Career
Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts to James Henry and Alice F. (Whalen) Gainard, he enlisted in the United States. Naval Reserve Force on 23 November 1917. Recalled to active duty on 30 July 1941, he commanded the submarine decoy ship United States Ship Big Horn (Association for the Study of Internal Fixation-45) in the Caribbean, then commanded the attack transport United States Ship Bolivar (APA-34) in the Pacific. Illness took Captain Gainard from this duty and he died in the United States. Naval Hospital at San Diego, California, on 23 December 1943.
Gainard was married to Ethel May Wass.
The destroyer United States Ship Gainard (Doctor of Divinity-706) was named in his honor.