EDWARD T. GRACE, LCDR, USN
Edward Grace '39
Date of birth: February 25, 1918
Date of death: March 26, 1945
Age: 27
Contents
Lucky Bag
From the 1939 Lucky Bag:
Loss
Edward was lost when USS Halligan (DD 584) struck a mine and sank on March 26, 1945, near Okinawa. Only two of her 21 officers survived.
He was commanding officer; it appears he might have only taken command of the ship sometime in February.
His wife was listed as next of kin.
Silver Star
From Kitsap News on August 4, 1996, remembering August 4th, 1946:
The Silver Star, posthumously awarded to Lt.Cmdr. Edward Grace, was ceremoniously pinned on his 2-year-old daughter's dress yesterday at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Grace, who lived at 1416 Gregory Way, died March 26, 1945, during the assault on Okinawa Gunto, Ryukyu Islands. As the commanding officer of USS Halligan, he maneuvered the destroyer into "withering fire" from Japanese shore batteries, torpedo skiffs, suicide boats and kamikaze planes to shield inbound Marine landing craft, saving perhaps hundreds of American lives before being killed when his ship struck a mine.
Class of 1939
Edward is one of 75 members of the Class of 1939 in Memorial Hall.