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James L. Holloway III | |
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 Admiral James L. Holloway III 20th Chief of Naval Operations | |
| Birth name | James Lemuel Holloway III |
| Born | (1922-02-23)February 23, 1922 |
| Died | November 26, 2019(2019-11-26) (aged 97) Alexandria, Virginia, U.S. |
| Buried | |
| Branch | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1943–1978 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands | Chief of Naval Operations United States Seventh Fleet Task Force 60 Carrier Division Six USS Enterprise (CVAN-65) USS Salisbury Sound (AV-13) VF-83 VF-52 |
| Battles / wars | World War II Korean War Vietnam War |
| Awards | Defense Distinguished Service Medal (2) Navy Distinguished Service Medal (4) Legion of Merit (2) Distinguished Flying Cross Bronze Star Medal |
| Relations | AdmiralJames L. Holloway, Jr. (father) |
| Other work | Technical advisor forTop Gun Chairman Emeritus,Naval Historical Foundation |
James Lemuel Holloway III (February 23, 1922 – November 26, 2019) was aUnited States Navyadmiral andnaval aviator who was decorated for his actions duringWorld War II, theKorean War, and theVietnam War. After the Vietnam War, he was posted toThe Pentagon, where he established the Navy's Nuclear Powered Carrier Program. He served asChief of Naval Operations from 1974 until 1978. After retiring from the Navy, Holloway served as President of theNaval Historical Foundation from 1980 to 1998 and served another ten years as its chairman until his retirement in 2008 when he became chairman emeritus. He was the author ofAircraft Carriers at War: A Personal Retrospective of Korea, Vietnam, and the Soviet Confrontation published in 2007 by the Naval Institute Press.
Holloway was born inCharleston, South Carolina, on February 23, 1922, the son of Jean Gordon (Hagood) and then-Lieutenant (Junior Grade)James L. Holloway, Jr. (1898–1984), later a full admiral. His maternal grandfather was Major GeneralJohnson Hagood. He graduated fromSaint James School, Maryland in 1939 and was appointed to theUnited States Naval Academy in that year as a member of the Class of 1943. Holloway graduated from the Naval Academy in June 1942 as a member of the first three-year class accelerated byWorld War II.
In World War II, Holloway served in destroyers on North Atlantic convoy duty, in North African waters and in the Pacific where he participated in theBattle of Saipan,Battle of Tinian,Battle of Palau and theBattle of Leyte Gulf. He was gunnery officer of thedestroyerBennion, which at theBattle of Surigao Strait took part in a night torpedo attack which sank the JapanesebattleshipYamashiro, assisted in the destruction of the destroyerAsagumo, attacked thecruiserMogami with torpedoes, and then the following day shot down two JapaneseZeroes at short range. For this service, he received theBronze Star Medal andNavy Commendation Medal.
After World War II, Holloway became anaval aviator. He made two carrier tours toKorea, flying GrummanF9F-2 Panther jets on combat missions against the North Korean and Chinese Communists. He assumed command ofVF-52 when his commanding officer was shot down. He was awarded theDistinguished Flying Cross and threeAir Medals during the Korean War, and shared in aNavy Unit Commendation awarded to theaircraft carrierValley Forge.
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In 1958, as commanding officer ofVA-83, flying DouglasA-4 Skyhawks from the carrierEssex, Holloway covered theMarine landings in Lebanon and flew patrols in support of U.S. operations there untilEssex was redeployed through theSuez Canal to join theSeventh Fleet in theFormosa Straits. There, he flew missions in defense ofQuemoy andMatsu against thethreat of a Chinese Communist invasion of those offshore islands.
From 1965 to 1967, Holloway commanded the carrierEnterprise, the Navy's first, and at that time, only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier for two combat cruises in theGulf of Tonkin against the North Vietnamese.Enterprise established a record for the number of combat sorties flown, won theBattle Efficiency "E" award for the best carrier in the fleet, and was awarded a Navy Unit Commendation. Holloway twice received theLegion of Merit for his leadership.
Returning to the Pentagon, in 1968 Holloway established the Navy's Nuclear Powered Carrier Program, building thesupercarrierNimitz and paving the way for nine more supercarriers ofthis class. He was awarded theNavy Distinguished Service Medal for this achievement.
