shell casings to weigh it down. The following day, the Japanese pilot received a military burial at sea. An improvised Japanese flag, sewn by one of the ship's bosun's mates, covered the bag holding the man's remains. The ship's chaplain committed the body to the sea and the six pallbearers let it slide overboard, accompanied by a volley of rifle fire. Fahr wrote, "There was still much bitterness on the part of many in the crew, but now, the honorable thing was done." According to Lee Collins, visitor operations director for the Battleship Missouri Memorial, Callaghan said that the ceremony was simply a tribute to "a fellow warrior who had displayed courage and devotion, and who had paid the ultimate sacrifice with his life, fighting for his country." On May 14, 1945, Callaghan passed command of Missouri on to Captain Stuart Murray, who had been a classmate of his at the US Naval Academy. Senior commands In 1946, Callaghan held the rank of rear admiral, and in that year he gave a presentation to the Naval War College on his experience in the Naval Transportation Service before the war. On October 1, 1949, he was appointed the first commander of the Military Sea Transportation Service, which would later become the Military Sealift Command. He was promoted from rear admiral to vice admiral around this time. From 1953 to 1954, during the Korean War, he commanded the Amphibious Force, Pacific Fleet. From 1954 to 1956, he served as commander, US Naval Forces Far East. He then replaced retiring Vice Admiral Francis S. Low as commander of the Western Sea Frontier. He retired from the US Navy at the rank of vice admiral in 1957. Later life Following retirement from military service, Callaghan served as vice president of American Export Lines, and then as chairman of the Maritime Transportation Research Board under the National Academy of Sciences. He would later have a transport ship named after him: . Late in life, Callaghan resided in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Following a stroke, he died on July 8, 1991, at Bethesda Naval Hospital. His first wife, Helen Brunett Callaghan (1896–1970), and second wife, Martha Rawlins Callaghan (1905–1973), predeceased him. He was survived by his third wife, Sarah Duerson Callaghan (1914–2011), and two children, William M. Callaghan Jr. (a retired US Navy rear admiral) and Jane Callaghan Gude (c. 1925–2008), wife of former member of Congress,