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Namesake
	27k	Willard Woodward Keith, Jr., born on 13 June 1920 in Berkeley, Calif., enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve on 18 April 1939 and served as an enlisted man until he received an honorable discharge on 3 November 1940 to take an appointment as 2d lieutenant in the reserves on the following day. Called to active duty on 20 February 1941, he served "stateside" until his unit was transferred to the South Pacific in the spring of 1942 to build up for the first Allied offensive in that theater: Guadalcanal. Eventually promoted to captain, Keith led Company "G," 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, from the initial phase of the Guadalcanal campaign. He landed with them at Tulagi on 7 August 1942. By that autumn, the campaign on Guadalcanal Island was still a hard-fought one. In an offensive aimed against Japanese artillery positions sited beyond the Matanikau River and within range of the important Henderson Field airstrip, the 2d Battalion was assigned the left flank position. Initial elements of the battalion crossed the Matanikau in rubber boats before dawn on 3 November 1942, supported effectively by dive bomber strikes, artillery, and naval gunfire. That afternoon, Capt. Keith led his company against a Japanese strong-point manned by a platoon not only reinforced with heavy machine guns but concealed by heavy jungle growth and entrenched on commanding high ground. Realizing that neither mortar nor artillery fire could reach the Japanese positions, Keith, determined to evict the Japanese, initiated and led successive bayonet and hand grenade charges in the face of heavy fire. Although the Japanese platoon was annihilated,Capt. Keith was struck in the head by a bullet and killed instantly. While the 1st Marine Division (Reinforced), of which the 2d Battalion, 6th Marines was a part, received the Presidential Unit Citation, Capt. Willard W. Keith, Jr., was awarded a Navy Cross posthumously for a "grim determination and aggressive devotion to duty" in keeping with the "highest traditions of the naval service." Photo courtesy 'G47' on findagrave.com		Ron Balko
USS Willard Keith (DD-775)
	155k	Undated, location unknown. The ship is painted in camouflage Measure 32, Design 11a.		-
	165k	Undated, location unknown.		Ed Zajkowski
	240k	Undated, location unknown.		Ed Zajkowski
	82k	Undated, USS Willard Keith (DD-775) entering San Pedro, California. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration photo # 19-N-76873.		Robert Hurst
	206k	Undated, location unknown.		Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
	141k	Undated, location unknown.		Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
	114k	8 March 1945 (NARA 80G 310258).		Rob Rielly
	152k	USS Putnam (DD-757) at New York City 24 March 1946, with USS Willard Keith (DD-775) in the background. Courtesy of The Mariners Museum, Newport News, Va. Ted Stone collection. Source: Naval History and Heritage Command, Photo No. NH 66346.		Mike Green
	53k	USS Willard Keith assisting the sinking freighter Flying Enterprise, 06 January 1952		Nathan Burrow / Yu Chu
	41k	USS Tidewater (AD-31), USS Du Pont (DD-941), USS John W. Weeks (DD-701), USS Willard Keith (DD-775), USS Ault (DD-698), USS Henley (DD-762) and USS Nimble (MSO-459) in Athens, Greece late 1961.		Michael J. Mogck
	65k	Boston, August 1963		© Richard Leonhardt
	55k	Norfolk, VA 1965.		Marc Piché
	183k	Off Norfolk, circa 1965.		Ken Dupree, YNCS (Ret.)
	169k	Off Norfolk, circa 1965.		Ken Dupree, YNCS (Ret.)
	87k	Off Norfolk, circa 1965.		Ken Dupree, YNCS (Ret.)
	189k	New York Harbor in April 1969 with the USS Willard Keith (DD-775) inboard and USS Keppler (DD-765) outboard.		Ed Zajkowski
	40k	Ship's patch.		Mike Smolinski
	81k	Specially designed patch by Hank Ketchum creator of Dennis the Menace.		Marc Reckner
	249k	Specially designed patch by Hank Ketchum creator of Dennis the Menace.		Tom Gamstetter
	88k & 99k	Ship's Zippo.		Marc Reckner
On Colombian Service
	48k	On the right side of the photo are the ex-USS Hale (DD-642) as the Colombian Navy DD 01 Antioquia and the ex-USS Willard Keith (DD-775) as the Colombian Navy DD 02 Caldas circa 1975-1976 after they had been decommissioned and were awaiting scrapping in Cartagena.		Luis Bernardo Castro
Click here to see our Special Feature - Interior Views of Sumner Class Destroyers as Built

CDR Lewis Levi Snider    Dec 27 1944 - Jan 2 1946

CDR Edward Maynard Day Jr.    Jan 2 1946 - May 26 1948

CDR Frank Hardeman Brumby Jr.    May 26 1948 - Aug 4 1949

LCDR George Rodney Warren Jr.    Aug 4 1949 - Apr 1950 

(Mothballed Apr 1950 - Oct 23 1950)

CDR Andrew Richard Drea    Oct 23 1950 - Sep 1951

CDR Leslie James O'Brien Jr.    Sep 1951 - Jan 1953 (Later RADM)

CDR Herman Kennedy Rock    Jan 1953 - Jul 1954

CDR Frank John Coulter    Jul 1954 - Apr 1955

CDR Philip Michael Donahue    Apr 1958 - Nov 1956

CDR Carl Richard Berquist    Nov 1956 - Apr 1958

CDR William Ross Gibson    Apr 1958 - Sep 1959 

CDR Julius Jacob Theodore Bachman    Sep 1959 - Jul 1961

CDR Claude Leonidus Tyler    Jul 1961 - May 1 1963 

CDR Claiborne Sheldon Bradley    May 1 1963 - Aug 1964

CDR Dale Calvin Brumbaugh    Oct 1964 - Mar 1966

CDR Francis Joseph Beitzer    Mar 1966 - Aug 1967

CDR Donald James Maynard    Aug 1967 - Jul 1969

CDR Henry Gerald Ehleringer    Jul 1969 - Aug 1971

CDR Billy Jerl White    Aug 1971 - Mar 1972

LCDR John Raymond Brandon    Mar 1972 - Jul 1 1972