United States Navy Admiral. He served as head of United States Naval forces during the Vietnam conflict. In 1931 he received a congressional appointment to attend the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Following graduation in 1935 he was assigned to the submarine fleet. He served in the Pacific Theater during the Second World War as the commanding officer of the USS Gato and the USS Seadragon. In May 1943 he was assigned as the commanding officer of the USS Guardfish. Serving on patrol during the following months of June and July, he successfully engaged and sank eight Japanese ships totalling in excess of 38,000 tons earning him the distinguished Navy Cross. In 1958 he entered the Polaris nuclear missile program as commander of Submarine Squadron 14, as part of an overseas deployment strategy aimed at providing the United States with a long range nuclear strike capability. Prior to joining the Polaris program, he had been assigned as commanding officer of a submarine squadron assigned in test firing the surface launched Regulus missile. In 1963 he was promoted to the rank of rear admiral. In 1965 he was assigned to South Vietnam as chief of the Naval Advisory Board and later as commander of U.S. Naval forces in Vietnam. As commander he headed a squadron of patrol boats assigned to prevent the North Vietnamese from moving weapons and ammunition along the country's river and coastal waterways. In 1968 he suffered personal tragedy losing his son Marine Captain Alexander K. Ward, from combat wounds suffered fighting in the Quang Tri Province of South Vietnam. Following Vietnam he saw his last combat operations during the Korean War as commander of the destroyer Yarnall. In 1973 he officially retired from the United States Navy as commander of the Caribbean Sea frontier and commander of the 10th Naval District based out of Puerto Rico. In addition to the Navy Cross he was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal, three awards of the Silver Star and five awards of the Legion of Merit.