VICE ADMIRAL WILLIAM F. "RED" RABORN JR. - ENVELOPE SIGNED CO-SIGNED BY: ADMIRAL U.S. GRANT SHARP - HFSID 298559

US NAVY: ADMIRALS WILLIAM RABORN and U.S. GRANT SHARP
Both sign an envelope commemorating the first deployment of the super carrier Nimitz
Commemorative Envelope signed: "W. F. 'Red' Raborn/Vice Admiral USN (Ret)", USG Sharp/Adm USN (Ret)", 6½x3½. Ink stamp cachet honors the US nuclear carrier Nimitz, postmarked USS Nimitz (CVN-68), FPO [Fleet Post Office] New York. Admiral WILLIAM RABORN (1905-1990), who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1928, was commanding officer of the U.S.S. Bennington (1954-1955), Director, U.S. Navy Special Projects and Deputy Chief of Naval Operations over his naval career. Known as the "Father of the Fleet Ballistic Missile", Raborn was instrumental in the development of the Polaris submarine and missile. He received the National Security Medal in 1961, four years before Vice Admiral Rabon was named Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (April 28, 1965-June 30, 1966) by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Admiral U. S. GRANT SHARP, JR. (1906-2001) skippered a destroyer in World War II, winning two Silver Stars; and commanded a destroyer squadron in Korea, taking part in the Inchon landing. After receiving his fourth star, Sharp became Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet (1963-1964) and then Commander-in-Chief of the US Pacific Command (1964-1968). Sharp was highly critical of President Johnson's gradual military escalation of the Vietnam War, believing that the war could be one by a massive military assault. He defended this view in his second book, Strategy for Defeat: Vietnam in Retrospect (1978). The super carrier U.S.S. Nimitz, named for Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz of World War II fame, set out for its first deployment (to the Mediterranean) in May 1976. Fine condition.