Dwight Dickinson, Jr. – Rear Admiral, United States Navy

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Thanks for John Dickinson for the following information:

Rear Admiral Dwight Dickinson, Jr. died March 17, 1974 at Bethesda Naval Hospital after 37 years service in the Navy Medical Corps. He was born in Jamestown, New York in 1886, the son of Commodore Dwight Dickinson USN (Medical Corps) and Syria E. B. Dickinson.

He attended the Massachuetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for one year before attending Georgetown Medical School receiving his MD degree in 1909.  Admiral Dickinson was commissioned in the Navy Medical Corps two years later.

During World War I he served as a battalion surgeon with the 5th Regiment of the Marine Corps in the 2nd Division, American Expeditionary Force participating in the Champaign, St. Mihiel and Meuse- Argonne offensives. His decorations for valor and outstanding service included the Navy Cross, The Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, and the Croix de Guerre.

In 1920, Admiral Dickinson marched, along with other holders of the DSC, in the honor guard at the interment of the Unknown Soldier of World War I.

In the early 1920s, Admiral Dickinson served aboard the presidential yacht, the Mayflower, during President Harding’s administration.

He served again with the Marine Corps in the Nicaraguan Campaign of 1928/29 and received the Madallo de Merito of Nicaragua.

Admiral Dickinson’s other assignments included duty at Pearl Harbor and the Philadelphia Naval Hospital. In WWII he was senior medical officer at the Bainbridge Naval Training Station.

After retirement in 1948 , he lived in Washington, D.C. and Deer Isle, Maine. His wife, Elizabeth Y. Dickinson is buried with him in Section 7 of Arlington National Cemetery.

DICKINSON, DWIGHT, JR.

  • Assistant Surgeon, U.S. Navy
  • 2d Battalion, 5th Regiment (Marines)(Attached), 2d Division, A.E.F.
  • Date of Action: October 4, 1918
  • General Orders No. 46, W.D., 1919

Citation:

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Dwight Dickinson, Jr., Assistant Surgeon, U.S. Navy, for extraordinary heroism in action near St. Etienne, France, October 4, 1918.

Under terrific shell and machine-gun fire, Assistant Surgeon Dickinson attended the wounded with utter disregard for his own safety. When a shell struck the dressing station which he had established in an advanced zone, he rushed to the assistance of the wounded, and, through his devotion to duty, many lives were saved.

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