INTERNATIONAL . BIOGRAPHICALDATA DISTINGUISHEDSPEAKERS AND HOSTS U.S. NAVAL WAR COLLEGE Newpo,rt, Rhode Island I - 5 f\Jovember 1971 Vice Admiral Benedict J. Semmes, Jr. U.S. Navy ---•--- President U.S. Naval War College Benedict Joseph Semmes, Jr., was born in Memphis, Tenn., on April 8, 1913, son of the late B.J. Semmes, Sr., and Mrs. Amy Lardner Semmes. He graduated from .the United States Naval Academy and was commissioned Ensign on May 31, l 934~ His selection to the rank of Rear Admiral was approved by the President on July 18, 1958, his date of rank July 1, 1959. He was appointed Vice Admiral to date from April 1, 1964. After graduation, his first assignment was in the battleship Mississippi. He then had duty on the staff of Commander Battle Force until March 1938, after which he had successive service in the destroyers Claxton and Badger. In January 1940, he was assigned to the USS Wasp and served on board until she was sunk by a Japanese submarine in the Coral Sea in September 1942. From December 1942, he served as Executive Officer of the USS Sigsbee, participating in raids on Marcus and Wake Islands and in the assault of Tarawa. In the summer of 1944, he took command of the USS Picking, which he retained until V-J Day. In that command he was awarded the Navy Cross and the Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V" for heroism in combat. Post WWII sea duty was comprised of command of the destroyer Ault, Destroyer Division 302 in the Western Pacific during Korean hostilities, as Chief of Staff of Destroyers, Atlantic, the USS Shenandoah, and Destroyer Flotilla Three. Shore assignments for Vice Admiral Semmes have included duty on the Staff of Commander, Gulf Sea Frontier, in Germany on the staff of the Commander, U.S. Naval Forces, Germany and several tours in the Bureau of Naval Personnel in Washington. He graduated from the National War College in 1958. 1 In May 1962, Vice Admiral Semmes reported as Commander, Middle East Force in the Indian Ocean/Persian Gulf Area, and in August 1963, became Commander Cruiser Destroyer Force, Atlantic. On April 1, 1964, he became Chief of Naval Personnel and Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Personnel and Naval Reserve), where he served a four year tour. On detachment to command the Second Fleet and Striking Fleet Atlantic in April, 1968, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for his performance as Chief of Naval Personnel. The Reserve Officers Association recognized this performance by presenting him the Minute Man Hall of Fame Award in May 1968. On completion of his tour as Commander Second Fleet in September of 1970, he reported to Washington for duty as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Fleet Requirements and Readiness). He assumed Presidency of the U.S. Naval War College, Newport, R.I. on August 17, 1971. Vice Admiral Semmes' wife is the former Katharine Ainsworth of Charleston, S.C., daughter of the late Vice Admiral W.L. Ainsworth, USN (Ret.) and Mrs. Katharine Gardner Ainsworth of Wonalancet, N.H. They have four children: Walden (Mrs. John Randall), Raphaelle, Benedict Joseph, III and Amy. · 2 Rear Admiral Graham Tahler U.S. Naval Reserve ---•--- Deputy to the President U.S. Naval War College Rear Admiral Graham Tahler, a native of Brooklyn, New York, and a graduate of Queens College, started his Navy career in the V-5 Program, taking his Naval Aviation Cadet Training at Floyd Bennett Field, New York in 1941. He was commissioned as a Naval Aviator in 1942. He participated in the Guadalcanal Campaign with Composite Squadron Twenty-one and Composite Squadron Thirty-eight and for heroism and extraordinary achievement during September 1943 to March 1944 he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. In July 1944 he reported for duty with Torpedo Squadron Eighty-five and took part in the first Naval Aviation strike on Tokyo while flying from USS Shangri-La. He was awarded the Navy Cross and a Gold Star in lieu of the Second Air Medal for outstanding service in that assignment. ' After successive tours at three Naval Air Stations and COMNAVAIRPAC staff during the period May 1959 to March 1963, he had duty as TAR (Naval Reserve personnel on active duty in the training and administration of the Naval Reserve) in the Mobilization and Reserve Plans Branch, Bureau of Naval Personnel, Navy Department, Washington, D.C. He served two tours as Assistant Coordinator of Naval Air Reserve in the office of the DCNO (Air) and a tour as Commanding Officer, Naval Air Reserve Training Unit, Memphis, Tenn. In 1968 with the rank of Captain, he reported to Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, as Assistant Chief of Staff for Administration and Personnel on the staff of the Chief of Naval Air Training. 