People Making History: Admiral Spruance and the Pacific War

Gary Linhart, AUP, recalls the remarkable career of Rear Admiral Raymond Spruance during the Battle of Midway and as Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas and later as Deputy Commander in Chief. While holding that command in 1943-45, Spruance directed the campaigns that captured the Gilberts, Marshalls, Marianas, Iwo Jima and Okinawa and defeated the Japanese fleet in the June 1944 Battle of Philippine Sea.