Three Hats for a Hero

The top military man in Norfolk wears three hats and controls one of the most complex and sensitive commands in the free world. A Navy officer, he is Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet, head of all U.S. naval ships and planes in the Atlantic. He is also Commander in Chief, Atlantic, boss of a unified command that gives him control of all U.S. troops in the Atlantic area. And he is Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic--NATO's top sailor--which means that he must be versed in diplomacy as well as war. To this demanding post, President Johnson has appointed Four-Star Admiral Thomas Hinman Moorer, 53, the U.S.'s fastest-rising sailor.

Starting May 1, Moorer will succeed retiring Admiral Harold Page Smith. Taking over Moorer's job as Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, will be Vice Admiral Roy L. Johnson, 58, who, in turn, will give up his Seventh Fleet command to Rear Admiral Paul P. Blackburn, 56, the senior member of the United Nations Military Armistice Commission in Korea.

"If Anyone Can." Tom Moorer's promotion to Norfolk came as no surprise to his colleagues. Says Admiral Ulysses S. Grant Sharp, commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific: "We've worked together for many years; he's a brilliant man. While he gets along so very well with everyone, you mustn't get the impression he's easygoing. He stands up for his programs, and he's very persuasive. If anyone can get along with De Gaulle, Tom can!"

Moorer's subordinates agree. Information Officer Robert Brett, who has worked with the admiral for more than two years, cites a recent occasion when Moorer was ordered to present a briefing. Moorer asked Brett for a look at some photographic slides that were to be shown. "He took out each slide and held it up to the window of the plane and looked at it for just a moment and put it back in. He went through 25, one after another. And then he said, 'Okay, now let's see if I have them'--and he told me what every slide was."

"Don't Worry." Born in Alabama, Moorer was his high school class's va'e-dictorian at 15, had to wait around for two years before he could pick up his appointment to the class of 1933 at Annapolis. He was a Navy pilot at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese struck, came out of the war an authentic hero with a boxful of medals, including the Purple Heart, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Silver Star.

Early in the war, Lieut. Moorer and a seven-man crew were flying a PBY-5 reconnaissance mission out of Port Dar win, Australia, when they were attacked by Japanese Zeros. Wounded in the thigh, his plane riddled and burning, Moorer set the plane down in the sea and climbed into a raft with his men.

Soon they were picked up by a Philippine merchant ship. He was sitting on the fantail of the ship when the enemy planes reappeared and began a bombing run. "Don't worry!" called the Philippine skipper. "They've been doing that all day long. They can't hit anything!" Replied Moorer: "We're not worried--yet!" But a direct hit changed his mind, and Moorer and his crew jumped overboard. Minutes later the merchant ship sank. Four men were killed, including one of Moorer's own men, but the 40 survivors rowed to a small island, where they were picked up the next day. In Japan after the war, Moorer met the pilot who knocked down his plane, was given the pilot's sword as a souvenir.

Thanks to his wartime record and his cool professionalism, Moorer, at 45, became the youngest man ever to be promoted to admiral. He has been steaming ahead at flank speed ever since. And most Navymen agree that he has even brighter prospects ahead. Said CINCPAC's Admiral Sharp last week: "Tom is an outstanding candidate for the next Chief of Naval Operations."

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