Rear Admiral Draper Kauffman reviews an honor guard at his retirement ceremony in 1973. Originally refused a commission because of poor eyesight, Kauffman later went on to become America’s first frogman and a leading innovator in underwater naval warfare.
If it wasn’t for the fact that he had poor eyesight, Draper Kauffman would probably be remembered as just another Navy man who fought long and honorably during World War II. Yet, back in 1933, when he was refused a commission after graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, his eyesight seemed to have destroyed his life-long dream of following in the footsteps of his father, Vice Admiral James L. Kauffman.
Draper’s timing had been unfortunate. During the Depression of the 1930s, Congress enacted a law permitting only half of naval graduates to be commissioned. Any minor disability was enough to get the graduate booted out of the academy – which is precisely what happened to Kauffman.
Yet today he is recalled as the man who launched one of the most dynamic fighting groups in the Navy – the UDTs (Underwater Demolition Teams), or “frogmen,” whose achievements are celebrated at the UDT/SEALS Museum on A1A, just south of the Indian River county line.
Read the entire article in the January 2005 issue
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