Rear Admiral Eugene Fluckey, USN (Ret.) has the most decorations of any living American
veteran, notably four Navy Crosses and the
Medal of Honor.
Fluckey was born in the
District of Columbia and graduated from the U.S.
Naval Academy in June 1935. At the beginning of
World War II, he was an officer on the submarine USS Bonita (SS-165). Aboard Bonita from June 1941 until August 1942, he participated in five war patrols against the
Japanese in the
Pacific.
After one war patrol as prospective
commanding officer of the Gato-class
submarine USS Barb (SS-220), he assumed command on 27 April 1944. For heroism during the ship’s eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth war
patrols, he was awarded four Navy Crosses and the Congressional Medal of Honor. He is also entitled to wear the ribbons of the
Presidential Unit Citation and Navy Unit
Commendation awarded to the Barb for those actions.
Against the Japanese, Fluckey pioneered a role for submarines in both
land attack and
sabotage. He took Barb into heavily defended coastal waters to launch torpedo, rocket, and gun bombardments, many of which inflicted severe damage on Japanese
coastal installations. On one occasion, he even sent a party of
commandos ashore in rubber boats to destroy a 16-car train with demolition charges. This was the only
invasion of the Japanese mainland by Americans during the war.
In December 1945, Admiral Chester
Nimitz, the in-coming
Chief of Naval Operations, selected him to be his Personal Aide. Later in his distinguished career, Admiral Fluckey served as Commanding Officer of Submarine Division 52, of Submarine Squadron Five, and of the submarine tender USS Sperry (AS-12). He was selected for Flag Rank in 1960 and reported as Commander, Amphibious Group Four, and later as COMSUBPAC. He also had successful tours as the Head of the
Electrical Engineering Department at the U.S. Naval Academy and as the U.S. Naval Attache in Lisbon,
Portugal. He retired in 1972.
In 1992, Admiral Fluckey recounted his WWII patrols on Barb in the book, Thunder Below!, which won the
prestigious Samuel Eliot Morison prize for Best Naval
Literature in 1993. Still
healthy and active at age 85, Admiral Fluckey works on the behalf of more than 80
charitable and non-profit organizations.