8/13/2018

Captain held command of USS Missouri twice

August 13, 2018 |84° |  Check Tra

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HAWAII NEWS | OBITUARIES

Captain held command ofUSS Missouri twice
By William Cole
Posted August 12, 2018
August 12, 2018
Updated August 12, 2018 12:05am

USS MISSOURI MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION
A. Lee Kaiss became the Navy’s last battleship commander at the USS Missouri’s decommissioning ceremony in 1992

Navy Capt. A. Lee Kaiss twice held command of the USS Missouri — the second
time as the last battleship captain in the U.S. Navy.

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8/13/2018

Captain held command of USS Missouri twice

The 887-foot warship had a storied career, serving as the site of Japan’s formal
surrender on Sept. 2, 1945, ghting in the Korean War, and ring 305 16-inchshells in the Persian Gulf War in 1991.
Its last mission was an appearance at Pearl Harbor for the 50th anniversarycommemoration of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack.
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Kaiss, 78, died July 25 in his hometown of Hagerstown, Md.
“Lee was the last (commanding o cer) of the ship and when he was the last to
walk o the ship at her second decommissioning in 1992, that made him thelast battleship sailor in the world — a title he wore proudly,” said Michael Carr,president and CEO of the USS Missouri Memorial Association. “He was a great
resource for our curatorial sta and loved to come and visit and share his
stories with the sta .”The “Mighty Mo” opened as a museum and memorial on Jan. 29, 1999, opposite
the sunken USS Arizona.
Decommissioned in 1955, Missouri was reactivated in 1986 to support
President Ronald Reagan’s plans for a 600-ship Navy — with Kaiss at the helmof the battlewagon.
But Kaiss su ered a heart attack. Following his recovery, he was in the rightplace at the right time to resume command of the Missouri in 1990.
At the time, two of the remaining four battleships, the New Jersey and Iowa,
were being decommissioned. The Defense Department had said all four would
be retired, but that plan changed and Missouri and Wisconsin were sent out on
Gulf War duty.
Wisconsin was decommissioned in September 1991, leaving just the Missouri
as an active battleship.

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8/13/2018

Captain held command of USS Missouri twice

President George H.W. Bush “gave the Mighty Mo one last reprieve, wanting
Missouri to be part of the 50th anniversary commemoration of the Dec. 7,
1941, attack on Pearl Harbor,” according to the curatorial sta of the Battleship
Missouri Memorial.
At the nal decommissioning on March 31, 1992, in Long Beach, Calif., Kaiss
watched the crew depart and was the last person on board.
“When he reached the bottom of the gangway and stepped onto the pier, hebecame the last active duty battleship sailor,” the memorial said. “At thatmoment, 11:32, 31 March, 1992, the era of the battleship ended.” PREVIOUS STORY

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Captain held command of USS Missouri twice

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Captain held command of USS Missouri twice

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