In 1970, Holloway was commander of the Carrier Striking Force of theSixth Fleet and deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean to conduct carrier air operations in reaction to theSyrian invasion ofJordan. After the strong U.S. military response brought about the withdrawal of the Syrian forces, his task force covered the evacuation of an Army MASH (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) unit from Amman, Jordan, by a Marine Expeditionary Group. For his performance of duty Holloway was awarded a second Navy Distinguished Service Medal and shared in aMeritorious Unit Commendation awarded to hisflagship, the carrierIndependence.
Holloway took command of the Seventh Fleet in 1972 during the Vietnam War, and personally led a cruiser-destroyer gunfire strike force during theBattle of Haiphong Harbor. DuringOperation Linebacker II, he directed the massive carrier strikes againstHanoi, which were a part of the intensive joint air effort which led to the Vietnam cease-fire in 1973. Under his command, the Seventh Fleet performed the airbornemine clearing operations in North Vietnam ports in accordance with the terms of theParis Peace Accords. For duty as Commander, Seventh Fleet, he received a third Navy Distinguished Service Medal. He then served asVice Chief of Naval Operations from 1973 to 1974.
AsChief of Naval Operations (CNO) from 1974 to 1978, Holloway was a member of theJoint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), and served as CNO during the evacuation ofCyprus; the rescue of the merchant shipSS Mayaguez and its crew, and punitive strike operations against theCambodian forces involved in its seizure; the evacuation of U.S. nationals from Lebanon; and theKorean demilitarized zone incident in August 1976, which led to an ultimatum and an armed standoff between the Allied and North Korean armies before the North Koreans backed down. For this service, Holloway was presented a fourth Navy Distinguished Service Medal and two awards of theDefense Distinguished Service Medal.
After retiring from the navy in 1978, Holloway was a consultant toPaine Webber, Inc. and served until 1988 as president of the Council of American-Flag Ship Operators, a national association of U.S.merchant marine companies. In 1980 he chaired the Special Operations Review Group which investigated the abortedIranian hostage rescue attempt. In 1985 he served as executive director of Vice PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush's Task Force on Combating Terrorism, and was a member of the President's Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management. In 1986, he was appointed as a Special Envoy of the Vice President to the Middle East. Later, he was a member of the Commission on Merchant Marine and Defense and the Defense Commission on Long Term Integrated Strategy. In 1985 Holloway was the technical advisor to the filmTop Gun.
Holloway was chairman of the Academic Advisory Board of the United States Naval Academy, chairman of the Association of Naval Aviation, a director of theOlmsted Foundation, a trustee of theGeorge C. Marshall Foundation, served on the Board of Visitors and Governors of St. John's College and served in a presidential appointment as US Representative to theSouth Pacific Commission. In 1994, he received the triennial Modern Patriot Award from theGeneral Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and in 1997 the NationalNavy League Award for Outstanding Civilian Leadership. In 1998, he was elected to the National Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame. In 2000, he was selected by the US Naval Academy Alumni Association to receive the Distinguished Graduate Award for service to the Navy and the Naval Academy. He was enshrined in theNational Museum of Naval Aviation's Hall of Honor in 2004.
Holloway was conspicuous in his personal support for the Navy's official history programs run by theNaval History & Heritage Command. His grant made the OnlineDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships Project possible, thereby opening one of the most important US naval history resources to a worldwide audience. He was chairman emeritus of theNaval Historical Foundation and theHistoric Annapolis Foundation, a trustee of Saint James School, and an emeritus member of the board of theMariners' Museum. He was a member of theSociety of the Cincinnati, theBrook Club (New York City),Maryland Club (Baltimore, Maryland),New York Yacht Club,Annapolis Yacht Club, and theMetropolitan Club of Washington, D.C., where he served as president in 1992.
Among his more than forty military decorations and medals are the following:
 Naval Aviator Badge |
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Admiral Holloway died on November 26, 2019, in Alexandria, Virginia.[1]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the United States Navy
| Military offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Chief of Naval Operations 1974–1978 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Vice Chief of Naval Operations 1973–1974 | Succeeded by |
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