[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 5 (Tuesday, February 3, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S301-S302]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RETIREMENT OF CAPTAIN JOHN LYNCH

  Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to a man a 
number of us, especially those who are members of the Armed Services 
Committee, have come to know over the past several years, Captain John 
Lynch who retired from the United States Navy during the Christmas 
Recess.
  There are few careers more demanding or rewarding than those in our 
armed forces, and in, 1972, John Lynch joined the Navy. Despite Richard 
Nixon's overwhelming re-election to the Presidency, this was a tension 
charged era in our Nation, we were in the waning days of our 
involvement in Vietnam and most young people were seeking ways to avoid 
military service. Few people were actually entering the

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armed services on their own volition, but John was an exception, and 
his spirit of patriotism and selflessness would serve him well 
throughout his career. In 1974, a young John Lynch donned cap and gown 
and accepted his bachelor's degree in Industrial Education and earned a 
commission as an Ensign. Leaving the comfortable and familiar campus of 
The College of New Jersey, he headed south to the hot, humid weather of 
the Florida panhandle and the vocal, uncompromising, and unforgiving 
Marine Corps Drill Instructors who put the aviation candidates through 
their paces and initiated them into the life of the military.
  By the time then Ensign Lynch graduated from flight school, 
Vietnamization was fully in place and responsibility for prosecuting 
the war was squarely on the shoulders of the Republic of Vietnam. 
Though American military personnel were no longer involved in a 
``shooting war'', the United States was certainly locked into a tense, 
dangerous, and sometimes deadly Cold War with communist nations. During 
this period in our history, the United States and, primarily, the 
former Soviet Union stared at each other over fortified borders, and 
tested each other's defenses and military capabilities. Certainly one 
key element in how this Cold War was prosecuted was anti-submarine 
warfare, where American and Soviet submariners shadowed and evaded each 
other and the ships and aircraft that tried to detect and monitor their 
activities. It was as a part of this nuclear weapons cat and mouse game 
that John Lynch cut his teeth as a young Naval officer and aviator, 
flying operations looking for Soviet submarines.
  As many will remember, the Cold War would heat up from time to time, 
and there was a period in the 1980's when events in the Middle East 
forced the United States to use force to protect our citizens, 
interests, and security. Inflammatory and hateful rhetoric espoused by 
radical leaders, coupled with things such as the infamous ``Line of 
Death'', the bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut, and a campaign 
of terror directed at the United States and her allies that brought 
American military assets to bear in the Mediterranean, and John Lynch 
was among those deployed to that region. As a matter of fact, as the 
Officer in Charge of the Navy's first dual SH-60B helicopter detachment 
aboard the U.S.S. Halyburton as it conducted operations off the coast 
of Libya, John logged nine combat flights in support of the fleet. 
Those experiences demonstrated the competence, composure, and courage 
of John Lynch, the essential qualities of any successful leader, 
whether he or she be in the military, the government, or the private 
sector. They certainly benefitted him, and those who served under him 
in HSL-42, during Operation Desert Shield/Storm.
  Of course, Captain Lynch's career was not all dangerous missions 
flown in the cramped cockpit of Navy helicopters, throughout his 24-
years in the service, he held a number of different assignments that 
promoted Naval rotor wing aviation, including at IBM; Naval Air Station 
North Island, San Diego; Naval Aide and Flag Secretary at Naval Air 
Station Jacksonville; and on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations 
for Surface Warfare. He earned a Master's Degree from the University of 
Southern California while he was stationed in San Diego. He also 
participated in the LEGIS Fellows Program, serving as a Military 
Legislative Assistant to my friend, United States Representative Tillie 
Fowler.
  It was during his almost three year tenure as Director of Senate 
Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense that we came to know 
John Lynch. In that position, the Captain was responsible for being the 
liaison between the Department of Defense and all Senators and their 
staffers, though his primarily interaction was with the members and 
staff of the Armed Services Committee. A gregarious and competent man, 
Captain Lynch was an excellent representative of the Secretary of 
Defense who rendered an important service, helped facilitate positive 
relations between the Pentagon and the Senate, and made certain that 
the positions of the Secretary of Defense and the Executive Branch were 
well represented. He was unquestionably professional and accommodating 
and he set an excellent example for all those who worked for him in the 
Office of Senate Affairs, as well as for his successor.
  After more than 20 years in service to the Navy and the Nation, it 
must be difficult for Captain Lynch to begin a new career, but he can 
look back on his time as a Naval Officer and take great satisfaction 
and pride in a job well done. His efforts helped to assure that the 
United States and her citizens were well protected, and I know Captain 
Lynch must be proud that his eldest son, Shaun, has chosen to follow in 
his father's public spirited footsteps by attending the Naval Academy 
and serving the Nation. I wish John Lynch, his wife Linda, son Shaun, 
and daughters Laurne and Kelly health, happiness, and success in the 
years to come.

                          ____________________