Harold M. Martin

Harold Montgomery Martin (January 28, 1896 – December 3, 1972) was an American naval aviator, commanding officer at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, and vice admiral in the United States Navy. After reaching the rank of vice admiral in 1951, Martin served as commander of United States First Fleet, United States Seventh Fleet, and later commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet until he retired in February 1956 as admiral in the U.S. Navy.

Martin was born on January 18, 1896, in Bay Mills, Michigan. Raised in Cairo, Illinois,^[1] he attended the University of Illinois. Martin was then appointed to the United States Naval Academy in 1915 and graduated in 1918.^[2] During his final year at the Naval Academy, he was captain of the Lacrosse team.^[1]

Martin served in USS Winslow (DD-53) during the World War I. After the WWI ended, he served in USS Nevada (BB-36). In 1921, he received flight training and was appointed as the naval aviator. Martin commanded several squadronmilitary aircraft units, including Squadrons VS-2B and VP-10F from 1933 to 1936. Before commanding Scouting Fleet, he served as commander at Naval Air Station at Kāneʻohe Bay, Hawaii from 1941 to 1942 and subsequently at Naval Air Facility Midway Island. Later, he commanded an Independence-class aircraft carrier USS San Jacinto (CVL-30), including combat operations process in modern-day Pacific Ocean Areas from 1943 to 1944. He was awarded the Silver Star for his actions in response to a 13 October 1944 Japanese torpedo bomber attack on USS San Jacinto.^[3] Before reaching to the rank of vice admiral, Martin was assigned to Carrier Division near Okinawa Island on 23 March 1945. He served as commander of the U.S. navy Task Force 49, a military unit which was established primarily to support soviet operations. After the World War II ended, he served at various fleet/carrier air wings and carrier strike group, and later chief of naval for Air Technical Training branch.

En 1951, Martin fue ascendido al rango de vicealmirante de tres estrellas ^{[ 4 ]} y sirvió como comandante de la Flota del Pacífico de los Estados Unidos , incluyendo la Primera y la Séptima Flota durante la Guerra de Corea , a la que fue asignado en 1952. ^{[ 5 ]} Fue condecorado con la Medalla al Servicio Distinguido por sus acciones como comandante de la Séptima Flota entre marzo de 1951 y febrero de 1952. ^{[ 3 ]} En febrero de 1956, se retiró del servicio naval de los Estados Unidos ^{[ 6 ]} como almirante de cuatro estrellas . Martin murió el 3 de diciembre de 1972 en Memphis, Tennessee , Estados Unidos. ^{[ 4 ]}