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Contact Info
Home Town Born Sioux Falls, SD. Raised Iowa and Nebraska.
Last Address Cause of death: Cancer - Leukemia Naval Hospital, Annapolis, Maryland
Date of Passing Jul 26, 2014
Location of Interment Annapolis National Cemetery (VA) - Annapolis, Maryland
Admiral Charles R. Larson, U.S.N. (Ret.) Navy Distinguished Service Medal 7 awards Aviator, Submariner, President's Naval Aide
First Naval White House Fellow, and twice
Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy
As a special Naval aide to President Nixon, at the height of the Cold War, Larson was the "Black Bag Man," carrying with him the nuclear codes, as well as the responsibility for emergency relocation and evacuation of the President in case of nuclear war, together with all of his communications.
Four-star Admiral Charles Robert Larson, one of the Navy's most distinguished officers served as Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, and President Nixon's Naval Aide.
"This guy really walked on water," said General James "Don" Hughes, President Nixon's vice presidential and presidential military assistant - Larson's superior - who himself served as Commander in Chief of the Pacific Air Forces. "He was a nice person."
Larson graduated from Annapolis in 1958 - he was a classmate of Senator John McCain's - and went on to serve under legendary Adm. Hyman Rickover and accomplish the rarest of Navy feats in becoming both an aircraft-based aviator and a nuclear submariner.
"Those two alone were very, very outstanding accomplishments," Gen. Hughes said.
Larson served on the USS Nathan Hale (SSBN-636), USS Nathanael Greene (SSBN-636), USS Bergall (SSN-667), USS Sculpin (SSN-590), and would command the USS Halibut (SSN-587) during the height of the Cold War, intercepting Soviet communications from the bottom of the ocean floor. He joined the Johnson administration as a White House Fellow, the first naval officer to do so.
With the inauguration of a new president in 1969, Gen. Hughes, who was the Nixon transition team's senior aide, immediately thought of Larson for the position.
"The DOD sent me three candidates - Army, Navy and Marine - I was going to handle Air Force myself," said Gen. Hughes. "They sent me a lot of water walkers. The three I picked were the best of the best. Chuck Larson had already been a White House Fellow - so he knew his way around."
As President Nixon's Naval Aide, he was responsible for managing and overseeing all operations at Camp David, the presidential Catoctin Mountain hideaway, as well as the presidential yacht Sequoia.
"He served superbly," Gen. Hughes said. "The difference between then and now is each of these aides were not just symbolic - they all had assigned duties."
Larson left the Nixon administration after two-and-a-half years. "He was highly motivated to be a naval officer," according to Gen. Hughes. "He came to me and thought it was time for him to go back to the Navy and take up his lifelong career, which is unusual - many of these guys get there and you can't blast them out with dynamite - but he was the first one to go."
Larson was promoted to Admiral in 1979; at age 43, he became the second-youngest admiral in history. Later as Superintendent of the Naval Academy, according to The Baltimore Sun, Larson "was widely credited with shaping the academy into a more disciplined institution and with establishing a curriculum that focused on character development."
"He was a real leader," said Maryland Lt. Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. "He had the qualities of brilliance and honesty - precisely the qualities you yearn for in a leader. He was just what the Naval Academy needed."
In 1990, he was promoted to a four-star admiral, and took up one of the highest military positions as Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, "with responsibility for about half of the world out in the Pacific," Gen. Hughes said.
Other Comments:
Admiral Larson's major military decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, *Navy Distinguished Service Medal (7 awards), Legion of Merit (3 awards), **Bronze Star, Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, and he was decorated by the governments of ***Japan, Thailand, France and Korea. He was also entitled to wear the Presidential Service Badge.
*His 7 Navy DSMs, Distinguished Service Medals, may be the most ever awarded to any man in history. **1971-1973: As the navigator and Executive Officer of the USS Scalpin, Larson was awarded a Bronze Star - the only nuclear submariner to receive such a medal in the Vietnam War.
***Foreign awards include the National Order of Merit, France - Order of the Rising Sun, Japan - Order of the Crown of Thailand.
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As a junior officer, Admiral Larson served as a naval aviator in an aircraft carrier based squadron and later as a nuclear submariner. As a submarine officer, he served on two ballistic missile submarines and three attack submarines, including command of the nuclear attack submarine USS Halibut (SSN-587).
His other sea commands included Submarine Development Group, which included the Navy's world wide deep submergence program; Submarine Group Eight, which included command of all United States and NATO submarines in the Mediterranean Sea and all United States anti submarine warfare forces in that area; Commander Second Fleet, including all operational ships in the Atlantic; Commander NATO Striking Fleet Atlantic; and Commander-in-Chief, US Pacific Fleet, with all Navy and Marine Corps forces in the Pacific.
In command ashore, Admiral Larson served an unprecedented two tours as Superintendent, US Naval Academy, the first from 1983-1986 and the second from 1994-1998. He also was the first naval officer selected as a White House Fellow, serving in 1968 as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Interior. Following his fellowship, he was assigned to the White House where he served for 2 ½ years as Naval Aide to the President of the United States.
Admiral Larson retired in 1998 after serving as an admiral for four presidents. Since retirement, he served on corporate boards in the areas of defense, aerospace, oil exploration and production, international service and construction and the electric industry.
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The Admiral's final resting place was the Annapolis National Cemetery, at Annapolis, Maryland, on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy. He reserved additional grave plots, and one of those plots is where his best friend, dating back to his days at the academy, Senator John McCain was buried.
Navy Distinguished Service Medal (1919-2016) - 1990
Name of Award Navy Distinguished Service Medal (1919-2016)
Year Awarded 1990
Last Updated: Nov 1, 2015
This ribbon will display Multiple Award devices automatically based on the total number of awards listed
Details Behind Award
Larson's major military decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Navy Distinguished Service Medal (7 awards), Legion of Merit (3 awards), the Bronze Star, Navy Commendation Medal and Navy Achievement Medal. He has also been decorated by the governments of Japan, Thailand, France and Korea.
Navy Distinguished Service Medal Awarded for actions during the Peace Time Awards
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting a Silver Star in lieu of a Fifth Award of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal to Vice Admiral Charles Robert Larson (NSN: 0-624726), United States Navy, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Plans, Policy and Operations; as Navy Operations Deputy, Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and as Senior United States Member of the Military Staff Committee of the United Nations from September 1988 to February 1990. Vice Admiral Larson's many initiatives, broad grasp of national and international political and military issues, and exceptional strategic foresight made a lasting contribution to the Navy and the development of U.S. national security policy and strategy. At a time of extraordinary politico-military activity in a rapidly changing global political environment, he provided wise counsel for developing U.S. Government positions for strategic arms control negotiations, conventional arms control negotiations, and naval arms control matters. Vice Admiral Larson organized and led the U.S. Navy counter-narcotics effort in operations at sea designed to interdict the flow of illicit drugs into the United States. His leadership of the U.S. Navy delegation to the highly successful 1989 Incidents at Sea Conference with the Soviet Navy greatly reduced the probability of tensions at sea between the two navies. Throughout, his clear vision of U.S. national security needs, and the Navy's role in fulfilling those needs will shape the Navy's course well into the next century. Vice Admiral Larson's distinctive accomplishments, unparalleled professionalism, and selfless devotion to duty reflected great credit upon himself and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Action Date: September 1988 - February 1990 Service: Navy Rank: Vice Admiral