[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 24, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H1682-H1684]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO ADMIRAL WILLIAM F. BRINGLE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Cunningham) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I am going to do a tribute to an admiral 
that we lost in San Diego, a four-star.
  But I would also say, and I would say excluding what the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) has said, in 8 years, this is the most 
laughable oxymoron discussion I have heard in 8 years on the budget 
about saving Social Security and Medicare. I would like my colleague 
sometime to explain how the President takes $9 billion out of Medicare 
and then puts in 15 percent.
  So we will have that debate tomorrow. But I do not disagree with the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm) on a lot of the issues. But the 
other group, I am sorry, they are either naive or they just state their 
own opinion as fact and they are factually challenged.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk about Admiral William F. Bringle. 
He was a very good friend of mine. And he is like Will Rogers, that he 
is the kind of guy that never met a man that he

[[Page H1683]]

did not like, for anyone that met Admiral ``Bush'' Bringle liked him.
  Those of us that knew him would call him a leader's leader. Many of 
the aviators I have talked to and the admirals and the flag officers 
said that he was a pilot of all pilots. He was heroic in World War II, 
in Korea, in Vietnam. And one does not reach being a four-star admiral 
without some significance, Mr. Speaker.
  Admiral Bringle passed away on Friday. We called him ``Bush'' 
Bringle. He had wavy, black bushy hair, and that is where he got his 
call sign that his wife Donnie gave to him. He won the Navy Cross, this 
Nation's second highest award. He won DFCs, with five different stars 
for five DFCs, Legion of Merit, and on and on and on.
  His career spanned 35 years, Mr. Speaker. Retired astronaut Wally 
Schirra, who lives in his district in Rancho Santa Fe, said, ``most 
become political and lose sight of the fact that the rest of the people 
have to look up to them.'' And that signifies Admiral Bush Bringle.
  Vice Admiral Stockdale, best aviator he ever knew, I draw deference 
with Admiral Stockdale on that, but Admiral Stockdale was planning 
missions over Vietnam just before he was shot down with Bush Bringle. 
Admiral Stockdale said that ``he was born for the profession that he 
served in for over 35 years, and that is a country both at peace and at 
war, and he served us well.''
  And he was commander of CV Division 7 in 1964, commander of 7th Fleet 
in 1967, commander of Pacific Fleet in 1970. He was in charge of nine 
aircraft carriers, 1,600 combat and support aircraft, and 85,000 
military. Admiral Bernard Clarey: ``Bush Bringle's leadership and style 
is just the Bringle touch.''
  Enlisted and officers alike respected and liked Admiral Bringle 
because of his leadership. Vice Admiral David Richardson called Admiral 
Bringle ``one of the most admired naval officers and aviators dating 
since prior to World War II.'' His leadership was derived by example. 
He was a native of Covington, Tennessee. He was an Annapolis grad.
  To tell my colleagues the kind of guy that he was, he played 
football. I think he was a whopping 170 pounds. He played football for 
Annapolis. And when he was playing against William & Mary, during the 
first play, one of his opponents broke his hip. That gentleman is now 
Walter Zable, who lives in Bush Bringle's district, and they became the 
best of friends.
  He went through Pensacola, Florida in flight training and became an 
aviator in 1940, before most of us were born. He was in the Allied 
invasion in southern France, the Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Korea. 
He was CO of the Hornet and the Kitty Hawk and commandant of midshipmen 
in Annapolis.
  After his assignments with 7th fleet, Admiral Bringle was promoted 
with his fourth star. The last 3 years he served as U.S. Naval forces 
in Europe. Admiral Bush Bringle loved his country. But I want to tell 
my colleagues, he always spoke highly of his first love, not this 
country but his wife Donnie, his daughter Lynn, and his fighter pilot 
son Don Bringle.
  Memorial services will be Monday at North Island Air Station in the 
chapel, and I wish those that are in San Diego can attend, Mr. Speaker.
  Godspeed, Admiral Bringle, to you and your family.
  Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record the following newspaper 
article:

Adm. William Bringle Dies; Called an Aviator's Aviator--Colleagues Say 
                 He Kept Common Touch During His Career

                           (By Jack Williams)

