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Robert Cox, YNCS
to remember
Kinkaid, Thomas Cassin, ADM USN(Ret).
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Contact Info
Home Town Hanover, NH
Last Address Bethesda, MD
Date of Passing Nov 17, 1972
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Thomas Cassin Kinkaid is known for his service during World War II. He built a reputation as a "fighting admiral" in the aircraft carrier battles of 1942 and commanded the Allied forces in the Aleutian Islands Campaign.
He was Commander Allied Naval Forces and the Seventh Fleet under General of the Army Douglas MacArthur in the Southwest Pacific Area, where he conducted numerous amphibious operations, and commanded an Allied fleet during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle of World War II and the last naval battle between battleships in history.
Other Comments:
The USS Kinkaid (DD-965), named for Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid ), was a Spruance-class destroyer launched in 1974. She was decommissioned in 2003 and sunk in 2004.
Army Distinguished Service Medal
Awarded for Actions During World War II
Service: Navy
General Orders: War Department, General Orders No. 38 (April 3, 1947)
Citation:
"The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Admiral Thomas Cassin Kinkaid (NSN: 0-6585), United States Navy, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility in the Southwest Pacific Area, from January to September 1945.
...
As Commander of the Allied Naval Forces supporting SIXTH Army, he demonstrated a consummate mastery of all phases of joint Army-Navy activity as well as a conspicuously outstanding knowledge of strategic warfare and naval tactics as he directed the planning and execution of naval support of amphibious operations in the Admiralties and Philippine Islands. His employment of naval forces against the Japanese Fleet in the Battle for Leyte Gulf resulted in disaster for the enemy and removed a dangerous threat to the entire plan for the liberation of the Philippine Islands.
...
Through his seasoned, resourceful leadership, and consistently noteworthy professional competence in the most capable execution of devastating naval blows, Admiral Kinkaid made a distinguished and most significant contribution to the successful and expeditious conclusion of the Philippine Liberation Campaign."
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/New Guinea Campaign (1943-44)
From Month/Year
January / 1943
To Month/Year
December / 1944
Description The last obstacle in liberating all of New Guinea island was the Vogelkop Peninsula in Dutch New Guinea. The Japanese resistance on the peninsula gathered at Manokwari, and MacArthur did not wish to contest with this force. Instead, his "hit 'em where they ain't" strategy took the Allied forces to a number of undefended beaches near Cape Opmaria and Sansapor. Like Rabaul, the 25,000 men at Manokwari were now stranded, frustratingly idling uselessly.
In Sep 1944, Allied troops occupied the Halmahera Islands, concluding the New Guinea Campaign. MacArthur was now only several hundred miles from the Philippines. In his memoir, MacArthur attributed to the Allied victory over New Guinea to mobility and the ability to achieve surprise at key confrontations. Additionally, he also insisted that his refusal to deploy military governors over conquered regions helped his command focus on the task at hand. Instead, he brought in Dutch and Australian civil administrators immediately after the area had been deemed secure. "The success of this method was reflected in the complete lack of friction between the various governments concerned", he noted.
Although Allied attention would move toward the Philippine Islands by this time, small pockets of Japanese resistance would continue to fight until late May 1945.