Dixie Kiefer's reputation for durability began at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he broke an ankle and shattered a kneecap while playing football. After anti-submarine duty in World War I, he became a pioneer of naval aviation and had an elbow shattered by a plane that buzzed him as a joke. Kiefer's first World War II assignment was executive officer of the carrier Yorktown. He earned the Distinguished Service Medal at the Coral Sea and the...