in January 1964 and served as Executive Officer until April 1966. He was awarded the Bronze Star for duty during Enterprises first combat tour in Vietnam. In November 1967, he assumed command of in the Pacific Fleet Amphibious Forces. Following an eight-month deployment with the United States Seventh Fleet Amphibious Forces in the Western Pacific, he was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V. He then served as Commanding Officer of USS Enterprise (July 8, 1969 – December 3, 1971). He was then assigned duties as an Assistant to the Director of Naval Program Planning in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations. In 1974, he went on to command Combined Task Force 60 (CTF-60) based at Athens, Greece. In 1975 he came back to the Pentagon to head the Naval Air Operations office. He then headed the Naval Air Systems Command, from which he retired in 1980. Awards and decorations Petersen held the following awards for service in World War II, Korean War and the Vietnam War: Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, Navy Commendation Medal (with "Combat V"), American Defense Service Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, American Campaign Medal, China Service Medal, Army of Occupation Medal (with "Japan" clasp), Philippine Liberation Medal, Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, World War II Victory Medal, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, National Defense Service Medal (with bronze service star), Korean War Service Medal, and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. In 1962 he also received the John J. Montgomery Award. The midshipman library at the University of Nebraska is named in honor of Admiral Petersen. Family Petersen married June Berkshire on February 2, 1946. They had three children: Lynn Elizabeth, Nels Christian, and Forrest Dean. June died on May 8, 1977. He subsequently married Jean Baldwin on June 17, 1978; she had a son, Preston. She died in 2005. Death and burial He died on December 8, 1990, in Georgetown, South Carolina from a brain tumor, at age 68. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. References Notes Bibliography Thompson, Milton O. (1992) At The Edge Of Space: The X-15 Flight Program, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington and London. NASA website source of text "VAdm. Forrest. S. Petersen", pictopia Biographies of U.S. Astronauts 1922 births 1990 deaths American aviators Aviators from Nebraska American test pilots People from Holdrege, Nebraska United States Naval Academy alumni