[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 147 (Thursday, October 15, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2210-E2211]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING FREDERICK H. KORTH

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. KEN E. BENTSEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 15, 1998

  Mr. BENTSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the memory of an 
extraordinary man, Frederick H. Korth, who passed away at the age of 89 
on September 14, 1998 at his home in El Paso. This remarkable man will 
truly be missed.
  I first met Fred when I was an aide to former Congressman Ron 
Coleman, who represented El Paso, Texas. Fred lived a long and good 
life. Not only can Fred's life chart the course of American history, 
his dedication to public service in the military as an officer and as a 
civilian make him ``present at the creation'' of the ``American 
Century.''
  Frederick H. Korth was the embodiment of pubic service. When his 
country called, Fred Korth answered. He was born in Yorktown, Texas, 
graduated from the University of Texas, and received a law degree from 
George Washington University. During World War II, Fred Korth served in 
the Air Transport Command of the Army Air Force. After the war, he was 
a civilian deputy counselor to the Department of the Army. And in 1952, 
President Harry S. Truman appointed Fred Korth to be the Assistant 
Secretary of the Army for Manpower Reserves.
  Fred Korth helped shape our national defense throughout the height of 
the Cold War. In 1961, President John K. Kennedy asked Fred Korth to 
succeed John B. Connally as Secretary of the Navy. It was here that 
Fred Korth was a part of history in two respects. During those 13 dark 
days in October 1962, the U.S. Navy stood their ground, marking the 
line between good and evil by staring down Soviet freighters carrying 
nuclear weapons to Cuba.
  While Secretary of the Navy, Fred Korth also fought to upgrade our 
Navy's ships. He saw that nuclear powered ships were the future and 
that they would be the most effective way to transport our troops and 
defend our borders. Fred was not successful in making this change at 
first, but time proved him right. After serving as Secretary of the 
Navy, Fred Korth spent the next 36 years practicing law with his son in 
Washington, D.C. Last December, he moved back to Texas.
  Fred will be missed by his family and his country. He represents a 
dying breed of American: sophisticated in both military and civilian 
life and one who was always able to bring integrity and honor to public 
service.
  At this point Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to enter into the 
Record remarks of Fred's son, Fritz-Alan Korth, and the Secretary of 
the Navy and fellow Texan, John H. Dalton.

  Remarks by Fritz-Alan Korth at the Memorial Service for Fred Korth, 
                           September 16, 1998

       We are gathered here today to pay a final tribute to 
     George. Now before you all get to thinking that you are in 
     the wrong place, or that I am in the wrong place, let me 
     explain that my father, Frederick Herman Korth was known by 
     many names. In addition to George, he was Dad, Boppa, Mr. 
     Secretary, Fred, Teddy, and some names that I cannot repeat 
     in this hallowed place. Although it may surprise many of you 
     who knew Dad as a yellow dog Democrat, his parents were 
     staunch Republicans, as were many German-American immigrants 
     in south Texas. The nickname Teddy was given to him by his 
     father, who was a strong supporter of Teddy Roosevelt as a 
     delegate to the 1912 Republican Convention.
       Dad and I were very close over the years and when I was in 
     high school he and I were sitting around the swimming pool at 
     Azleway, our family home, and decided jointly that Dad was 
     too formal for such good friends, but that Fred was not 
     appropriate either. At that time the expression among us 
     highschoolers when something was good, it was ``real 
     George'', so we settled on the nickname George, which I have 
     called him ever since, which does lead to some confusion. 
     When Dad was in Providence Hospital here and I called him 
     George, one of his nurses said ``Are you George, Jr.?'' and I 
     said ``No, and he is not George, Sr., either''. It was an 
     amazingly warm and close relationship.
       When Charlotte, Melissa, and I met with the doctor to get 
     the results of his last series of tests, we came back to the 
     house and he asked me about our visit to the doctor and I 
     gave him the diagnosis and prognosis that there was very 
     little that could be done and that he had a limited time 
     left. He looked at me and said, ``Well, the Bible only 
     promises me three score and ten years and I beat the heck out 
     of that, haven't I!'' (As you may surmise, that is why the 
     90th Psalm was included in the services today). Last 
     Wednesday we celebrated Dad's 89th birthday. A friend of mine 
     and I were discussing the definition of class and he offered 
     his interpretation that class was being at ease no matter 
     what situation you find yourself in. I believe that this 
     statement was a good example of Dad's class.
       When Dad was Secretary of the Navy he had flown down to 
     Guantanamo Bay to have Thanksgiving lunch with the Marines 
     and sailors during the Cuban missile crisis. When they 
     returned they landed at Patuxent Naval

[[Page E2211]]

