Lyndon Spencer (January 26, 1898 – April 12, 1981) was a Vice Admiral 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 ...

Career

Spencer graduated from 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 ...

in 1918. His early assignments included serving aboard the . From 1922 to 1925, he served on the staff at the Coast Guard Academy. Later, he became executive officer of the . He remained there until he took over command of the in 1926. Later, he would command the and . 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 ...

, Spencer commanded the . While in command, the ''Bayfield'' served as the flagship of the Naval Task Force during

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...

. For his services during this time, Spencer 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

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Later in his career Spencer served as the president of the Lake Carriers' Association, an organization tasked with representing the interests of U.S.-flag vessel operators on the Great Lakes.

References

Connecticut Death Index, 1949-2001 1898 births 1981 deaths People from Steuben County, New York United States Coast Guard admirals United States Coast Guard Academy alumni United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) {{USCG-bio-stub