Harry Sanders (1901 - 1991)

Born 22 May 1901 in Denver, Colorado, United States

Husband of Irene Evelyn (Godbold) Sanders — married 19 Jul 1925 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

Died 29 Mar 1991 at age 89 in San Diego, California, United States

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Biography

Harry Sanders was awarded the Legion of Merit.

Harry Sanders is Notable.

United States Navy Vice Admiral Harry Sanders was born in Denver, Colorado in 1901 to parents George J. Sanders and Esther Levy. He was a graduate of the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, Class of 1923. In 1925 he married Irene Evelyn Godbold. He retired from the US Navy in 1957 with the rank of Vice Admiral (three stars). Both he and his wife passed away in 1991 and are interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

During World War II then Captain Sanders was the famed Commodore of the US Navy's Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 18, which he commanded from his flagship, the destroyer USS Frankford (DD-497). It has been purported that the USS Frankford (DD-497), by herself, might have turned the tide of the Omaha landing — and, possibly, the whole Normandy invasion [1]. While the Frankford was Sanders' flagship, its captain and commanding officer during D-Day was Lieutenant Commander James Lardner Semmes. No doubt, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 18 had a material impact on the success of the Normandy Landings, and that Sanders and Semmes were "collaborating" on tactics and strategy while together on the Frankford. The entire DESRON 18 is also seen collectively for their great contributions on D-Day.

Sanders commanded the assembling of 113 ships on the southern coast of England in preparation for the invasion of northern France. On D-Day, the nine destroyers and ships of DESRON EIGHTEEN expended nearly 5000 rounds of 5-inch ammunition. During the battle, they regularly closed to within 1000 yards of the beach, silencing German gun emplacements, rocket and mortar batteries, and inducing the surrender of German troops to US Army Rangers above the beachhead. Across the task force, only one ship was lost and two patrol craft suffered minor damage. Commodore Sanders remained in command of ships in the area until 18 July 1944, when DESRON EIGHTEEN was detached for escort duties to Gibraltar.

Of historical and immortal notoriety was that his destroyer squadron heroically supported the the 6 June 1944 D-Day amphibious invasion of France at Normandy Beach and his squadron materially helped to suppress enemy shore emplacements at Omaha Beach during a critical time of the invasion, when the situation may have been "in doubt." In support of the legendary US Army 1st and 29th Divisions at Omaha Beach, Sanders' destroyer squadron closed the beach and blasted any identifiable enemy targets and assisted the troops ashore with naval gunfire, all the time risking bottoming-out in the sand.

Quoted in the article The Navy Saved Our Hides in the sources section, "A beachmaster on Omaha, watching the “tin cans” fire into the cliff, later claimed, “You could see the trenches, guns, and men blowing up where they were hit.” There was no doubt in his mind that “the few Navy destroyers that we had there probably saved the invasion.” With more enthusiasm than precision, he insisted that the handful of American ships “destroyed practically the entire German defense line at Omaha Beach.”"

Harry was awarded six Legion of Merit medals [2] during his naval career (all with vague citations), and most likely one was awarded for his leadership during the actions of his destroyer squadron at Normandy Beach. His last award of the medal was for actions during the Korean War, which acknowledges his five previous awards, and authorizes the wearing of Combat "V". Judging from the Internet, Sanders is among six others Americans who were awarded six Legion of Merit medals, which appears to be the most awarded to any individual [3] (and Harry Sanders does not appear on the Internet list shown here). Like his genealogy, his contributions to US Naval history are a bit understated, and a full accounting of his medals and ribbons is lacking. At that time (and for many decades), the US Navy was extremely stingy about awarding medals or ribbons, so Sanders' six awards of the Legion of Merit is a significant accomplishment all by itself, as even five-star Fleet Admirals many times had less than six awards of this type. The home of record shown on all six of his citations shows Newport, Rhode Island.

