Frank J . Lowry Vice Admiral Frank Jacob Lowry ( 15 February 1888 – 26 March 1955 ) was an officer in the United States Navy who served in World War I and World War II . A 1911 graduate of the United States Naval Academy , he served on submarines during World War I . During World War II , he commanded the cruiser at the Battle of the Coral Sea , for which he was awarded the Navy Cross , and the Battle of Midway . He commanded the VIII Amphibious Force in the landings at Anzio and Southern France . He retired from the Navy in March 1950 , and received a tombstone promotion to vice admiral due to his combat decorations . Early life . Frank Jacob Lowry was born in Cresco , Iowa , on 1 February 1888 . In 1907 , he was appointed to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis , from which he graduated in 1911 . He was commissioned as an ensign in 1914 . He served on submarines , starting with duty on the submarine tender in 1914 . He became a lieutenant ( junior grade ) in 1915 , and a lieutenant in 1916 . In 1917 , he was posted to the cruiser . The following year he was transferred to the . After the war , he saw duty at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard . He commanded the cargo ship from 1922 until 1925 , after which he was promoted to lieutenant commander . In 1925 , he entered the Naval War College , from which he graduated in May 1926 . After service on the battleship from 1926 to 1928 , he became a professor of naval science and tactics at the University of California in Berkeley , with the rank of commander . Following the usual pattern of alternating duty ashore with service at sea , he commanded the destroyer from 1931 to 1933 , then served as a training officer at the Naval Training Center San Diego . He saw sea duty again as executive officer of the cruiser from 1936 to 1938 , after which he was promoted to captain . He was then assigned to the officer personnel division of the Bureau of Navigation in Washington , D . C . , from March 1938 to September 1940 . World War II . Coral Sea and Midway . In October 1942 , Lowry assumed command of the cruiser . He was its captain during the Battle of the Coral Sea , for which he was awarded the Navy Cross . His citation read : As part of Rear Admiral Thomas C . Kinkaid ' s cruiser group , Lowry ' s " Minneapolis " helped protect the aircraft carrier s and at the Battle of Midway in June 1942 . Mediterranean Sea . Promoted to rear admiral in August 1942 , Lowry became executive officer of the Naval Station Great Lakes in November 1942 , and subsequently its commander . In February 1943 , he became commander of the Moroccan Sea Frontier . He was succeeded Rear Admiral Richard L . Conolly as Commander , Landing Craft and Base , North African Waters ( COMLANDCRABNAW ) on 16 September 1943 . On 8 November , he succeeded Rear Admiral John L . Hall , Jr . , as commander of the VIII Amphibious Force . He directed the landing at Anzio in January 1944 from his flagship , the command ship . The Army commander , Major General John P . Lucas , opined that " the work of the Navy under his [ Lowry ' s ] direction has been one of the outstanding achievements of the operation . " For Operation Dragoon , the landings of southern France in August 1944 , Lowry commanded Task Force 84 , also known as Alpha Force , which transported and Major General John W . O ' Daniel ' s 3rd Infantry Division . This time he flew his flag from the United States Coast Guard cutter . The operation went smoothly , allowing O ' Daniel and his staff to go ashore from " Duanne " at 10 : 44 , six hours after the first wave . Lowry subsequently commanded an amphibious group with the Pacific Fleet . For his services in World War II , in addition to the Navy Cross , he received the Navy Distinguished Service Medal , twice received Legion of Merit and was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal . Later life . After the war , Lowry served on the General Board from 1945 to 1947 , and then in the office of the Vice Chief of Naval Operations . He served in this capacity until he retired in March 1950 , at which point he received a tombstone promotion to vice admiral due to his combat decorations . He died on 26 March 1955 .