Oral history interview with William A. Read, 1964.

Biographical Note

Naval officer, investment banker

Scope and Contents

Harvard, National Guard Service; naval aviation; World War I, Pensacola; banking career, Dillon, Read; Hanover Bank; Naval Reserve from 1939; special assistant to Admiral John Towers, 1942; experiences with fast carrier task forces as staff officer to Admiral Marc Mitscher: logistics, morale, air-sea rescue, buildup; death of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto; operations in New Caledonia, Gilberts, Marshalls, Marianas, Saipan, Philippines, Formosa, Leyte Gulf; plans for Iwo Jima, Okinawa; kamikaze attacks; postwar naval activities; impressions of Admiral Ernest King.

Subjects

• Aeronautics, Military.
• Air pilots--Interviews.
• Bankers--Interviews.
• Interviews.
• Investment banking.
• Mason, John T., 1909-1998, interviewer.--http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/ivr
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Read, William A.--Interviews.
• United States. Navy--Aviation.
• United States. Navy.
• Veterans--Interviews.
• World War, 1939-1945--Naval operations, American.