     Base south of Washington because of bad weather. They then 
     took a helicopter back to the Pentagon. Dad was seated next 
     to the pilot and his marine aide and Naval aide were seated 
     behind them. There was a red light flashing on the dash. When 
     they landed in rough weather at the helopad at the Pentagon, 
     the Marine aide said ``Boss, you sure were cool.'' Dad said, 
     ``Why do you say that, Ed?'' and he said, ``Earlier when the 
     red light was flashing and you leaned to the pilot and said 
     `is something broke?' and he said `get your vest' and you 
     pulled out a cigarette and calmly smoked it.'' Showing his 
     honesty, and not needing to enhance his reputation falsely, 
     Dad said ``I leaned over and asked him can I smoke?'' and he 
     said ``Be my guest.''
       Dad was proud of all his children, grandchildren and great 
     grandchildren, but probably a special feeling for my younger 
     son, James Frederick, who was commissioned as an officer in 
     the Marine Corps last year. Last week at Dad's birthday James 
     had purchased a gift for him from the ship's store on a ship 
     which he had been on for maneuvers and enclosed his note with 
     this comment: ``I don't know if I have told you how proud I 
     am of your accomplishments in your life. Well, I am proud. 
     However, not nearly as proud as I am to call you my 
     grandfather. I love you very much. Love always, your 
     grandson, Lt. James Frederick Korth (USMC).''
       I know that we are all proud to call Dad our husband, our 
     father, our friend.
       So long George. You have been ``real George'' for 89 years.

Remarks as Delivered by the Hon. John H. Dalton, Secretary of the Navy, 
     Former Navy Secretary Fred Korth Memorial Service, St. John's 
             Cathedral, Washington, DC, September 24, 1998


                     ALL QUIET ON THE POTOMAC TODAY

       Good Morning. I am honored to be here today, and to have 
     this opportunity to celebrate a life, together with Fred 
     Korth's friends and family.
       I feel a kinship for Fred, here in this place of worship, 
     where his soul is revered by God. If he was in town on 
     Sunday, and able, he was always here. I feel a kinship for 
     him as a Secretary of the Navy. I serve as the 70th; he was 
     the 57th. I was a Midshipman at Annapolis during his tenure. 
     His portrait hangs in the same corridor I walk each morning 
     in the Pentagon, where his memory as a courageous public 
     servant is revered by those who serve in the Navy and Marine 
     Corps.
       And, I must admit that I feel a kinship for Fred Korth as a 
     Texan, who braved more than I, by wearing his Western hat in 
     downtown Washington.
       I sometimes reflect on the awesome privilege I have to 
     serve as Secretary of the Navy. When I do, I always return to 
     the same humbling memory of those who served before me. There 
     are those who have done so that stand out as men of vision, 
     intellect and virtue. Those who stand above those, in my 
     view, are those great public servants that demonstrated all 
     of those qualities during momentous times of great action and 
     events in our Nation's history.
       Fred Korth was one of those great public servants, at one 
     of those critical junctures in our history. He was called by 
     President Kennedy at a time when his service would mean great 
     sacrifice for his family . . . and he responded positively at 
     a time when the Navy would be tested at the peak of the Cold 
     War. His calm demeanor and his relentless drive to always do 
     the right thing earned him controversy and tested his 
     character. Fred passed the test, and those of us who were 
     fortunate to know him are not surprised.
       The impact of Fred Korth's character in high public office 
     could not have come at a better time . . . His was a Navy 
     that shaped the positive outcome of the Cuban Missile Crisis; 
     a Navy that broke revolutionary ground for a nuclear-powered 
     surface and submarine fleet that was building from the keel 
     up; and a Navy whose Sailors, Marines and civilians gained 
     immensely from his care for their well-being. It is, today, a 
     Navy-Marine Corps Team that still benefits from his legacy of 
     total devotion to his Service and its people.
       Fred's memory, for me, will forever be an example of that 
     total devotion, long after he left public office. He 
     personified that rare devotion to Country, family and God 
     which each of us felt, hope to emulate, and will retain long 
     after this day.
       I drove over the Potomac last night, as I do every night, 
     and as I reflected on Fred's life and what all of us would 
     miss, I recalled a poem by Ethel Lynn Beers:

     ''All quiet on the Potomac tonight,
     No sound save the rush of the river,
     While soft falls the dew on the face of the dead--
     The picket's off duty forever.''

       All is indeed quiet along the Potomac today, and Fred is 
     off duty. But his legacy remains loud and clear for us, the 
     living, where he remains on duty in our hearts, hereafter.
       Thank you, Shipmate. Farewell, Fred. Fair winds and 
     following seas, and God bless you.

     

                          ____________________