U.S. Navy Admiral, Vera Cruz Medal of Honor Recipient. A decorated veteran of World Wars I and II, he was issued the award on December 4, 1915 for his actions as a lieutenant while serving with the Navy transport ship Esperanze on 21-22 April 1914, during the US occupation of Vera Cruz, Mexico. After graduating from high school, he received an appointment to the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland graduating in 1906. He served on battleships, and in March 1912, he joined the USS Chauncey as the commanding officer. He transferred to the USS Florida in December 1912, and was aboard it during the occupation of Veracruz in April 1914. During World War I (WWI), he participated in the Battle of the Atlantic, serving as a gunnery officer on the battleship USS Kearsarge until September 1917 and in May 1918, he commanded the destroyer USS Benham. Following the war, he commanded several Navy ships in the Pacific and attended the Navy War College in Newport, Rhode Island and the Army War College in Washington, D.C. In August 1931, he became chief of staff to the Commander in Chief, U.S. Asiatic Fleet and in 1933, he was transferred to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. From November 1933 to May 1936, he served as an aide to the Secretary of the Navy Claude A Swanson. During World War II (WWII), he commanded the U.S. Naval Task Forces during the Battles of Coral Sea (4-8 May 1942), Midway (4-7 June 1942), Guadalcanal (7-9 August 1942), and the Eastern Solomon Islands (24-25 August 1942). This span of battles marked a tipping point of the Pacific War in which U.S. forces halted the progress of the Japanese Imperial Navy, sinking six Japanese carriers. Following the war, he served as Chairman of the Navy's General Board, and retired in that position in May 1947 at the rank of Admiral. with 41 years of continuous military service. He was also awarded the Navy Cross, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Purple Heart, the Canadian Companion Order of the Bath, the Philippine Territory Mindanao and Sulu Campaign Medal, and the French Indochina Order of the Dragon of Annam. He died at the age of 87. His Medal of Honor citation reads: "For distinguished conduct in battle, engagements of Vera Cruz, 21 and 22 April 1914. Under fire, Lt. Fletcher was eminent and conspicuous in performance of his duties. He was in charge of the Esperanze and succeeded in getting on board over 350 refugees, many of them after the conflict had commenced. Although the ship was under fire, being struck more than 30 times, he succeeded in getting all the refugees placed in safety. Lt. Fletcher was later placed in charge of the train conveying refugees under a flag of truce. This was hazardous duty, as it was believed that the track was mined, and a small error in dealing with the Mexican guard of soldiers might readily have caused a conflict, such a conflict at one time being narrowly averted. It was greatly due to his efforts in establishing friendly relations with the Mexican soldiers that so many refugees succeeded in reaching Vera Cruz from the interior."