Irregularity About Command and Credit For Success on D-Day. Upon analysis of Silver Star medal citations ^[1] for 6 Jun 1944 D-Day action for those Americans who were commanders of the nine active destroyers, commanders of the two destroyer divisions (DESDIV 35 and 36), and commander Harry Sanders of the entire destroyer squadron (DESRON 18), all commanders of destroyers and destroyer divisions were awarded a Silver Star, but an award for Harry Sanders is absent; pictures of Harry Sanders as a vice admiral show his highest award to be the Legion of Merit (which is lower in precedence to the Silver Star). The Silver Star citation ^[2] for DESDIV 36 commander Cmdr. William J. Marshall states "...for meritorious performance of duty while in active command of Destroyer Fire Support Group (eight United States Destroyers, three British) during the assault on the coast of France on 6 and 7 June 1944." Thus, either the Destroyers at Normandy book ^[3] is absent of clarifying information as to who was in command that day, or Harry Sanders was modest about his contributions that day, or possibly senior commanders on the scene that day deferred to others the credit for the incredible events. We may never know the reason for this omission or irregularity, but it appears that the full credit (at least in the citations) was projected to Cmdr. William J. Marshall. The qualifier of "active command" for Marshall seems unusual because Sanders appears to have been very active in command on D-Day aboard the USS Frankford (DD-497).

Reading between the lines with some help from Wikipedia ^[4], later analysis of naval support during the pre-landing phase of Omaha Beach concluded that the allied navies had provided inadequate bombardment. Throughout the area the air and naval bombardment was not so effective, and the German beach defenses and supporting artillery remained largely intact. Also, with the skies overcast and under orders to avoid bombing the troops which were by then approaching the beach, the bombers overshot their targets and only three bombs fell near the Omaha Beach area. (Then) RAdm. John L. Hall, who was in command of Task Force 124 (TF 124), also known as Assault Force "O" for Omaha Beach, strongly disapproved of what he considered to be the small amount of air and naval bombardment used, saying "It's a crime to send me on the biggest amphibious attack in history with such inadequate naval gunfire support.” Ironically, Adm. Hall was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal for his actions on D-Day ^[5]. Thus, Harry Sanders’ historic support of Omaha Beach may have been caught in a mild inter-service political cover-up to hide embarrassment for the near tragedy that day, and no doubt to preserve general levels of morale in future amphibious operations. Recognizing Sanders for his actions because of bad decisions higher-up in the chain of command with a Silver Star or Navy Cross would further publicize the unfortunate support given that day; personal jealousy cannot be ruled out either.

Another remote possibility for his Silver Star omission was that just before 9:00 AM on D-Day, called the “hour of crisis” in the Destroyers at Normandy book, Capt. Sanders arrived off the Omaha beachhead and became concerned about the increasing casualties on the beach and ordered all destroyers to close the beach as far as possible in support of the assault troops. One of the few career-ending mistakes for a ship’s captain in the US Navy is to bottom out their ship in the sand; although his order turned out well for the entire Normandy invasion, his action reports were surely noticed by superiors where it could be interpreted that he endangered his ships; if any one ship had been bottomed-out, it would have left it helpless to German gunfire. Sanders' flagship USS Frankford (DD-497) was noted been in so close to the beach that she had several times scraped bottom and risking running aground ^[6].

While Harry had an exemplary and busy US Navy career, his actions during D-Day are the source of his enduring fame. As an example of other career highlights, Captain Harry Sanders had served as aide to then Admiral Ernest J. King in 1941 when King was Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet. Later, Fleet Admiral (five stars) King would serve as Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (COMINCH) and Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) during World War II.

Destroyers and Commanders Under Capt. Harry Sanders on D-Day

• USS Frankford (DD 497) - Lt.Cmdr. James L. Semmes
  • Flagship of Capt. Harry Sanders, Commander of DESRON 18 and COMDESDIV 35
• USS Carmick (DD 493) - Cmdr. Robert O. Beer
• USS Doyle (DD 494) - Cmdr. James G. Marshall
• USS McCook (DD 496) - Lt.Cmdr. Ralph L. Ramey
• USS Emmons (DD 457) - Cmdr. Edward B. Billingsley

• USS Satterlee (DD 626) - Lt.Cmdr. Robert W. Leach
  • Flagship of Cmdr. William J. Marshall, Commander of COMDESDIV 36
• USS Thompson (DD 627) - Lt.Cmdr. Albert L. Gebelin
• USS Baldwin (DD 624) - Lt.Cmdr. Edgar S. Powell
• USS Harding (DD 625) - Cmdr. George G. Palmer

• HMS Talybont (L 18) - Lt. John Arundell Holdsworth, RN
• HMS Tanatside (L 69) - Cdr. Bernard Jasper de St. Croix, RN
• HMS Melbreak (L 73) - Lt. Geoffrey John Kirkby, DSC, RN

