Reminiscences of Vice Adm. Paul D. Stroop, USN (Ret.)

After graduation and duty in the USS Arkansas (BB-33), Admiral Stroop competed in gymnastics in the Olympic Games of 1928. He then trained and was designated naval aviator. When Pearl Harbor was bombed, he served as staff officer for Commander Task Force II in the USS Lexington (CV-2), participating in battles in the Coral Sea until the Lexington was lost. He then became planning officer for Admiral Fitch in the South Pacific. In 1944 he was aviation plans officer for CNO, Admiral E.J. King, accompanying him to the Yalta Conference. Later duties included: CO of the escort carrier USS Croatan (CVE-25); Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations, CinCPac; CO of the USS Princeton (CV-37), patrolling the Korean coast in 1951; Commander, China Lake Naval Ordnance Test Station; Commander, Taiwan Patrol Force; and Commander, Naval Air Force, Pacific Fleet.