Dr Oliver L Austin  Jr was born in 1903 in Tuckahoe  New York  and in 1931  received Harvard University's first PhD Degree in Ornithology As a seasoned sailor whose family owned a large summer home on Cape Cod  Austin felt that he could be of service to the US Navy  and volunteered for sea duty  a somewhat unpopular posting prior to the Battle of Midway when the Japanese were still a formidable presence in the western Pacific Ocean