Herbert D. Riley

Herbert Douglas Riley (December 24, 1904 – January 17, 1973) was a highly decorated officer in the United States Navy with the rank of Vice admiral. A United States Naval Academy graduate, he trained as naval aviator and distinguished himself first as commanding officer of the escort carrier during the combats at Iwo Jima and Okinawa during World War II.

Following the War, he rose to the flag rank and held important staff assignments as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Operations and Readiness and later as Director of the Joint Staff during Cuban Missile Crisis. Riley was a son-in-law of Admiral John H. Towers, pioneer naval aviator and later-Commander-in-Chief, United States Pacific Fleet.

Riley graduated with Bachelor of Science on June 2, 1927, and was commissioned ensign in the United States Navy on the same date. He was attached to the battleship two months later and participated in the patrol cruises with the Pacific Fleet before he was ordered to Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida for flight training in September 1929.

Duty in Washington

An important milestone of Riley's career was his transfer to the Naval Air Station Anacostia in Washington, D.C. in January 1938. He served as test and transport pilot for government officials and also held additional duty as Naval Aide to President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House. While in this capacity, Riley met Marjorie Towers, daughter of Rear Admiral John H. Towers, then-Chief of Bureau of Aeronautics. They were married in the Fort Myer Chapel, Virginia in June 1940.

Death

Following his retirement, Riley settled at Kent Island, Maryland and was active in the Naval Institute's oral history program. He died at his home on January 17, 1973, aged 68 and was buried with full military honors at the United States Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland, where his headstone proclaims him to have been a "ninth-generation Marylander." Riley had two children, a son Herbert Jr., who died only one day after his birth in 1941 and a daughter Lynn Lovelace Riley who died October 21, 2021.

Awards and decorations

Here is the ribbon bar of Vice admiral Riley: