Dixie Kiefer (April 5, 1896 – November 11, 1945) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

officer who served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer ...

of and

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of . He was one of the Navy's best known figures during the war.

Early life

Born in

eastern Idaho Eastern Idaho is the area of Idaho lying east of the Magic Valley region. Much of the region is in the Mormon Corridor, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints plays a major role in the lives of the region's residents. Eastern Id ...

Blackfoot The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'', or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bl ...

, Kiefer was the son of Mr. and Mrs. H. G. Kiefer and graduated from Lincoln High School in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...

. He entered the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

in 1915 and was commissioned in June 1918. His first assignment was USS ''Corona'', a small anti-

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

patrol vessel operating in European waters during the last part of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Naval aviator

In the 1920s, Kiefer became a pilot in the fledgling aviation branch of the Navy. On 11 November 1924, he made the first ever night take-off from a warship. His plane, a Vought UO-1, was launched by

catapult A catapult is a ballistics, ballistic device used to launch a projectile at a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden rel ...

from USS ''California'' in the harbor of

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. The only illumination was ''California'' searchlights, directed 1,000 yards in the distance.

World War II

By World War II, Kiefer had risen to the rank of

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

. He served as

Executive Officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer ...

of the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

in the Battles of

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down t ...

and Midway, where he was credited with instilling high morale among the crew. He received the Distinguished Service Medal for Coral Sea and the

Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the United States Naval Service's second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is equivalent to the Army ...

for Midway. When ''Yorktown'' was sunk at Midway, Kiefer shattered his right leg and ankle while leaping from the ship. After recovering from his injuries, Kiefer was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

and given command of the new carrier , which was commissioned at the

Norfolk Navy Yard The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard and abbreviated as NNSY, is a United States Navy, U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships. It is the oldest and largest ...

on 8 May 1944. He was popular with his sailors and was credited with training the carrier's air group and crew into an efficient wartime team. Reportedly, Kiefer would use the bullhorn 4-5 times a day to hurry his flight deck crew or else "that admiral over there will give me hell." Only one man deserted at San Diego. When the ship passed through the Panama Canal, Kiefer ensured that nearly the entire 3,000 crew received shore leave. The crew also had steak four nights in a row."World Battlefronts: Captain Dixie and the Ti"
''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

''. July 23, 1945. On 21 January 1945, ''Ticonderoga'' was hit by two Japanese ''

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

'' bombers. 144 men were killed and 200 injured. The first kamikaze hit started large fires among gasoline and planes in the hangar deck. Kiefer had port-side compartment deliberately flooded to put a 10-degree list on the ship. This caused the flaming gasoline to slide overboard – a procedure not used before. Then he maneuvered the ship to upwind of the burning wreckage. A second kamikaze hit ''Ticonderoga'' later that day. The explosion from that hit injured Kiefer, with 65 wounds from bomb shrapnel and a broken arm. Nonetheless he remained in command on the bridge for eleven hours, not leaving until it was reported that all of the other injured were treated. While recovering from his injuries, Kiefer was made an honorary

commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

in a ceremony at

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

. He also served as commander of the Naval Air Station at Quonset, Rhode Island. He received the Distinguished Service Medal from

Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

James V. Forrestal, who called him "the indestructible man". He had not yet recovered when he died at age 49 on 11 November 1945 – his arm was still in a cast. He was killed in the crash of his Navy transport plane on Mount Beacon,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, while returning to Quonset from

Caldwell, New Jersey Caldwell is a borough located in northwestern Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, about west of New York City and north-west of Newark, the state's most populous city. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population ...

. Kiefer was buried at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

. Kiefer was said to be the most battered officer in the Navy. He broke his left ankle and split his kneecap playing football as a youth. His left elbow was smashed when a fellow pilot "buzzed" him in a

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tech ...

and hit his arm with a wingtip float. The crew of ''Ticonderoga'' said of him, "He's got so much metal in him the ship's compass follows him when he walks across the deck."

Awards and decorations

References

External links

Arlington National Cemetery

- Dixie Kiefer {{DEFAULTSORT:Kiefer, Dixie 1896 births 1945 deaths Accidental deaths in New York (state) Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Military personnel from Kansas City, Missouri People from Blackfoot, Idaho Military personnel from Lincoln, Nebraska Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States) Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Silver Star United States Naval Academy alumni United States Naval Aviators United States Navy commodores United States Navy personnel of World War I United States Navy personnel of World War II Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1945