Willard A. Kitts

Willard A. Kitts III was born on April 14, 1894, in Oswego, New York, the son of manufacturer in the Steam Specialties, Willard A. Kitts II and his wife Loretta. He graduated from the Oswego High School in summer 1912 and subsequently earned an appointed to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. While at the Academy, Kitts was active in the basketball and earned Varsity letter for excellence.

Among his classmates were several future distinguished general officers including future Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Arthur W. Radford; four star admirals Russell S. Berkey, Robert Carney, William Fechteler and John D. Price; vice admirals Frank E. Beatty Jr., Gerald F. Bogan, Ralph E. Davison, Calvin T. Durgin, Osborne B. Hardison, George F. Hussey Jr., C. Turner Joy, Bertram J. Rodgers, John E. Wilkes; and rear admirals and major generals Oscar R. Cauldwell, Homer L. Grosskopf, Don P. Moon, Denis L. Ryan, Samuel P. Ginder, Charles P. Cecil, Andrew C. McFall, Henry M. Mullinnix, Thorvald A. Solberg, Maurice G. Holmes, Gilbert C. Hoover, Arnold W. Jacobsen and Humbert W. Ziroli.[2]

Kitts graduated with Bachelor of Science on June 3, 1916, and was commissioned Ensign at the time. He was subsequently assigned to the battleship USS Arkansas and quickly reached the rank of Lieutenant (junior grade). Following the United States entry into World War I, Arkansas patrolled the east coast and trained gun crews until July 1918, when she embarked as the part of Battleship Squadron Six for the North Sea, where she served with the british Grand Fleet. Kitts was meanwhile promoted to the temporary rank of Lieutenant on January 1, 1918 and served aboard Arkansas until December 1920, when he was ordered back to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge for instruction in engineering.[1]

He graduated with Master's degree in November 1922 and was ordered to the Washington Navy Yard, where he completed instruction in Ordnance engineering in August 1923, when he joined newly commissioned battleship USS Colorado under Captain Reginald R. Belknap. Kitts took part in her maiden voyage to Europe, visiting Britain, France, Italy and the peninsula of Gibraltar, with port calls to Portsmouth, Cherbourg, Villefranche, Naples, and the British base at Gibraltar.[1]

In June 1926, Kitts was promoted to Lieutenant commander and ordered to the Naval Powder Factory, Indian Head, Maryland as ordnance inspector. He was transferred to the staff of Destroyer squadron 12, Battle Fleet in June 1928 and remained in that capacity until July 1931, when he was ordered to Rochester, New York as an Inspector of Ordnance, Bausch & Lomb Optical company.

Kitts was transferred to the battleship USS New York in May 1933 and took part in numerous fleet exercises with the Pacific Fleet until May 1935, when he assumed command of old destroyer USS McCormick. He was commanded that vessel for one year, conducting patrols along the West coast of the United States and was transferred to the Bureau of Ordnance in Washington, D.C. in June 1936.[3]

He was promoted to Commander on July 1, 1936, and served successively under Rear admirals Harold R. Stark and William R. Furlong until July 1939, when he was appointed Executive officer of heavy cruiser USS Salt Lake City under Captain Ellis M. Zacharias. While in this capacity Kitts participated in the patrols between Hawaii, Guam and Wake Island until February 1941, when he was ordered to Pearl Harbor for new assignment.

Kitts (1st from left) with Under Secretary of the Navy W. John Kenney (center) and Admiral Charles M. Cooke Jr. in Shanghai, China on November 9, 1946.

Following the War, Kitts was ordered back to the Pacific Theater and assumed command of Cruiser Division Three, operating off the cost of North China. He also held additional duty as Commander, Task Force 71 and took part in the repatriation of the former Japanese Military personnel and refugees. For this service, Kitts was decorated with Order of the Cloud and Banner by Chiang Kai-shek.[18][19]

He returned to the United States in October 1947 and relieved Rear Admiral Ingolf N. Kiland as Commander, Training Command, Pacific with headquarters in San Diego, California. While in this capacity, Kitts was responsible for the training of officer and enlisted personnel of the Pacific Fleet and supervised the training facilities in San Diego, Long Beach, Pearl Harbor, Guam, China and Japan. During his tenure, over one hundred thousands men were trained.[20]

Kitts was ordered to the Naval Proving Ground Dahlgren, Virginia in September 1949 and remained in that ordnance assignment until June 1951.[10][21]

Kitts retired on June 30, 1951, after 35 years of active service and was advanced to the rank of Vice admiral on the retired list for having been specially commended in combat. He then worked for General Electric (G.E.) as Manager of ordnance engineering division in Schenectady, New York, which was established in order to deal with Army and Navy installation work. Kitts served in this capacity until June 1955, when he was promoted to the capacity of acting General manager of General Electric Atomic Power equipment department.[22][23][1]

While in this capacity, he was responsible for the design, development, manufacture and marketing of G.E.'s commercial atomic power products. Kitts was relieved from his temporary assignment in March 1956 and appointed Manager of the Atomic Products planning study for G.E.'s Atomic Power equipment department. He also held additional duty as a member of the Board of Directors of American Standards Association and a member of the Nuclear Standards Board.[24][25]

Vice admiral Willard A. Kitts III died of brain tumor on November 21, 1964, aged 70, at Bethesda Naval Hospital, Maryland and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia with full military honors. His wife, Fredrika B. Jones (1894–1988) is buried beside him. They had three children, sons Willard Frederick Kitts (1920–1982) and David Burlingame Kitts (1923–2010), and a daughter Susanna Kitts Sherwood (1925–2019).[26][1]

Here is the ribbon bar of Vice admiral Willard A. Kitts:[6]

1st Row	Navy Cross					Legion of Merit with two ​5⁄16" Gold Stars
2nd Row	Purple Heart			World War I Victory Medal with Fleet Clasp			American Defense Service Medal with Base Clasp
3rd Row	Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with four 3/16 inch bronze service stars			American Campaign Medal			World War II Victory Medal
4th Row	Navy Occupation Service Medal			China Service Medal			National Defense Service Medal
5th Row	Distinguished Marksmanship Ribbon			Honorary Commanders of the Order of the British Empire			Chinese Order of the Cloud and Banner, 4th Class

• Battle of Tassafaronga