       Adm. William F. ``Bush'' Bringle, a heroic World War II 
     aviator who kept the common touch in rising to commander of 
     naval air forces in the Pacific Fleet and in Europe, died of 
     pneumonia Friday. He was 85.
       Adm. Bringle, who had lived in Rancho Santa Fe for the past 
     20 years, died at Scripps Memorial Hospital-La Jolla.
       Known as ``Bush'' because of his thick curly hair, Adm. 
     Bringle distinguished himself as an aviator's aviator, as one 
     colleague called him, while rising through the officers' 
     ranks.
       In World War II, he took part in some pivotal engagements 
     in the Pacific and European theaters, earning such medals as 
     the Navy Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross with Five gold 
     stars and the French Croix de Guerre.
       He also received the equivalent of three Legions of Merit 
     in a naval career that spanned more than 35 years.
       ``Bush was the only four-star admiral I know who was loved 
     by everybody in the Navy,'' said retired astronaut and Navy 
     Capt. Wally Schirra. ``Most become political and lose sight 
     of the fact that the rest of the people have to look up to 
     them.''
       ``Bush was one we all liked, a dear friend of everyone in 
     the U.S. Navy.''
       Retired Vice Adm. James Stockdale remembered Adm. Bringle 
     as ``an accomplished aviator, a natural, and he fell into the 
     very profession he was built for--which was command at sea in 
     time of war.''
       Added Stockdale: ``He's one of my better all-time Navy all-
     stars.''
       As a commander of Carrier Division 7  beginning in 1964, 
     Adm. Bringle was involved in the early stages of the 
     Vietnam War. He was promoted in 1967 to commander of 7th 
     Fleet naval air forces and in 1970 to commander of Pacific 
     Fleet naval air forces.
       In the latter role, based at North Island Naval Air 
     Station, Adm. Bringle was in charge of a force that included 
     nine aircraft carriers, some 1,600 combat and support 
     aircraft and about 85,000 military personnel and civil 
     servants.
       He established sophisticated training facilities for pilots 
     and maintenance personnel at Miramar Naval Air Station, 
     paving the way for introduction of the F-14 fighter plane.
       Adm. Bringle's Vietnam-era command was characterized by 
     what Adm. Bernard A. Clarey called at the time ``the 
     legendary Bringle touch.'' Clarey also described Adm. Bringle 
     as an aviator's aviator, stemming from his extraordinary 
     rapport with fliers of all ranks and ages.
       Stockdale recalled joining Adm. Bringle in planning an 
     attack on a city near Hanoi in the Vietnam War. ``It was a 
     piece of beauty the way he was able to coordinate it and 
     build confidence in the joint effort.'' Stockdale said.
       Another Navy contemporary, retired Vice Adm. David 
     Richardson, called Adm. Bringle ``one of the most admired 
     naval officers and aviators dating from World War II.''
       Said Richardson: ``His leadership was derived from the 
     examples he set and the way he handled people. And people 
     responded beautifully to his leadership.''
       In 1961, as commander of the fledgling Kitty Hawk, Adm. 
     Bringle took the supercarrier on its maiden voyage from the 
     East Coast to its home base of San Diego. At more than 1,047 
     feet in length, the Kitty Hawk became the largest ship to 
     enter San Diego harbor up to that time.
       Adm. Bringle was a native of Covington, Tenn. He graduated 
     in 1937 from the U.S. Naval Academy, where he starred as a 
     speedy, sure-handed 170-pound end in football.
       Hip and knee injuries played havoc with his football 
     career, and decades later he underwent knee and hip 
     replacements.
       In his junior year at Annapolis, on the first play of a 
     game with William & Mary, Adm. Bringle suffered a broken hip 
     on what he considered a ``cheap shot,'' a crack-back block.
       Many decades later, while attending a cocktail party in San 
     Diego, he met the man who claimed to be responsible for 
     his pain: former William & Mary athlete Walter Zable, co-
     founder of Cubic Corp.
       ``They shook hands and became great friends,'' said Donald 
     Bringle, Adm. Bringle's son.
       Adm. Bringle underwent flight training at Pensacola, Fla., 
     and was designated a naval aviator in December 1940.
       Three years later, after flying observation and scouting 
     patrols over the South Atlantic, he formed the Navy's first 
     observation fighting squadron, VOF-1.
       He received the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism in 
     action against enemy forces during the Allied invasion of 
     southern France in August 1944.
       His role in the invasion also earned him the French Croix 
     de Guerre.
       After the European action, Adm. Bringle led his squadron on 
     close air support missions in the Pacific campaigns at Leyte, 
     Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
       His squadron also identified targets for naval gunfire, and 
     its success brought Adm. Bringle a Distinguished Flying Cross 
     with gold stars, signifying five additional awards of that 
     medal.
       When the Korean War broke out in June 1950, Adm. Bringle 
     was serving in Annapolis as aide to the superintendent of the 
     Naval Academy. He resumed sea duty in 1953 as executive 
     officer of the carrier Hornet.
       Adm. Bringle became commandant of midshipmen at the Naval 
     Academy in 1958, his last assignment before taking command of 
     the Kitty Hawk.
       During his last tour in San Diego, Adm. Bringle was honored 
     by the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce military affairs 
     committee and the San Diego Council of the Navy League for 
     his contributions to the community.
       The Navy League award came with a leather golf bag of red, 
     white and blue design.
       After his assignments with the 7th Fleet and the Pacific 
     Fleet, Adm. Bringle was promoted to four-star admiral. His 
     last three years of active duty were as chief of U.S. naval 
     forces in Europe, based in London.
       As a Rancho Santa Fe resident. Adm. Bringle enjoyed golf 
     until his late 70s, when he underwent his second knee 
     replacement. ``He kept his competitive fires going by playing 
     tennis into his late '50s,'' his son said.

