. He directed a presidential study on compensation for President Ford and President Carter for two years. He then became President of the American Institute of Steel Construction for five years. This institute served the steel fabricators of the United States. Lastly, he became CEO of the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board in Chicago for four years.
In 1988, he retired to Flat Rock, where he organized and became the first president of the Kenmure Homeowners Association, was a board member for United Way; chairman of 1994 United Way Campaign; chaired the United Way Ocklawaha Society Campaign; chairman of the Community Foundation Community Relations Committee; he was a board member for Crime Stoppers; president of the Henderson County Blue Ridge Humane Society for three years; board member and past president of the Hendersonville Country Club for three years; a member of the Kedron Lodge No. 387 AF & AM, 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason; and the Oasis Shrine Temple.
Interment at Arlington National Cemetery.
Other Comments:
Navy Cross
Awarded for Actions During World War II
Service: Navy
Battalion: Composite Squadron 3 (VC-3)
Division: U.S.S.KalininBay (CVE-68)
General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 343 (October 1945)
Citation: The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Ensign Richard Gustaf Altmann (NSN: 0-299545), United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Combat Plane in Composite Squadron THREE (VC-3), attached to the U.S.S. KALININ BAY (CVE-68), in aerial flight against major Japanese Fleet Units in the Battle of Samar Island on 25 October 1944. Ensign Altmann made a bombing attack on a Japanese battleship obtaining one hit and a near miss. Upon firing his rockets at the same ship he obtained four hits amidships causing an explosion. Continuing his attack he strafed and fired his remaining rockets at an enemy cruiser scoring two hits. Realizing the urgency for inflicting further damage to the enemy he landed at Tacloban airfield on LeyteIsland, re-armed and returned to the battle obtaining two direct bomb hits on a Japanese heavy cruiser. He made these repeated attacks in the face of devastating anti-aircraft fire inflicting damage on the enemy and at the same time diverted anti-aircraft fire from other planes that were attacking, thus materially assisting in saving our own forces from destruction. His conduct throughout was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Description The Battle of Leyte Gulf, also called the Battles for Leyte Gulf, and formerly known as the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea, is generally considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history.
It was fought in waters near the Philippine islands of Leyte, Samar and Luzon from 23–26 October 1944, between combined US and Australian forces and the Imperial Japanese Navy. On 20 October, United States troops invaded the island of Leyte as part of a strategy aimed at isolating Japan from the countries it had occupied in Southeast Asia, and in particular depriving its forces and industry of vital oil supplies. The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) mobilized nearly all of its remaining major naval vessels in an attempt to defeat the Allied invasion, but was repulsed by the US Navy's 3rd and 7th Fleets. The IJN failed to achieve its objective, suffered very heavy losses, and never afterwards sailed to battle in comparable force. The majority of its surviving heavy ships, deprived of fuel, remained in their bases for the rest of the Pacific War.
The Battle of Leyte Gulf consisted of four separate engagements between the opposing forces: the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, the Battle of Surigao Strait, the Battle of Cape Engaño and the Battle off Samar, as well as other actions.
It was the first battle in which Japanese aircraft carried out organized kamikaze attacks. By the time of the battle, Japan had fewer aircraft than the Allied forces had sea vessels, demonstrating the difference in power of the two sides at this point of the war.
