Rear Admiral Robert W. Copeland, USNR, 1935-1965

A reserve officer, trained as a lawyer, called to active duty in 1940, he commanded yard craft Pawtucket, Black Douglas and destroyer escort Wyman.  As a Lieutenant Commander, he commissioned destroyer escort Samuel B. Roberts in April 1944; she was sunk by the Japanese during the Battle off Samar on 25 October 1944.  He was awarded the Navy Cross as Commanding Officer while engaging vastly superior Japanese surface ships, trying to divert heavy cruisers and battleships from American carriers.  His ship expended torpedoes and five-inch gunfire with her guns firing in manual, local control while sustaining three 14 - inch hits, turning the ship into an inert mass of battered metal, losing eighty-nine of her crew of 178.  After shore assignments, he was released from active duty in January 1946, returning to the practice law but remaining a participant in the Naval Reserve achieving flag rank in 1961

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