Incomplete Genealogy. The genealogy of Harry Sanders is a bit of a mystery. Initial searches for records of his parents found nothing definitive. A potential sighting of his parents (George and Esther via his marriage license) in Colorado in the 1900 census (one year before Harry's birth) show a couple in their 20s with "George" born in England (and his parents were born there too) and Esther born in New York (and her parents were born in England). [4]. The UK birth location of Harry's father (and both sets of grandparents) could account for an invisible paper trail into his ancestry. The George birth location of England in the 1900 census is at odds with the Massachusetts location stated in the 1920 Census, when Harry was at Annapolis (maybe he was embarrassed to report just then that his father was not born in USA with he being a cadet at the Naval Academy). Searches for census documents at a possible home record at Newport, Rhode Island have yielded nothing. Unusual is that for a figure of his stature in the US Naval history, very little is compiled about him, and a dedicated Wikipedia page for him is not found. It appears that only authentic vital records or immediate family intervention can solve these mysteries.

VAdm. Harry Sander's Papers (photocopies) were donated to the Eisenhower Library in 1969 [chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/finding-aids/pdf/sanders-harry-papers.pdf] and the description of his naval service that explain the documents is as follows: Admiral Sanders was born in Denver, Colorado in 1901. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1923. He was assistant operations officer on the staff of the Commander-in Chief Atlantic Fleet, 1941-43; Commander Destroyer Squadron 13, 1943-44; Commander Task Group 81.6 during the Anzio invasion, and Commander of Destroyer Squadron 18 during the invasion of Europe. He was made Commander of the U.S.S. Tucson in January 1946; Chief of Staff to the Alaskan Sea Frontier, 1949-51. He was with the strategic plans division, Navy Department, 1948-49; was Commander of the Military Sea Transportation Service, Pacific, 1951-52; Commander of Cruiser Division I, Korea, 1952-53; was commander of Mine force, Atlantic Fleet, 1953-55 and was Assistant Chief of Naval (fleet) operations in1955. He retired in the same year.

Sources

1. ↑ The Hall of Valor Project Website #1
2. ↑ https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/56031 William Jefferson Marshall
3. ↑ Naval History and Heritage Command, "Destroyers at Normandy: Naval Gunfire Support at Omaha Beach
4. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omaha_Beach Omaha Beach story
5. ↑ https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/27317 Hall of Valor shows award of medals for Adm. John Lesslie Hall
6. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omaha_Beach Omaha Beach story

• Find A Grave Index [5]
• 1920 US Census [6] for Annapolis, Maryland shows Harry as a midshipman at the US Naval Academy with other cadets; his birth location is Colorado. Here it shows Harry's father born in Massachusetts and his mother born in New York. In the 1930 census his mother's birth location is shown as "United States".
• New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1938 [7] shows the marriage of Harry Sanders, age 24, born in Denver, Colorado and Irene Evelyn Godbold, age 21, born in Camden, Alabama. Marriage occurred on 19 Jul 1925 at Manhattan, New York City, New York. Harry's parents shown are George J. Sanders and Esther Levy. Irene's parents shown are Norman Godbold and Irene Alford.
• The Hall of Valor Project Website #1 [8] shows the citations for SIX of Harry's Legion of Merit medals (six must be a record?).
• 'The Navy Saved Our Hides' - By Craig L. Symonds, June 2014 Naval History Magazine Volume 28, Number 3 [9]. With U.S. soldiers pinned down on Omaha Beach, American destroyers steamed in close to shore, opened fire on German positions, and helped turn the tide of invasion. The article mentions the exploits of the destroyers under his command during D-Day, 6 June 1944.
• Naval History and Heritage Command, "Destroyers at Normandy: Naval Gunfire Support at Omaha Beach." [10] mentions Harry Sanders in many places; the URL appears to be the entire book.
• Arlington National Cemetery blogposting of sorts, brief [11]
• US Naval Institute, "The DD That Saved the Day," August 1989 Proceedings Vol. 115/8/1,038 [12]. States that as a result of the in-doubt situation on Omaha Beach that all destroyers were ordered in closer to the beaches, and this source states "But in naming the Frankford, the book mentioned that she went in "very close.""