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Kiefer, Dixie, Cmdre.
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Contact Info
Home Town Blackfoot, ID
Last Address Beacon, NY
Date of Passing Nov 11, 1945
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Wall/Plot Coordinates 3 4072-C
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Commodore Kiefer was born in Blackfoot, Idaho, on 4 April 1896 the son of E.C.W. Kiefer and Mrs. Tina W. (Glade) Kiefer. He attended Lincoln (Nebraska) High School, before his appointment to the US Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, from the First District of Nebraska in 1915. Graduated and commissioned Ensign in June 1918, with the Class of 1919, he progressed in grade until his promotion to Commodore, 24 May 1945.
After graduation from the Academy, he served in the USS St. Louis for a brief time until ordered to duty with the Destroyer Force based on Brest, France. He served in that assignment, in the USS Corona, USS Favorite and the USS Chesapeake, from August 1918 until October 1919. Following his return to the United States, he had duty in the USS Pennsylvania and the USS Nevada until June 1922 when he reported to the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, for flight training. Designated naval aviator 26 December 1922, he had served continuously with naval aviation from that time until his death in November 1945.
In April 1923, he reported to Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet, and served until January 1926 with Observation Squadron 1, attached to the USS Aroostook, and with Observation Squadron 2, aviation unit of the USS California. Following duty as an Instructor at the Pensacola Naval Air Station for a year and one-half, he was under instruction in aeronautical engineering at the Postgraduate School, Annapolis, Maryland, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he received the degree Master of Science in June 1929. In October of that year he joined Scouting Squadron 3, based on the aircraft carrier Lexington, and in May 1930 was transferred to duty in the carrier Saratoga.
Between November 1931 and June 1934, he was on duty at Pearl Harbor, T.H., serving consecutively at the Fleet Air Base until August 1932; as operations officer, Aircraft Squadrons, until February 1933; and in command of Patrol Squadron 4, based there, until the completion of that tour. He next commanded Scouting Squadron 5, aviation unit of the USS Memphis, from June 1934 until June 1935, and the following two and one half years was engineer officer on the staff of Commander, Aircraft, Base Force, USS Wright, flagship, and later Commander, Aircraft, Battle Force, with the USS Saratoga, as flagship. In January 1938, he rejoined the Wright as engineer officer on the staff of Commander, Aircraft, Scouting Force, serving in that assignment six months.
He was Inspector of Naval Aircraft, US Aircraft Corporation, Pratt and Whitney Division, East Hartford, Connecticut, from July 1938 until April 1941. In May of that year he returned to sea as executive officer of the Wright, serving in that capacity until 11 February 1942, when he was transferred to duty as executive officer of the USS Yorktown. During his duty aboard this carrier, which extended to 7 June 1942, when she was lost as the result of enemy action in the Battle of Midway where the Japanese Navy suffered its first decisive defeat in 350 years, the Yorktown also participated in the raids on Salamaua and Lae in March 1942, and in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May of that year. After serving in this carrier, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for "exceptionally meritorious service...(he) contributed greatly toward bringing the ship and her air group to a high state of morale, efficiency and readiness for battle exhibited by the Yorktown in her splendid contribution to the victory attained by our forces in the actions comprising the Battle of the Coral Sea..."
He was also awarded the Navy Cross for "extraordinary heroism as Executive Officer of the USS Yorktown in preparations for, during and after action against enemy Japanese forces in the Battle of Midway, on June 4, 1942. ...When the stricken vessel was being gutted by raging fires, he, being unable to obtain rescue breathing apparatus from his own smoke filled cabin, entered the photographic laboratory, which was a flaming inferno from burning films, and conducted the first fire-fighting there. Later, while directing the abandonment of the Yorktown, Commander Kiefer, in lowering an injured man into a life raft, burned his hands so severely that when he himself went over the side and descended by line, he was unable to support his own weight. In the resultant fall he struck the ship's armor belt and suffered a compound fracture of the foot and ankle. Despite acute pain, he gallantly swam alongside of and pushed a life raft toward a rescuing destroyer until he became so completely exhausted that he had to be pulled out of the water..."
Following the loss of the Yorktown, Commodore Kiefer was hospitalized until January 1943, when he assumed command of the Naval Air Station, Olathe, Kansas. He remained there until August 1943, interspersed with duty as Head of the Aviation Department at the Naval Academy between February and April 1943. Transferred to duty as Chief of Staff and Aide to the Chief of Naval Air Primary Training Command, Fairfax Airport, Kansas City, Kansas, and from November 1943 to January 1944 served as Acting Chief of that Command.
Detached from the Primary Training Command assignment at Kansas City in April 1944, he fitted out the USS Ticonderoga, assuming command of that aircraft carrier when she was commissioned May 1944. During his command, the Ticonderoga's Air Group inflicted heavy damage to the Japanese. Severely wounded when the Ticonderoga was twice struck by enemy suicide planes near Formosa on 21 January 1945, Commodore Kiefer remained on the bridge for twelve hours directed his heavily damaged ship. For his services in command of the Ticonderoga, he was awarded the Silver Star Medal "...On 21 January 1945 when his ship was severely damaged by enemy air attack, in spite of serious wounds, he remained on the bridge and continued to direct operations until his ship was out of danger from enemy action..."
He subsequently returned to the United States for hospitalization, and on 19 April 1945, reported for duty as Commander, Naval Air Bases, First Naval District, with additional duty as Commander, Naval Air Station, Quonset Point, Rhode Island.
Commodore Kiefer was killed in a plane crash in the Fishkill Mountains, Fishkill, New York, on 11 November 1945. He was buried with full military honors in Arlington Cemetery on 16 November 1945.
