Harry D. Felt - Legacy

Legacy

Felt retired in July 1964 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age, and spent his later years in Honolulu, Hawaii. He died on February 25, 1992, and is buried beside his wife in Arlington National Cemetery. He had one son, Donald Linn Felt, a naval aviator and jet pilot who commanded the carrier Midway before retiring at the rank of rear admiral.

He was awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal for his service as CINCPAC; the Navy Cross for "extraordinary heroism and distinguished service" at the Battle of the Eastern Solomons; the Distinguished Flying Cross; the Legion of Merit as commander of USS Chenango during operations off Okinawa, for which the ship received a Navy Unit Commendation; the Order of the Rising Sun, First Class, by the government of Japan; and the Medal of Cloud and Banner with special Grand Cordon, by the Republic of China. Cape Felt, in Antarctica, is named after him, as vice chief of naval operations during the International Geophysical Year.

Felt had a terrifying reputation as an arrogant, caustic, hard-driving perfectionist. "Many people were afraid of him...he was pretty rough," commented Vice Admiral Lawson P. Ramage. A former aide described him as "mean as hell", and his staff complained that he worked "as though there were no holidays, Saturdays and Sundays, and expects others to do the same." "He was small in stature, but a blunt, tough, demanding taskmaster who brought discomfiture to his peers and earned the antipathy, if not animosity, of his subordinates," judged former subordinate and future four-star admiral Ignatius J. Galantin. A crack poker player, Felt unapologetically summarized his philosophy as "Trust everybody, but always cut the cards."