William J. Keester 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

Keester was born on June 6, 1889, in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He graduated from

John Marshall Metropolitan High School John Marshall Metropolitan High School (commonly known as simply Marshall) is a public 4–year high school located in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the west side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1895, Marshall is operated ...

in 1907. in 1916, he married Verna A. Short. Keester died on September 14, 1967, in

Salisbury, Maryland Salisbury () is a city in and the county seat of Wicomico County, Maryland, Wicomico County, Maryland, United States, and the largest city in Eastern Shore of Maryland, the state's Eastern Shore region. The population was 33,050 at the 2020 United ...

Career

Keester entered the School of Instruction of the Revenue Cutter Service in 1907. He received his commission in 1910 and was then assigned to the USRC Seminole. In 1912, while serving aboard the USRC Manning, Keester took part in the rescue and relief of those effected by the eruption of

Mount Katmai Mount Katmai (russian: Катмай) is a large stratovolcano (composite volcano) on the Alaska Peninsula in southern Alaska, located within Katmai National Park and Preserve. It is about in diameter with a central lake-filled caldera about in ...

. He and his crew received a letter commendation from President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

. After serving aboard the

USCGC Unalga (WPG-53) USCGC ''Unalga'' (WPG-53) was a Miami-class cutter, ''Miami''-class cutter that served in the United States Revenue Cutter Service and later the United States Coast Guard, U.S. Coast Guard and United States Navy, U.S. Navy. The early part of her ...

and the USRC Mackinac, the

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merged with the

United States Life-Saving Service The United States Life-Saving ServiceDespite the lack of hyphen in its insignia, the agency itself is hyphenated in government documents including: and was a United States government agency that grew out of private and local humanitarian effort ...

to form the Coast Guard in 1915. 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 was assigned to the USRC Yamacraw In April 1917, Lt. Keester received a Secretarial Commendation for lifesaving efforts associated with the grounding of the tanker ''Louisiana'' off Ocean City, Maryland on March 4, 1917. . Following the war, Keester was stationed in

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The county seat of Brown County, it is at the head of Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It is above sea lev ...

. In 1923, he enrolled in the

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associat ...

. The following year, he was named Executive Officer of the USCGC Tampa (WPG-48). In 1926, Keester assumed command of the USS Jouett (DD-41). Afterwards, he was assigned to the

Coast Guard Yard The United States Coast Guard Yard or just Coast Guard Yard is a United States Coast Guard operated shipyard located on Curtis Bay in northern Anne Arundel County, Maryland, just south of the Baltimore city limits. It is the largest industrial fa ...

. In 1930, Keester returned to the Yamacraw as Commanding Officer. During this time, he was awarded the

Coast Guard Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...

. He then commanded the

USCGC Mendota (WHEC-69) USCGC ''Mendota'' (WHEC-69) was an ''Owasco'' class high endurance cutter built for World War II service with the United States Coast Guard. The ship was commissioned three months before the end of the war and did not see combat action until th ...

from 1933 to 1934 and spent time assisting the

United States Naval Observatory United States Naval Observatory (USNO) is a scientific and military facility that produces geopositioning, navigation and timekeeping data for the United States Navy and the United States Department of Defense. Established in 1830 as the Depo ...

. 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 ...

, Keester was Captain of the

Port of Baltimore Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore is a shipping port along the tidal basins of the three branches of the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland on the upper northwest shore of the Chesapeake Bay. It is the nation's largest port facilities f ...

before being stationed 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, ...

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from several nearby cities including West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach by the Intracoas ...

and

St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; es, San Agustín ) is a city in the Southeastern United States and the county seat of St. Johns County on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, it is the oldest continuously inhabit ...

. Afterwards, he served as Inspector in Chief of the Coast Guard until 1946, at which time he returned to the Coast Guard Yard as Commanding Officer. He remained there until his retirement in 1949.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keester, William United States Coast Guard admirals United States Revenue Cutter Service officers American military personnel of World War I United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II United States Coast Guard Academy alumni Naval War College alumni 1889 births 1967 deaths Military personnel from Chicago