In addition to the Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Medal and the Silver Star Medal, and the Purple Heart Medal with Gold Star, Commodore Kiefer had the Victory Medal, Patrol Clasp (USS Corona); the American Defense Service Medal, Fleet Clasp (USS Wright); the American Campaign Medal; the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two bronze stars; and the World War II Victory Medal.
Navy Cross
Awarded for Actions During World War II
Service: Navy
Division: U.S.S. Yorktown (CV-5)
General Orders: Authority: Board of Awards: Serial 19 (October 14, 1942)
Citation: The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Commander Dixie Kiefer, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession as Executive Officer of the Aircraft Carrier U.S.S. YORKTOWN (CV-5), in preparation for, during and after action against enemy Japanese forces in the Battle of Midway, on 4 June 1942. Through sound judgment, through planning and exceptional courage, Commander Kiefer contributed greatly toward the high state of readiness for battle which made it possible for the YORKTOWN to face the powerful bombing and torpedo attacks of the enemy with aggressive fighting spirit and enabled her Air Group to accomplish their hazardous missions with inspired efficiency. When the stricken vessel was being gutted by raging fires, he, being unable to obtain a rescue breathing apparatus from his own smoke-filled cabin, entered the photographic laboratory, which was a flaming inferno from burning films, and conducted the first fire-fighting there. Later, while directing the abandonment of the YORKTOWN, Commander Kiefer, in lowering an injured man into a life raft, burned his hands so severely that when he himself went over the side and descended the line, he was unable to support his own weight. In the resultant fall he struck the ship's armor belt and suffered a compound fracture of the foot and ankle. Despite acute pain, he gallantly swam alongside of and pushed a life raft toward a rescuing destroyer until he became so completely exhausted he had to be pulled out of the water. His courageous initiative and unselfish devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Description The United States of America declared war on the German Empire on April 6, 1917. The U.S. was an independent power and did not officially join the Allies. It closely cooperated with them militarily but acted alone in diplomacy. The U.S. made its major contributions in terms of supplies, raw material and money, starting in 1917. American soldiers under General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), arrived in large numbers on the Western Front in the summer of 1918. They played a major role until victory was achieved on November 11, 1918. Before entering the war, the U.S had remained neutral, though it had been an important supplier to Great Britain and the other Allied powers. During the war, the U.S mobilized over 4 million military personnel and suffered 110,000 deaths, including 43,000 due to the influenza pandemic. The war saw a dramatic expansion of the United States government in an effort to harness the war effort and a significant increase in the size of the U.S. military. After a slow start in mobilising the economy and labour force, by spring 1918 the nation was poised to play a role in the conflict. Under the leadership of President Woodrow Wilson, the war represented the climax of the Progressive Era as it sought to bring reform and democracy to the world, although there was substantial public opposition to United States entry into the war.
Although the United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, it did not initially declare war on the other Central Powers, a state of affairs that Woodrow Wilson described as an "embarrassing obstacle" in his State of the Union speech. Congress declared war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire on December 17, 1917, but never made declarations of war against the other Central Powers, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire or the various Co-belligerents allied with the central powers, thus the United States remained uninvolved in the military campaigns in central, eastern and southern Europe, the Middle East, the Caucasus, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Pacific.
The United States as late as 1917 maintained only a small army, smaller than thirteen of the nations and empires already active in the war. After the passage of the Selective Service Act in 1917, it drafted 2.8 million men into military service. By the summer of 1918 about a million U.S. soldiers had arrived in France, about half of whom eventually saw front-line service; by the Armistice of November 11 approximately 10,000 fresh soldiers were arriving in France daily. In 1917 Congress gave U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans when they were drafted to participate in World War I, as part of the Jones Act. In the end Germany miscalculated the United States' influence on the outcome of the conflict, believing it would be many more months before U.S. troops would arrive and overestimating the effectiveness of U-boats in slowing the American buildup.
The United States Navy sent a battleship group to Scapa Flow to join with the British Grand Fleet, destroyers to Queenstown, Ireland and submarines to help guard convoys. Several regiments of Marines were also dispatched to France. The British and French wanted U.S. units used to reinforce their troops already on the battle lines and not to waste scarce shipping on bringing over supplies. The U.S. rejected the first proposition and accepted the second. General John J. Pershing, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) commander, refused to break up U.S. units to serve as mere reinforcements for British Empire and French units. As an exception, he did allow African-American combat regiments to fight in French divisions. The Harlem Hellfighters fought as part of the French 16th Division, earning a unit Croix de Guerre for their actions at Château-Thierry, Belleau Wood, and Séchault.
Impact of US forces on the war
On the battlefields of France in spring 1918, the war-weary Allied armies enthusiastically welcomed the fresh American troops. They arrived at the rate of 10,000 a day, at a time when the Germans were unable to replace their losses. After British Empire, French and Portuguese forces had defeated and turned back the powerful final German offensive (Spring Offensive of March to July, 1918), the Americans played a role in the Allied final offensive (Hundred Days Offensive of August to November). However, many American commanders used the same flawed tactics which the British, French, Germans and others had abandoned early in the war, and so many American offensives were not particularly effective. Pershing continued to commit troops to these full- frontal attacks, resulting in high casualties against experienced veteran German and Austrian-Hungarian units. Nevertheless, the infusion of new and fresh U.S. troops greatly strengthened the Allies' strategic position and boosted morale. The Allies achieved victory over Germany on November 11, 1918 after German morale had collapsed both at home and on the battlefield.
