Admiral Nimitz, the United States Navy, and Notre Dame

This week marks the anniversary of the most important naval battle in American history, the Battle of Midway.

Fought during the first week of June 1942 – less than six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor – United States naval forces in the Pacific theater under the overall command of Admiral Chester Nimitz surprised and defeated a far superior Japanese fleet, winning a battle some said they had no right to win. During the course of the battle, Dauntless dive bombers from the decks of the USS Enterprise and USS Yorktown destroyed four Japanese aircraft carriers, and planes from the USS Hornet sank a Japanese heavy cruiser and heavily damaged another. The American naval force also destroyed more than 300 of Japan’s warplanes in the fight. It was a decisive victory for Nimitz and the Navy. However, perhaps because the anniversary of the battle always falls during the same week as the anniversary of the D-Day invasion of June 1944, Admiral Nimitz, the United States Navy, and the Battle of Midway probably do not receive as much attention as they deserve. Many historians, though, call the Battle of Midway “the turning point in the Pacific.”

Why, you may ask, is this story appearing on a blog about the history, traditions, and spirit of Notre Dame?

The answer: because Admiral Nimitz and the United States Navy also played very prominent roles in “a turning point” in the history of Notre Dame, so this seems like a fine week to honor Nimitz and the Navy by telling the story.

During World War II, with millions of college-age men in uniform, many colleges and universities struggled to survive, and some simply ceased to exist. With war raging around the world, Notre Dame faced financial troubles that many feared would force the University to close its doors.

Fortunately for Notre Dame, Admiral Nimitz made an important decision that would keep Notre Dame afloat.

In the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Nimitz was to be promoted to Admiral and designated Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet. Before the attack, however, Rear Admiral Nimitz served as Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, and it was in that role, in September 1941, that Nimitz established a unit of the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (N.R.O.T.C.) at Notre Dame, with headquarters in the Knute Rockne Memorial Building and 169 students enrolled in the first class.

On Monday, October 27, just six weeks before the Japanese bombs fell on Pearl Harbor, Nimitz visited Notre Dame for the University’s first observance of “Navy Day” after the establishment of the N.R.O.T.C. unit in September, and addressed the student body and faculty in Washington Hall.

The agreement between Notre Dame’s president, Rev. Hugh O’Donnell, C.S.C., and Admiral Chester Nimitz to train much-needed naval officers during World War II led to a long history of cooperation between the United States Navy and the University of Notre Dame. In time, the Secretary of the U.S. Navy -- at the recommendation of the Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Nimitz -- agreed to make Notre Dame a training center for the Navy and paid to use University facilities, allowing Notre Dame to keep its doors open throughout the war.

The first group of N.R.O.T.C. students organized on the campus was comprised of Notre Dame's own students. This group was to be trained during the regular four-year college course.

Shortly thereafter came the U.S. Naval Reserve Midshipmen’s School. This school would train men who already had graduated from different colleges. They were divided into two groups: those being trained to be deck officers, about 1,000 of whom were commissioned every four months during the war; and others, under training for only two months, destined for some special work. The Midshipmen’s School at Notre Dame even published its own yearbook, The Capstan, and if you were to look through the pages of the May 1943 edition, you might discover a familiar face with a cleft chin. As it turned out, one young man who trained at Notre Dame as a naval officer later became a very well-known Hollywood actor. His name was Kirk Douglas.

Finally, in 1943, the V-12 Navy College Training program came to the campus, with the purpose of granting bachelor's degrees to future officers drawn from both the U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps. The program paid tuition to participating colleges and universities for college courses that were taught to qualified candidates. Some of these were men who had seen service already, and were being returned as undergraduates to take special training, especially in mathematics, physics, and other areas of college education most needed by the military for the war effort.

During the war, Notre Dame produced so many naval officers, it was sometimes referred to as “Annapolis West.” A report later prepared by a University archivist estimated that a total of 11,925 navy men completed their officers' training at Notre Dame between 1942 and 1946. In addition to that, certainly the number of Navy trainees, including the Marines, ran into the thousands.

The tradition continues to this day. The NROTC at the University continues to train midshipmen in preparation for careers as Navy and Marine Corps officers.

As for Admiral Chester W. Nimitz?

Admiral Nimitz continued to make good decisions on behalf of his country. On December 19, 1944, he was advanced to the newly created rank of Fleet Admiral, and on September 2, 1945, he was the United States signatory to the terms of the Japanese surrender aboard the battleship U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

Notre Dame gave him an honorary degree in 1946.

And in a park in Arlington, Virginia, overlooking Washington, D.C., the six words immortalized at the base of the Marine Corps War Memorial (also called the Iwo Jima Memorial) are the words of Admiral Nimitz, describing the courage of the Marines and other American servicemen who fought at the Battle of Iwo Jima: “UNCOMMON VALOR WAS A COMMON VIRTUE.”