Kirk graduated from the
United States Naval Academy in the class of 1909. His classmates included
Jesse B. Oldendorf,
Olaf M. Hustveldt, and
Theodore S. Wilkinson. Kirk served in the United States Navy during
World War I and
World War II. During his wartime naval service, Kirk became the U.S. naval attaché in
London (1939 to 1941). He was Director of the
Office of Naval Intelligence from March 1941 but, obstructed and opposed by Rear Admiral
Richmond Turner, he was unable to develop the office into an effective center along the lines of the British Royal Naval
Operational Intelligence Centre (which he had seen while in London). Eventually, he requested a transfer to an Atlantic destroyer squadron. Kirk served as an amphibious commander in the
Mediterranean in 1942 and 1943 (the
Allied invasion of Sicily and
Italy). In addition, he was the senior U.S. naval commander during the
Normandy landings of June 6, 1944 where he commanded the Western Naval Task Force embarked on the
heavy cruiser . He served as Commander U.S. Naval Forces in France during 1944 and 1945. He retired from the Navy as a full
admiral in 1946. He was decorated with
Legion of Honour by the
Provisional Government of the French Republic for his
World War II service. , Rear Admiral
Arthur D. Struble (with binoculars), and Major General
William B. Kean. After retirement from the United States Navy, Kirk embarked on a
diplomatic career, and subsequently served in several United States
embassies abroad, beginning with the combined posting of
U.S. Ambassador to Belgium/
U.S. Envoy to Luxembourg (resident in
Brussels,
Belgium), 1946–49; as
U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union, July 4, 1949, to October 6, 1951; and finally as
United States Ambassador to the Republic of China (Taiwan), June 7, 1962, to January 16, 1963. He served as ambassador to the Soviet Union during the beginning of the
Korean War, and expressed concern that the conflict could escalate to
World War III, comparing it to
proxy conflicts of the 1930s such as the
Spanish Civil War and the
Soviet–Japanese border conflicts which he believed precipitated World War II. Admiral Kirk took his post as the second president of
American Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia, in February 1952. As a former U.S. ambassador to the
Soviet Union, he oversaw the recruitment of emigres in
New York City and
Munich, a group that would later form the core of
Radio Liberty's staff. Less than a year after taking office, Kirk was forced to resign due to poor health. Also in 1952, he served briefly as Director of the
Psychological Strategy Board, which planned for and coordinated government
psychological operations. In 1962 he was portrayed onscreen in the film
The Longest Day by Australian actor
John Meillon.{{cite web Alan Goodrich Kirk died on October 15, 1963, in New York at the age of 74 and was buried at
Arlington National Cemetery.{{cite web ==See also==