Rear Admiral William L. Erdmann spent 36 years in the U.S. Navy building a reputation as a hard-nosed officer with a magnificent temper and a monumental self-confidence. From Coronado (where the enlisted men's beach was named Erdmann Beach) to Guam (where he stirred up a superb row by refusing to supply the Governor with side boys) he was known as "The Big E." His strapping (6 ft. 4 in., 230 lbs.) frame never seemed to stop swelling with rage when he uncoiled from behind a desk to bawl out some wilting subordinate. But last week the spit-and-polish...
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