3 In addition to the Navy Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with three Gold Stars, Rear Admiral Tahler has the Naval Reserve Medal; American Defense Service Medal; American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one silver star and two- bronze stars (seven operations); Navy Occupation Service Medal, Asia Clasp; National Defense Service Medal with bronze star; Armed Forces Reserve Medal and the Philippine Liberation Medal. Rear Admiral Tahler is married to the former Joan Wolf and they have five children, Lois Ann, Virginia Claire, Ellen Joan, James William and Sarah Jane. His official residence is Long Island, New York. He received his promotion to Rear Admiral effective in February 1971, and in April reported to the Naval War College as Deputy to the President. 4 ••• J ,',; 1 \,1 '·,?.,. I ", . : ~ ., Honorable U. Alexis Johnson ---·--- Under Secretary for Political Affairs Department of State Honorable U. Alexis Johnson, Under Secretary for Political Affairs, Department of State, was born 17 October 1908 in Falun, Kansas. He received his A.B. (1931) from Occidental College; and did postgraduate work at Georgetown !University (1931-32). After his appointment as Vice Consul and Secretary with the Diplomatic Service in 1935, Mr. Johnson served as Language Attache, American Embassy, Tokyo (1935-37); Vice Consul, Seoul (1937-39); Vice Consul, Tientsin 1 China (1939); and Vice Consul, Mukden, Manchuria (1940-42). After returning to the Department (June-November 1942), he was assigned as Third Secretary and Vice Consul, becoming Second Secretary and Vice Consul, Rio de Janeiro (1942-44). During 1944 Mr. Johnson attended the U.S. Army Civil Affairs Training School, University of Chicago. He was designated Consul, Manila, Philippine Islands (1945); and was detailed to General Headquarters, Supreme Command Allied Powers, Tokyo (1945-47). From 1947-50 he was American Consul, Yokohama. Upon returning to the Department he was appointed Director, Office of Northeast Asian Affairs (1950-51), becoming Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs in 1951. Mr. Johnson served as U.S. Ambassador to Czechoslovakia (1953-58), U.S. Ambassador to Thailand (1958-61), Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (1961-64), and Deputy Ambassador to Vietnam (1964). He returned to Washington as Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs in November 1965, and was named Ambassador to Japan in July 1966. He assumed his present position in February 1969. 5 ln addition, Mr. Johnson was coordinator for the United States delegation to the Geneva Conference in 1954; the U.S. representative for ambassadorial negotiations with the Chinese Communists for release of United States and Chinese citizens (1955-58); and a member of the SEATO Council (1958·61). 6 Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr. U.S. Navy ---•--- Chief of Naval Operations Elmo Russell Zumwalt, Jr., was born in San Francisco, California, on November 29, 1920, son of Dr. E.R. Zumwalt and Dr. Frances Zumwalt. He attended Tulare · (California) . Union High School, where he was Class Valedictorian and the Rutherford Preparatory School, at Long Beach, ~alifornia, before his appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland from his native state in 1939. As a Midshipman he was President of the Trident Society, Vice President of the Quarterback Society, was twice winner of the June Week Public Speaking ·Contest, Company Commander in 1941, Regimental Three Striper in 1942, and pa,rticipated in inter-collegiate debating. Graduated cum laude and commissioned Ensign on June 19, 1942, with the Class of 1943, he subsequently progressed to the rank of Admiral, to date from July 1, 1970. Following graduation from the Naval Academy in June 1942, he joined the USS Phelps, and in November 1943 was detached for instruction in the Operational Training Command, Pacific, at San Francisco, California. In January 1944 he reported on board the USS Robinson, and for service as Evaluator in the Combat Information Center in action against enemy Japanese battleships during the Battle for Leyte Gulf, October 25, 1944, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V." After the cessation of hostilities in August 1945, until December 8 of that year, he commanded (as prize crew officer) HIJMS Ataka, a 1200-ton Japanese river gunboat with two hundred officers and crew. In that capacity he took the first ship since the outbreak of World War II, flying the United States flag, up the Yangtze River to Shanghai. There they helped to restore order and assisted in the disarming of the Japanese. 7 He next served as Executive Officer of the USS Saufl.ey, and in June 1946 was transferred to the USS Zellars as Executive Officer and Navigator. In February 1948 he was assigned to the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps Unit of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he remained until June 1950 . That month he assumed command of the USS Tills, in commission in reserve status.