Duerfeldt earned the Legion of Merit, with Combat “V”; the Gold Star in lieu of a Second Legion of Merit; Bronze Star medal; Presidential Unit Citation awarded Task Unit21.14; Presidential Unit Citation awarded the U.S.S. Hornet; Second Nicaraguan Campaign with the U.S.S. Cleveland; American Defense Service Medal, with Fleet Clasp; European-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal; American Campaign Medal with one Bronze Star with the U.S.S. Card; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one Silver Star with the U.S.S. Hornet; World War Two Victory Medal; Navy Occupation Service Medal, European Clasp; and the National Defense Service Medal.
Clifford Henderson Duerfeldt was born in Gordon, Nebraska, on November 10, 1902, the son of Frederick Charles and Mary Elizabeth (Margrove) Duerfeldt. He attended Gordon High Scholl and spent one year at Kansas State College prior to accepting appointment to the U.S. Navy Academy, from which he graduated in the Class of 1926.
He was the sixth commanding officer of the U.S.S. Tarawa, taking over on 27 July 1951. He was the CO during the 1951-51 cruise to the Mediterranean.
As a midshipman and after graduation, he was a member of the Navy Rifle Team. He served with the team on detached duty from June to September of 1926 at Sea Grit, New Jersey; from June to August, 1928, at Wakefield, Massachusetts, and the following two months at Camp Perry, Ohio.
Between chores as a Navy marksman, he served from November 1926 to July 1927 aboard the U.S.S. Nevada and from July 1927 to May of 1928 in the U.S.S. Cleveland.
In October 1928 he reported to the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, for flight instruction and was named Naval Aviator in September 1929. He remained at Pensacola until November 1929. The following month he joined Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet, until April 1931.
Duerfeldt was then assigned to the U.S.S. Saratoga until June 1933 when he returned to the Naval Academy for a year of post-graduate instruction. From June 1934 to June 1936 he was assigned to Patrol Squadron Seven-F aboard the tender U.S.S. Wright. He then served for two years at the Naval Air Station, Anacostia, District of Columbia. He spent August 1938 on temporary duty with Utility Wing.
In October 1938, while assigned to Observation Squadron Three in the U.S.S. Mississippi, Duerfeldt was co-pilot of the first Navy non-stop trans-continental seaplane flight in XPBY2. In June 1939 he was transferred to Observation Squadron Four aboard the U.S.S. West Virginia. January 1940 found him commanding Observation Squadron One with additional duty aboard the U.S.S. Arizona.
From December 1940 to February 1941 he served at the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, followed by a stint until June 1942 at the Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, Texas.
In July 1942 he reported aboard the newly commissioned escort carrier U.S.S. Card, serving as Air Officer and later as Executive Officer. The ship won a Presidential Unit Citation for its role with Task Force 21.14 “for outstanding performance during anti-submarine operations in mid-Atlantic from January 27, 1943.
“At a time when continual flow of supplies along the United States – North Africa convoy route was essential to the maintenance of our established military supremecy and to the accumulation of reserves, the Card, her embarked aircraft and her escorts pressed home a vigorous offensive which was largely responsible for the complete withdrawal of hostile U-boats from this vital supply area.
“Later, when the submarines returned with deadlier weapons, and augmented anti-aircraft defense this heroic Task Unit, by striking damaging blows at the onset of the renewed campaigns, wrested the initiative from the enemy before actual inception of projected large scale attacks….”
In September 1943 he reported to the U.S.S. Hornet and upon her commissioning in November assumed the duties of Executive Officer, serving until September 1944.
For his service aboard the Hornet, Duerfeldt was awarded the Legion of Merit with Combat “V”, the citation reading in part: “For exceptionally meritorious conduct..as Executive Officer of the U.S.S. Hornet..during operations against enemy Japanese forces in the Pacific War area..(he) was responsible for organizing the ship both before and after commissioning, for the training of the crew and for the provisioning, supplying and equipping the vessel in preparation for sea duty.
“With the Hornet limited to a shakedown cruise of only two weeks prior to joining the Fleet in the Pacific he labored untiringly in his efforts to expedite training and organization, enabling the ship to join the Fleet in Majuro ahead of schedule on 21 March 1944, fully ready for combat. Discharging his many responsibilities with exceptional skill, foresight and resourcefulness, he contributed immeasurably toward the successes achieved by the Hornet and its Air Groups in missions against the enemy…”
He is also entitled to wear the Presidential Unit Citation awarded the Hornet “for extraordinary heroism in action against enemy Japanese forces in the air, ashore and afloat in the Pacific War Area from March 29, 1944 to June 10. 1945…Daring and dependable in combat, the U.S.S. Hornet with her gallant officers and men rendered loyal service in achieving the ultimate defeat of the Japanese Empire”.
In October 1944 he left the Hornet to join the Staff, Air Force, Pacific Fleet until February 1946. In March of that year, he was sent to the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Navy Department, Washington, D.C., an assignment he held until reporting to the National War College in Washington in August 1948. A month after graduating there in June 1949, he became commanding officer of the U.S.S. Sicily.
In July 1950 he gave up that command to serve with the Joint Staff Office, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Washington, D.C., until becoming Commanding Officer of the Tarawa in July 1951. He left the ship in July of 1952 and in the next month became Assistant Director, Aviation Plans Division, Office of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Air), and on March 3, 1954, assumed command of the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Maryland.
He then assumed command on February 14, 1957, of Carrier Division Two, and in April 1958 became Deputy Commander in Chief, Naval Forces, Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, and Chief of Staff and Aide to the Commander in Chief, Naval Forces, Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.
From January 1960 to September 1961 he was Chief of Naval Air Basic Training with headquarters at the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, after which he served until June 1964 as Commander Barrier Force, Pacific, with additional duty as Commander Air Fleet, Hawaii, and Commander Naval Air Bases, Fourteen Naval District; further additional duty from December 29, 1961, to January 13, 1962, as Commander Hawaiian Sea Frontier; Commandant Fourteenth District and Commander Naval Base, Pearl Harbor.
For this latter service he was awarded the Gold Star in Lieu of the Second Legion of Merit “for exceptionally meritorious conduct…from September 1961 to May 1964 as Commander Fleet Air, Hawaii, and Commander Barrier Force, Pacific. As Fleet Air Commander under the Commander Naval Air Force, United States Pacific Fleet, Rear Admiral Duerfeldt displayed unusual ability in the conduct, as chief observor, of numerous operational readiness inspections of Pacific Fleet Attack Aircraft Carriers, thereby being instrumental in the maintenance of a high state of combat capability of aviation units deploying to the U.S. Seventh Fleet.
“As Barrier Force Commander under the Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, he developed and directed many advanced procedures and techniques for the detection of enemy penetration, which contributed significantly to the successful accomplishment of the mission of the Pacific Barrier in its role of furnishing early warning intelligence incident to the defense of the North American Continent…”.
Duerfeldt had climbed steadily through the ranks from his graduation from the Naval Academy in 1926. He became a Commander for temporary service on 17 September 1942; Commander on 7 August 1947 to rank from 22 June 1938; Captain for temporary service, 9 October 1944; Captain, 1 July 1948, to rank from 1 August 1943 (ad interim) and finally to Rear Admiral on 1 February 1954.
He was transferred to the Retired List of the United States Navy on 1 June 1964. He retired to Maryland and then to Pensacola, Florida, where he died 8 September 1998 at the age of 95. A memorial service was held in Pensacola three days later. He was buried at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland.
In 1929, he had married the former Jane Homes Seaman. They had two children: Clifford H. Duerfeldt Jr., and Susan Jane Duerfeldt.
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