Scope and arrangement

Commander Byrd comments on his schooling at the U.S. Naval Academy, his assignment to the USS NEW MEXICO at Pearl Harbor, the NEW MEXICO's service in the North Atlantic on convoy duty, and its return to the Pacific for patrols in the Aleutians. Commander Byrd discusses his assignment to and duty aboard the USS QUINCY, including the Normandy Invasion, support of landings in Southern France, experience of transporting President Franklin D. Roosevelt to and from the Yalta Conference, assignment to the 5th Fleet to support the invasion of Okinawa, and his return to the United States. For the Korean War, he describes service as carrier staff, where planes supported ground forces in Korea, including the Inchon landing and the shooting down of a Russian plane. He comments on a variety of other assignments prior to his retirement in 1961 and his subsequent civilian career in satellite and laser development.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift of David L. Byrd

Processing information

Encoded by Apex Data Services

Copyright notice

Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.

Metadata Rights Declaration

This record is made available under an Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Creative Commons license.

General note

1930s-1981

Key terms

Personal Names

Byrd, David L.
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945

Corporate Names

New Mexico (Battleship)
United States Naval Academy--History
United States. Navy--Officers--Interviews

Meeting Names

Yalta Conference (1945 : I︠A︡lta, Ukraine)

Topical

Korean War, 1950-1953--Naval operations
World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Atlantic Ocean
World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--France--Normandy
World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Japan--Okinawa Island
World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Pacific Ocean

Places

Aleutian Islands (Alaska)--History, Military--20th century

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