Edward Thiele was a

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

in the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

Biography

Thiele was born on September 4, 1905, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

He graduated from

McKinley Technology High School McKinley Technology High School is a public citywide 9th–12th grade high school in the District of Columbia Public Schools in Northeast Washington, D.C. The school, an offshoot of Central High School (now Cardozo Senior High School), originally ...

. Thiele died in 1981.

Career

Thiele was originally a member of the

District of Columbia National Guard The District of Columbia National Guard is the branch of the United States National Guard based in the District of Columbia. It comprises both the D.C. Army National Guard and the D.C. Air National Guard components. The president of the Unit ...

, serving with the 121st Engineer Battalion. He was honorably discharged in 1924 and entered the

United States Coast Guard Academy The United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) is a service academy of the United States Coast Guard in New London, Connecticut. Founded in 1876, it is the smallest of the five U.S. service academies and provides education to future Coast Gu ...

, graduating in 1927. Afterwards, he was assigned to the , the and the . From 1930 to 1933, Thiele was an instructor at the School of Instruction. Additionally, he was coach of the swimming team. Later, he served aboard the . During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Thiele helped design the

Wind-class icebreaker The Wind-class icebreakers were a line of Diesel-electric transmission, diesel electric-powered icebreakers in service with the United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Coast Guard and Soviet Navy from 1944 t ...

and the . He then served as the first executive officer of the , one of the ships he helped to design. Later, he commanded the and the in the Pacific Theater of Operations. Awards Thiele received for his service in the war include the

American Defense Service Medal The American Defense Service Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces, established by , by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, on June 28, 1941. The medal was intended to recognize those military service members who had served ...

, the

World War II Victory Medal The World War II Victory Medal is a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945. The Wor ...

, the

Navy Occupation Service Medal The Navy Occupation Service Medal is a military award of the United States Navy which was "Awarded to commemorate the services of Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel in the occupation of certain territories of the enemies of the U.S. durin ...

and the

Philippine Defense Medal The Philippine Defense Medal is a military award and decoration of the Republic of the Philippines which is awarded to recognize the initial resistance against Japanese invasion between the dates of 8 December 1941 and 15 June 1942. The award was ...

. Thiele's later assignment included serving in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

and as Engineer-in-Chief of the Coast Guard. He retired from the Coast Guard in 1961.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thiele, Edward People from Washington, D.C. United States Coast Guard admirals United States Army soldiers United States Coast Guard Academy alumni American swimming coaches 1905 births 1981 deaths United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II American expatriates in the United Kingdom