Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

Frederic Abshire Bardshar (20 October 1915 – 13 September 1993) was an American

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 ...

air ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace varies, but is ...

, who later became Commander of United States Navy Task Force 77 and Carrier Division Five during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

Military career

World War II

During World War II, Lieutenant Commander Bardshar piloted a Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat, and was credited with eight kills at the Philippines during the

Battle for Leyte Gulf The Battle of Leyte Gulf () 23–26 October 1944, was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. By late 1944, Japan possessed fewer capital sh ...

in 1944. He was made commander of Air Group 27, based aboard .

1960s

From November 1963 to November 1964, Captain Bardshar was the third Commanding Officer of the aircraft carrier . In 1969, Rear Admiral Bardshar led an investigation into the fire aboard the when a

Zuni rocket The Zuni 5-inch Folding-Fin Aircraft Rocket (FFAR), or simply Zuni, is a unguided rocket developed by the Hunter Douglas Division of Bridgeport Brass Company and deployed by the United States Armed Forces, and the French Air Force. The rocket was ...

misfired, resulting in the deaths of 27 crew, and 314 more injured.

Vietnam War

Bardshar commanded the ''Constellation'' during the Gulf of Tonkin Incident from which he led the first U.S. attacks on Vietnam. Later he served two tours with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As Vice Director of Operations he led the planning for Operation Duck Hook to escalate U.S. involvement, eventually denied by President Nixon. As commander of Task Force 77 he was involved in

Operation Ivory Coast Operation Ivory Coast was a mission conducted by United States Special Operations Forces and other American military elements to rescue U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. It was also the first joint military operation in United State ...

, to liberate 55 American pilots from Son Tay POW camp. On 20 August 1970, Vice Admiral Bardshar hosted the President of the Philippines,

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...

, aboard the aircraft carrier . Bardshar died at La Jolla, San Diego, on 13 September 1993.

Awards and decorations

References

External links

Photo of Bardshar with Marcos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bardshar, Frederic 1915 births 1993 deaths United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War American World War II flying aces Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the National Order of Vietnam United States Naval Academy alumni United States Navy vice admirals United States Navy pilots of World War II Aviators from Washington (state) Military personnel from Seattle