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A fact from Thomas Darden appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 1 June 2010 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
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The nationalwide VA grave locator (http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/j2ee/servlet/NGL_v1) lists Darden as a Captain. It would be extraordinary for a flag officer to be mis-labeled! I suspect the incorrect rank of "Rear Admiral" came from one of the references in the main article.--S. Rich 17:26, 1 July 2010 (UTC)
Government documents from the American Samoan executive office list him as a Rear Admiral when he passed away. Two reliable sources lists him as a Rear Admiral, including one from the official Samoan historian. I will go with him over a database that could very well have errors. かんぱい！ Scapler (talk) 18:51, 1 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]
This source, for what it is worth, http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/united-states-bureau-of-the-census/official-register-of-the-united-states-volume-1947-tin/page-12-official-register-of-the-united-states-volume-1947-tin.shtml -- lists him as a Captain. Again, it would be absolutely astounding that a flag officer be listed with Graves Registration (VA) as a captain. I'm wondering if the Samoan's promoted him because they preferred being governed by an Admiral rather than captain. Indeed, they list him as a captain when he was governor. And here is more weight to my argument -- the navy was undergoing considerable downsizing after WWII when he was governor. I strongly doubt that an admiral would be put into that position at that time. (Indeed, the Samoa documents show him as a Captain at the time.) Well, if he was subsequently promoted, then what was he doing as an admiral after he left Samoa? No. His promotion is an error. BTW, I was looking at Ft. Rosecrans because my grandfather & mother are buried there and I hope the VA can plant me there as well someday.--S. Rich 22:53, 1 July 2010 (UTC)
The sources do indeed list him as a Captain while governor, however, they also state that upon his death, he had become a Rear Admiral. かんぱい！ Scapler (talk) 00:18, 2 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]
However, since we seem to have conflicting reliable sources, I will defer to you, as he was certainly a Captain up until the end of his career. I cannot find the date of his promotion, but it was probably mostly ceremonial and did not last long anyway. Since you have the more concrete sourcing, let's change it. かんぱい！ Scapler (talk) 00:35, 2 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Scapler, you are a gentleman or lady of the highest caliber. Thank you for your gracious and helpful editing efforts. It is possible that Darden stayed in the Naval Reserves after WWII and achieved the rank of Rear Admiral, but such officers usually leave behind some legacy which is discoverable through Google. I am sure there was no such ceremonial promotion. All flag officer promotions require approval by Congress. In any case, I've sent an email to the American Samoa Government people asking for any info they have. Let's see what they come up with. (If you want to contact me directly, use my wiki username at aol.com.) And once we figure this out for sure, let's delete this discussion. Kanpai! --S. Rich 02:20, 2 July 2010 (UTC)
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