Eugene Auguste Coffin Sr. (March 10, 1888 – January 20, 1972) 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

Eugene A. Coffin was born on March 10, 1888, in

Fuzhou Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...

(Foochow) China. He was the son of Dr Julia Evelynn (Sparr) Coffin and John Auguste Coffin. He was married three times. First, to Nancy Jamison in 1911, who died in 1918 and with whom he had two sons. Second, to Peggy Powers in 1919, with whom he had two daughters. Third, to Marjorie Barber-Hite on August 28, 1948. Coffin died on January 20, 1972, and was buried at sea.

Career

Coffin first joined the Coast Guard in 1907. He would be stationed out of Boston, Massachusetts,

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

New Bern, North Carolina New Bern, formerly called Newbern, is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 29,524, which had risen to an estimated 29,994 as of 2019. It is the county seat of Craven County and t ...

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, and

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

in the earlier part of his career. In 1917 he became one of the Coast Guard's first six aviators. After flight training in

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

, Coffin was designated Naval Aviator Number 59. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served as an executive officer and chief of staff at

Rockaway Naval Air Station Naval Air Station Rockaway adjoined Fort Tilden on the western portion of the Rockaway Peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens. It was established on transferred municipal property in 1917 during American involvement in World War I. T ...

. From 1924 to 1928 he held command of the . Later he commanded the from 1931 to 1933 and the from 1936 to 1940. Coffin was given command of the Philadelphia District on December 11, 1940, and promoted to captain on May 1, 1941. Promoted to commodore, his transfer to head the Honolulu District was announced in September 1945. Coffin was promoted to rear admiral on January 4, 1948. Coffin was awarded the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

and the World War I Victory Medal. His retirement was effective as of April 1, 1949.

References

1888 births 1972 deaths People from Fuzhou American military personnel of World War I Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Coast Guard admirals Generals from Fujian {{USCG-bio-stub