Admiral Lamar McDonald

Maysville Man Led U.S. Navy
The Commerce News, November 6, 1996, page 3-B

            The Chief of U.S. Naval Operations from Maysville recently celebrated his 90th birthday.  Such a notice in the "social columns" of the newspaper alerted all who know him of David Lamar McDonald's recent celebration at his Florida home, where he was joined by his sister, Mrs. Hamp W. Howard, Greenwich, CT.

            And for those who didn't know Maysville was the boyhood home of the man, who once ran the biggest Navy in the world, here's the story of Admiral McDonald, who served as Chief of U.S. Naval Operations from Aug. 1, 1963 to Dec. 28, 1968.

            McDonald was born in Maysville on Sept.12, 1906, to the late Rev. and Mrs. W.B. McDonald, a Christian church minister and his wife. He received his early education at Maysville School and Commerce High School, and attended Riverside Military Academy, Gainesville, for one year.

            McDonald, who at one time ran Maysville's only "pressing club" --or an ironing and laundry delivery service --in the back end of a local barber shop, often talked with the late Charlie Bacon, Maysville dry goods store owner, while on his delivery routes.  Based on McDonald's recollections in 1965, Bacon was the one who influenced McDonald to consider a military career.

     It was while at the Naval Academy that he met the future Mrs. McDonald, a native of New York. Spending his second Christmas leave with his roommate at Newark, NJ, he met Miss Catherine Lois (Tommie) Thompson. They were married six years later, on Oct. 7, 1930, in New York City.

 EARLY SERVICE, RISING TO THE TOP 

The admiral's early service included sea duty on the battleships Mississippi and Colorado, in Fighting Squadron 6 of the carrier Saratoga and the aviation unit on the cruiser Detroit. He went into naval aviation in 1930 and became a pilot.

At the outbreak of World War II, McDonald was serving as flag secretary to the commander of aircraft for the Atlanta Fleet. For two years, he served as flight training officer on the staff of the commander of the Naval Air Operational Training Command in Jacksonville, FL.  During the latter part of the war, he served as executive officer of the carrier Essex and as operations officer on the staff of the commander of the air force for the Pacific Fleet.

While the Maysville native was seeing duty on the Essex, the carrier was hit by a kamikaze plane with a resulting explosion and fire. The fire was almost immediately contained and the hole in the flight deck was repaired in a mere 42 minutes, soon enough for the next plane to be launched on its 45-minute schedule.

After the war, McDonald served in Washington, DC, commanded the carrier Mindoro for a year and served as commanding officer of the carrier Coral Sea. After a series of rapid promotions, he rose to the top, being named to the post of Chief of U.S. Naval Operations in 1963. 

Page last updated 11/13/2011

This website is (c) 2001-2011 by W. Todd Dorsey.  Limited license is granted to you for personal use.  No part of this site may be reproduced or reprinted, either electronically or by other means, without the express written permission of the owner.  All rights reserved.