On September 2, 1945 Japan unconditionally surrendered to the Allied Powers in Tokyo Bay on board the USS Missouri. Yesterday, we here in Fredericksburg joined millions across the world in commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII. Our hometown hero Chester Nimitz represented the United States of America in that historic moment. 

As a Rear Admiral, Nimitz served as the Navy’s Chief of the Bureau of Navigation since from 1938 until December 1941. In the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, Nimitz was promoted to Admiral and named Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet (CINCPACFLT) on 31 December 1941.  During his tenure as CINCPACFLT and promotion to Fleet Admiral, he led the Naval forces in famous battles such as Midway, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Leyte Gulf. Naval history sources list at least 27 significant surface naval battles between the United States and Japan, plus major land and air campaigns on dozens of islands. The fighting extended over a vast region, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, and large parts of the Pacific Ocean. In all, his command included over 5,000 ships, 20,000 planes and over 2,000,000 troops. 

Over 133,000 Allied men and women were killed in the Pacific War and over 300,000 were wounded. The number of brave men and women who gave their lives in the Pacific War is roughly equal to the current combined populations of Gillespie, Kendall and Kerr Counties.

I often wonder how someone from a small town like Fredericksburg in the 19th century became one of the most storied Admirals in Naval history. Looking back at a timeline we can start to see a critical path for Chester Nimitz to become Fleet Admiral and a primary architect of the Pacific War that led to the Japanese surrender.

In 1846, Charles Henry Nimitz, a former merchant seaman, arrived in Fredericksburg. In the 1850s he purchased the first building of the Nimitz Hotel, expanded it and eventually added the steamboat façade that Chester Nimitz remembered from his childhood. Charles Nimitz was in Fredericksburg during Meusebach’s negotiations with the Comanches that resulted in a treaty that has endured since. What did Charles learn from Meusebach about the steps that led to the treaty? It had to shape his thinking about dealing with a culture totally foreign to a German immigrant.

On February 24, 1885, Chester Nimitz was born in Fredericksburg to his widowed mother Anna Nimitz, his father having died prior to his birth. Chester and his grandfather became very close and remained so even when Chester and his mother moved to Kerrville with his new stepfather, his uncle William Nimitz in 1890. A mere 11 years later, he was accepted into the US Naval Academy at the age of 16 and graduated in 1905. 

He was 56 years old when he arrived at Pearl Harbor and some 44+ months later, Fleet Admiral Nimitz was on board the USS Missouri as the official US Representative to sign the Japanese Instrument of Surrender. 

Two years later Admiral Nimitz retired from the US Navy.

Chester Nimitz considered the teachings and wisdom of his grandfather and as critical to his leadership and naval mindset. 

“The sea-like life itself-is a stern task master. The best way to get along is to learn all you can, then do your best and don’t worry—especially about things over which you have no control.”

Charles Nimitz

Chester Nimitz’ path to become a figure in American and Naval history began with his grandfather’s decision to immigrate to Texas. Many other milestones – a relationship he developed with famed Japanese Admiral Heihachiro Togo, the grounding of the USS Decatur early in his career (and his subsequent court-martial), the saving of a submarine shipmate from drowning, trusting those in his command to face the Japanese at Midway – shaped his journey. 

What was or is your Critical Path to success?