Donald Wesley Wulzen
Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy

Donald Wesley Wulzen was born in 1912.

Wulzen graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1935. During World War II, from 10 February 1945 to 4 March 1945, Wulzen was the Commanding Officer of the Fletcher class Destroyer USS Porterfield, which participated in carrier strikes in the Tokyo, Okinawa and Iwo Jima areas. The following month, while still aboard the Porterfield, he again engaged enemy forces in the vicinity of Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands, destroying numerous Japanese aircraft. For this action and the action of the previous month, Wulzen was awarded Silver Stars. He was the Commanding Officer of the USS Warrington from 20 December 1945 through 1 October 1947.

From December 1960 to October 1961, Wulzen was the Commanding Officer of the Spitfire-class cargo ship USS Capriocornus. In 1965, Admiral Wulzen was Commanding Task Force 76 and Commander of the Seventh Fleet's Amphibious Task Force who gave the order to "land the landing force" of five thousand Marines on the beaches of Da Nang, South Vietnam, on 8 March 1965. In addition to his two Silver Stars, he was awarded two Legion of Merit medals. Wulzen retired as a Rear Admiral.

Death and Burial

Rear Admiral Donald Wesley Wulzen died in 1996. He is buried at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, MD.