Edwin John Roland served as the twelfth Commandant

Commandant of the Coast Guard

The Commandant of the United States Coast Guard is the highest ranking member of the United States Coast Guard. The Commandant is normally the only four-star Admiral in the Coast Guard and is appointed for a four-year term by the President of the United States upon confirmation by the United...

 of the United States Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

 from 1962 to 1966.

He was born in Buffalo, New York

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

. Growing up in Buffalo, he attended Canisius High School

Canisius High School

Canisius High School is a Roman Catholic Jesuit private high school for young men. Canisius located at 1180 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, New York, United States, just north of the Delaware Avenue Historic District. Founded in 1870, the school has historical ties to Canisius College...

 and later Canisius College

Canisius College

Canisius College is a private Roman Catholic college in Buffalo, New York, United States. The college was founded in 1870 by members of the Society of Jesus from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. The college is one of 28 institutions in the Association of Jesuit Colleges and...

 in the city. He graduated from the United States Coast Guard Academy

United States Coast Guard Academy

Founded in 1876, the United States Coast Guard Academy is the military academy of the United States Coast Guard. Located in New London, Connecticut, it is the smallest of the five federal service academies...

 in New London, Connecticut

New London, Connecticut

New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....

 in 1929. While a cadet

Cadet

A cadet is a trainee to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. The term comes from the term "cadet" for younger sons of a noble family.- Military context :...

 at the Academy, he served as captain of the award-winning football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 squad, also playing on the baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 and basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 squads. Following graduation from the Academy, he assumed command of target observation and repair in the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

, and cutter target practice off the Atlantic coast. From 1932 to 1934, he served as gunnery officer

Gun

A gun is a muzzle or breech-loaded projectile-firing weapon. There are various definitions depending on the nation and branch of service. A "gun" may be distinguished from other firearms in being a crew-served weapon such as a howitzer or mortar, as opposed to a small arm like a rifle or pistol,...

 and navigator

Navigator

A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation. The navigator's primary responsibility is to be aware of ship or aircraft position at all times. Responsibilities include planning the journey, advising the Captain or aircraft Commander of estimated timing to...

 aboard the USCGC Escanaba (WPG-77)

USCGC Escanaba (WPG-77)

The United States Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba was an "A" class cutter stationed on the Great Lakes from her commissioning in 1932 until the start of US military involvement in World War II in 1941...

, based out of Grand Haven, Michigan

Grand Haven, Michigan

Grand Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is the county seat of Ottawa County. Grand Haven is located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Grand River, for which it is named. As of the 2010 census, Grand Haven had a population of 10,412. It is part of the...

. Returning to the Coast Guard Academy, he served until 1938 as an instructor in physics

Physics

Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

 and mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

, and as Assistant Coach of the football, basketball, and baseball teams. During the summer of 1936, he commanded the summer practice cruise, participating in the evacuation of Spanish Civil War

Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

 refugees.

From 1944 to 1946, he served as the first commanding officer

Commanding officer

The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...

 of the USCGC Mackinaw (WAGB-83)

USCGC Mackinaw (WAGB-83)

USCGC Mackinaw was a vessel specifically designed for ice breaking duties on the Great Lakes. LR number: 6119534Mackinaws design was based on the Wind class of Coast Guard icebreakers, but the cutter was built wider and longer than the other Wind class vessels so that her draft would be shallower...

, the first heavy-duty icebreaker ever built for the Great Lakes

Great Lakes

The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...

. From 1950 to 1954, he served as Commandant of Cadets at the Coast Guard Academy. In 1962, after serving briefly as Vice-Commandant

Vice Commandant of the United States Coast Guard

The Vice Commandant serves as the second-in-command of the United States Coast Guard.Since 1929, 27 officers have served as Vice Commandant, or, as the position was referred to before 1972, Assistant Commandant. The title of the position was changed effective October 2, 1972, pursuant to P.L....

, he was appointed Commandant of the Coast Guard by President

President

A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...

 John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....

.

Following his retirement as Coast Guard Commandant, he moved to Old Lyme, Connecticut

Old Lyme, Connecticut

Old Lyme is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Main Street of the town is a historic district. The town has long been a popular summer resort and artists' colony...

, and died at the age of 80 while vacationing in St. Petersburg, Florida

St. Petersburg, Florida

St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...

.