Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1922, he held staff posts and served at sea aboard destroyers, cruisers and battleships. McCracken, who had maintained a home in the Washington area since the 1920s, was a native of Paxton, Ill. He was advanced to the rank of rear admiral on the basis of his combat awards. In addition to the Navy Cross, his medals included two Presidential Unit Citations. He held that post until retiring from active duty Jan. In 1947, he was named to the staff of the Naval Administrative Command of the Central Intelligence Agency. His later assignments included command of the attack transports Lanier and Renville and service with the Bureau of Naval Personnel. McCracken directed the anti-aircraft batteries of his ship and conducted operations involving hazardous missions." After the war and hospitalization, he was promoted to captain. His citation mentioned his "heroism in combat" and said that "while exposed to frequent horizontal and dive bombing attacks by enemy Japanese air forces, Cmdr. He was awarded the Navy Cross, the service's highest award for valor except for the Medal of Honor. He was liberated from his Manila prison by American forces in February 1945. McCracken was imprisoned by the Japanese. After the surrender of Allied forces around Manila, Adm. The Mindanao's crew operated 12-inch mortars near Corregidor. After the outbreak of war with Japan, the gunboat operated out of Manila Bay until April 1942, when the officers and crew joined depleted Philippine and American units ashore. After serving out of Hong Kong on the Pearl River patrol, it was ordered to the Philippines in December 1941. In June 1941, he left a staff job in Washington to join the old Asiatic Fleet as commanding officer of the river gunboat Mindanao. Alan Reed McCracken, 91, a retired Navy rear admiral who won the Navy Cross and spent 33 months as a prisoner of war during World War II, died of a heart ailment Nov.
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