Paul F. Cosgrove – Rear Admiral, United States Navy

From a contemporary press report: 

Paul F. Cosgrove, 72, a decorated WWII veteran and former Defense Supply Agency official,  died of cancer May 14, 1991 at Bethesda Naval Hospital. He lived in Falls Church, Virginia.

A native of Augusta, Georgia, he joined the Navy in 1940, a year after graduating from the Georgia Institute of Technology. The Navy sent him to the University of Pittsburgh and Harvard University to study business management. He was a graduate of the Naval War College.

Admiral Cosgrove’s Naval career was spent mostly as a supply specialist. He was stationed at Pearl Harbor when it was bombed by the Japanese. After the war, he had assignments in Philadelphia, Norfolk, Paris, California and the District. He was commanding officer of the supply division of the cruiser-destroyer division of the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor from 1970 to 1972. He later was appointed deputy director of the Defense Supply Agency and moved to the area.

Admiral Cosgrove retired in 1975.

His military decorations included two Legions of Merit, Army Commendation Medals and the Defense Joint Services Commendation Medal.

Admiral Cosgrove is survived by his wife of 42 years, Catherine Conway Cosgrove; a brother, Daniel J. Cosgrove of St Simons Island, Ga.; and a sister, Mary C. MacGregor of Macon, Ga. A funeral Mass will be said at 9:45 am today at Fort Myer Chapel, with burial in Arlington National Cemetery.

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