[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 2 (Thursday, January 4, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S65]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO ADM. ARLEIGH A. BURKE

  Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, today a grateful Nation pays its final 
tribute to a true patriot and hero, Adm. Arleigh A. Burke, who died on 
Monday at the age of 94.
  Admiral Burke will be buried on the grounds of the Naval Academy in 
Annapolis, where he graduated in 1923. His service to the Nation will 
serve as a model to Academy graduates as well as all members of the 
Armed Forces for generations to come.
  Admiral Burke said he was attracted to the Navy because, in his 
words, the rules were ``strict, known and observed.'' His adherence to 
the rules was a matter of personal honor, not bureaucratic timidity. 
When it came to strategy and tactics, he was a bold innovator. During 
World War II, he initiated dramatic changes in naval doctrine, 
developing and implementing tactics relying on the speed and 
maneuverability to destroyers armed with torpedoes to undertake 
offensive operations.
  Admiral Burke's Destroyer Squadron 23, known as the ``Little 
Beavers'' compiled an outstanding combat record in the Pacific in 1943, 
which earned him the Distinguished Service Medal, the Navy Cross, and 
the Legion of Merit. During the assaults on Bougainville and Buka in 
the Solomon Islands, he made two dramatic high speed runs, crippling 
Japanese airfields and sinking a large number of Japanese vessels. 
Reflecting the speed and daring of these maneuvers, Adm. William F. 
Halsey gave him the nickname ``Thirty-One Knot Burke'' after Burke sent 
a message to American transports announcing: ``Stand aside! Stand 
aside! I'm coming through at 31 knots.'' A Presidential Unit Citation 
praised the squadron's ``daring defiance of repeated attacks by hostile 
groups'' and its attacks on the ``enemy's strongly fortified shores to 
carry out sustained bombardments against Japanese coastal defenses and 
render effective cover and fire support for * * * major invasion 
operations * * *.''
  Subsequently he helped plan the invasions of Iwo Jima, Guam, the 
Marianas, and Okinawa. At Okinawa, the ship on which he was serving was 
hit by kamikaze suicide planes, and he was awarded the Silver Star for 
rescuing sailors trapped in a compartment by smoke and fire resulting 
from the attack.
  After the war, he served in the office of the Chief of Naval 
Operations, where he produced an influential report emphasizing the 
vital role of the Navy in the post-war national security establishment. 
Although the inter-service rivalries of the period nearly cost him 
promotion to the grade of admiral, President Truman recognized his 
skills and character and he was promoted.
  During the Korean war, Admiral Burke served as commander of a cruiser 
division and as a member of the Military Armistice Commission. In 1955, 
he was appointed by President Eisenhower and confirmed by the Senate as 
Chief of Naval Operations, a position he filled for an unprecedented 
three terms. He played a key role in the development of antisubmarine 
technology, the Polaris submarine, and strengthening allied navies.
  President Kennedy offered him the opportunity to serve a fourth term 
as CNO, but Admiral Burke declined so that the Navy could have younger 
leadership. After retiring from the Navy, he helped to establish and 
lead the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which has 
provided numerous influential studies on national security matters. He 
also served as president of the Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts 
of America. In January 1977, Admiral Burke was awarded the Nation's 
highest civilian award, the Medal of Freedom, by President Ford. The 
Navy's Arleigh Burke class is named in his honor. When the lead ship, 
the Arleigh Burke, was commissioned in 1991, he gave the crew a simple, 
direct message reflecting his belief in providing the Navy with the 
best equipment and hard training: ``This ship is built to fight,'' he 
said. ``You'd better know how.'' It is most fitting that the crew of 
the lead ship, the Arleigh Burke, will be present to honor him today.
  The current Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Mike Boorda, summed up 
Admiral Burke's career when he said: ``Admiral Arleigh Burke defined 
what it means to be a naval officer: relentless in combat, resourceful 
in command and revered by his crews. He was a sailor's sailor.''
  I wish to express my condolences to his wife of 72 years, Roberta 
``Bobbie'' Gorsuch Burke, and to express my appreciation for his 
devoted service to our Nation.
  I think we can indeed say--all of us can say--that he followed 
military affairs, and that Admiral Burke, in Admiral Boorda's words 
indeed ``* * * defined what it means to be a naval officer: relentless 
in combat, resourceful in command and revered by his crews.'' He was, 
indeed, ``a sailor's sailor.''
  Mr. President, I thank my colleagues for the time, and I will yield 
back any I have.

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