Benjamin Katz – Rear Admiral, United States Navy

From a contemporary press report:

Benjamin Katz, 80, a retired Navy Rear Admiral who won the Navy Cross and other decorations as skipper of the destroyer Taylor in the Pacific in World War II, died of cancer February 24, 1985 at the Hospice of Northern Virginia.

Admiral Katz, who lived in Alexandria, Virginia, was born in Lithuania. He came to the United States as a child and grew up in Connecticut and Massachusetts. He graduated from the US Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1926. He retired from the Navy in 1957 and in 1958 received a master’s degree in engineering administration from George Washington University.

During World War II, the future Admiral commanded a destroyer on convoy duty in the North Atlantic. In 1942, he was named Captain of the Taylor and sailed her into the South Pacific. He took part in the campaign for the Solomon Islands, including an action in which he led a task group to pick up survivors from the cruiser Helena who were stranded on the Japanese-held island of Vella Lavella. For his work during this period, Admiral Katz received the Navy Cross, the Navy’s highest decoration for valor except for the Medal of Honor; the Silver Star; the Legion of Merit; the Bronze Star, and the Navy Unit Citation.

Later in the war, he commanded the Rocky Mount, the flagship of the 7th Fleet in the Southwest Pacific.

Postwar assignments included command of a destroyer squadron in the Pacific Fleet and various posts as a communications officer.

Admiral Katz was communications officer of Pacific Fleet Headquarters in Pearl Harbor and then deputy director of the office of communications-electronics of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the post he held at his retirement.

After leaving the Navy, Admiral Katz was an official of IMC Systems and an adviser to other firms. He retired a second time about 1970.

Admiral Katz was the author of two books on small businesses and a handbook for survivors of deceased persons, called “Now Is The Time To Prepare: A Guide For Your Survivor.” Admiral Katz was a director of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Salvation Army Advisory Board and the Advisory Committee to the Alexandria Superintendent of Schools on vocational training. He also was a member of the Golden Age Hall of Fame of the National Alliance of Senior Citizens.

Survivors include his wife, Beulah, of Alexandria; two daughters, Susan Katz Clark of Washington, and Mildred K. Sams of Greensboro, North Carolina; two sisters, Pearl K. Wise and Ruth K. Margolin, and a brother, Abraham Katz, all of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and one grandson.

Admiral Katz was buried with full military honors in Section 11 of Arlington National Cemetery.

1904-1985

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard