In Appreciation: William A. Read Jr.
Thirty-two-year member and generous U.S. Naval Institute supporter Commander William Augustus Read Jr., died on Friday, 28 October, in Palm Beach, Florida. Larger than life, he packed several lifetimes into his 93 years.
Bill Read was born in Boston in 1918, the eldest of nine children. The tale of his hair-raising World War II adventure was recounted in the February 2010 Naval History article, “Two Coconuts and a Navy Cross,” by Barrett Tillman. Then-Lieutenant Read had volunteered for a mission as the bow-turret gunner of a Consolidated B-24 Liberator, which was shot down by the Japanese in the southwestern Philippines in October 1944.
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