Postwar
After the end of the war, Ryan served as the trial judge advocate (prosecutor) in late 1945 during the court-martial of Charles B. McVay III. McVay, who had graduated from the Naval Academy a year ahead of Ryan in 1920, had been a friend of his for 25 years. He was the captain of the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis, which had been torpedoed and sunk by the Japanese submarine I-58 on July 30, 1945. McVay was convicted of "hazarding his ship by failing to zigzag", but was exonerated more than 50 years later in October, 2000.
Ryan went on to reach the rank of rear admiral. He died on January 28, 1970 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Read more about this topic: Thomas J. Ryan (admiral)
Famous quotes containing the word postwar:
“Fashions change, and with the new psychoanalytical perspective of the postwar period [WWII], child rearing became enshrined as the special responsibility of mothers ... any shortcoming in adult life was now seen as rooted in the failure of mothering during childhood.”
—Sylvia Ann Hewitt (20th century)