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Home Town Anderson, IN
Last Address Winston-Salem, NC
Date of Passing Jun 06, 2003
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Thaddeus Johnson Van Metre
He was born May 2, 1907, in Anderson, Ind., to Thaddeus J., who died 17 days after his birth, and Sarah E. Van Metre.
Rear Admiral Van Metre was educated in the Indiana Public Schools, George Washington University, The U.S. Naval Academy and did postgraduate work at The Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He served on the cruiser Detroit, Battleship Pennsylvania and various other destroyers in the Atlantic and Pacific until 1937. He was married Nov. 20, 1938, to Madeliene M. McCormick in Philadelphia, Pa., while serving on the staff of Commandant 4th Naval District. He left immediately for a two-year tour of duty on the Asiatic Station on the coastal gunboat, USS Tulsa. He was evacuated from Hong Kong in December 1940 with his wife and 1-year-old son, Brian. He was ordered to precommission detail for the Battleship USS North Carolina at the Naval Yard in Brooklyn, N.Y., and received favorable impressions of the N.C. Governors Delegation to the commissioning of the battleship on April 9, 1941, influencing his decision to retire in 1960 in N.C. He served during the war on the USS North Carolina until October 1944 in various assignments, the last two years as Navigator. He received the Bronze Star with Combat Citation and commanded USS Hillary P. Jones and a destroyer squadron in the Pacific until war's end. His postwar duties included Naval Proving Ground in Dahlgren, Va., Command of the USS Kenebec transporting oil from the Persian Gulf to the Philippines, Japan, Alaska and the West Coast. His shore duties include the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Washington, D.C., Senior Naval Officer as Chief of Military Assistance Group, Lisbon, Portugal, and the staff of CNO Washington, and Commander Service Squadron of 29 ships. He commanded The Naval Base at Norfolk, Va., and the U.S. Naval Station until he physically retired in November 1959. He accepted a position with the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce and moved there in 1960. He was appointed by the governor to establish the N.C. Advancement School and by the mayor to chair the Citizens Advisory Committee on Community Development. He served on the boards of Centenary United Methodist Church, The Retired Officers Association and Rotary Club.
Rear Admiral Thaddeus J. Van Metre, USN Retired, died Friday, June 6, 2003, at Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem.
Other Comments:
Thaddeus Van Metre receives Bronze Star with Combat Citation:
Capt. T. J. Metre, USN, Awarded the Bronze Star (then LCdr) for "meritorious service in connection with operations against the enemy as navigator of the USS North Carolina from May 27 to Oct. 3, 1944, in the Pacific areas in action against repeated day and night attacks by enemy aircraft."
Central Pacific Campaign (1941-43)/Battle of Tarawa
From Month/Year
November / 1943
To Month/Year
November / 1943
Description The Battle of Tarawa (US code name Operation Galvanic) was a battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II, fought from November 20 to November 23, 1943. It took place at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, located in what is now the nation of Kiribati. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, and Americans died in the fighting, mostly on and around the small island of Betio.
The Battle of Tarawa was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region. It was also the first time in the war that the United States faced serious Japanese opposition to an amphibious landing. Previous landings met little or no initial resistance. but this time the 4,500 Japanese defenders were well-supplied and well-prepared, and they fought almost to the last man, exacting a heavy toll on the United States Marine Corps. The U.S. had suffered similar casualties in other campaigns, for example over the six months of the Guadalcanal Campaign, but in this case the losses were incurred within the space of 76 hours.
