Alva B. Lasswell

Alva Bryan "Red" Lasswell (January3, 1905October28, 1988) was a United States Marine Corps linguist and cryptanalyst during World War II. In 1942, he contributed to the identification of Midway Atoll as the Japanese military target codenamed AF. In April 1943, Lasswell helped decrypt the coded itinerary of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, leading to his interception by Army Air Forces fighter planes near Rabaul.

Early life and education Lasswell was born in McLeansboro, Illinois,

Military career Lasswell enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1925. Selected for officer candidate school, From 1932 to 1933, he served with the Marine detachment on . Promoted to first lieutenant in 1934, Lasswell joined the 5th Marine Regiment in Quantico, Virginia, later that year. Assigned to teach FBI agents small arms marksmanship, he received a letter of commendation from Director J. Edgar Hoover.

Lasswell was reassigned to Station HYPO at Pearl Harbor in 1941. He was promoted to major on April 29, 1942. Lasswell was promoted to lieutenant colonel on August 7, 1942. Lasswell was promoted to colonel on November 5, 1943.

After the end of the war, Lasswell was awarded the Legion of Merit for his naval intelligence and Marine Corps Intelligence contributions.

In 1947, Lasswell briefly served as acting commander of the 1st Marine Division. He later commanded the 7th Marine Regiment from October 1, 1947, to May 10, 1948. He retired from active duty in May 1956. where Betty's father was an expatriate American engineer working on electrification projects. Betty had been the top-seeded female tennis player in Japan while studying at the American School. The couple had three wedding ceremonies in one day: a church service, On November 4, 2019, Lasswell was inducted into the Cryptologic Hall of Honor at National Security Agency headquarters.