[[Page H1684]]

       Adm. Bringle was a member of the exclusive Early and 
     Pioneer Naval Aviators Association, an honor society of some 
     200 members.
       He is survived by his wife, Donnie Godwin Bringle; a 
     daughter, Lynn Riegle of Thompson's Station, Tenn.; and a 
     son, Donald of San Diego.
       Memorial services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday at the 
     North Island Naval Air Station chapel. Donations are 
     suggested to the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association Fund, 
     Alumni House, King George Street, Annapolis, MD 21402.
                                  ____


        Admiral William F. Bringle, United States Navy, Retired

       William Floyd Bringle was born in Covington, Tennessee, on 
     April 23, 1913. He attended Byars-Hall High School in 
     Covington, and Columbia Military Academy, Columbia, 
     Tennessee, and entered the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, 
     Maryland, on appointment from his native state on July 6, 
     1933. As a Midshipman he was a member of the Naval Academy 
     Football Team (N* award). He was graduated and commissioned 
     Ensign on June 3, 1937, and through subsequent advancement 
     attained the rank of Rear Admiral, to date from January 1, 
     1964; Vice Admiral, to date from November 6, 1967 and 
     Admiral, to date from July 1, 1971.
       After graduation from the Naval Academy in June 1937, he 
     was assigned to the USS SARATOGA until February 1940, with 
     engineering, communications and gunnery duties on board that 
     carrier, operating in the Pacific. In April 1940 he reported 
     to the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, for flight 
     training, and was designated Naval Aviator in December of 
     that year. Detached from Pensacola in January 1941, he joined 
     the USS MILWAUKEE, and served as Senior Aviator on board that 
     cruiser until December 1942. During the eight months to 
     follow, he served as Commanding Officer of Cruiser Scouting 
     Squadron TWO.
       From September to November 1943 he had training at the 
     Naval Air Station, Melbourne, Florida, and in December formed 
     the first Observation Fighting Squadron (VOF-1) during World 
     War II. He commanded that squadron throughout the period of 
     hostilities. For outstanding service while in command of that 
     squadron during the invasion of Southern France and Pacific 
     operations in the vicinity of Sakishima, Nansei Shoto 
     invasions of Luzon and Iwo Jima and operations in the 
     Inkinawa and Philippine Islands areas, he was awarded the 
     Navy Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross with Gold Star in 
     lieu of five additional awards and the Air Medal with Gold 
     Stars in lieu of sixteen similar awards.
       He is also entitled to the Ribbon with Star for, and 
     facsimiles of, the Navy Unit Commendation awarded the USS 
     MARCUS ISLAND and USS WAKE ISLAND and their Air Groups for 
     heroic service in the Western Carolines, Leyte, Luzon, and 
     Okinawa Gunto Areas. He was also awarded the Croix de Guerre 
     with Silver Star by the Government of France for heroism 
     while commanding Observation Fighting Squadron ONE during the 
     Allied Invasion of Southern France in August 1944 before he 
     moved his squadron to the Pacific.
       After the Japanese surrender, from October 1945 until 
     October 1946 he was Air Group Commander of Group SEVENTEEN, 
     and when detached he returned to the Naval Academy for duty 
     at Battalion Officer. He remained there until June 1948, then 
     for two years was Air Group Commander of Carrier Air Group 
     ONE, based on the USS TARAWA and USS PHILIPPINE SEA. Again at 
     the Naval Academy, he served from June 1950 until July 1952 
     as a member of the Superintendent's Staff. The next year he 
     spent as a student at the Naval War College, Newport, and 
     from July 1953 to December 1954 served as Executive Officer 
     of the USS HORNET (CVG-17).
       In January 1955 he reported to the Navy Department, 
     Washington, D.C., for duty as Head of the Operational 
     Intelligence Branch in the Office of the Chief of Naval 
     Operations, and on August 24, 1955, was transferred to duty 
     as Naval Aide to the Secretary of the Navy. He commanded 
     Heavy Attack Wing TWO from August 1957 until June 1958, after 
     which he had duty until August 1960 as Commandant of 
     Midshipmen at the Naval Academy.
       Ordered to the USS KITTY HAWK, building at the New York 
     Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey, he served as 
     Prospective Commanding Officer until she was placed in 
     commission, April 29, 1961, then as Commanding Officer. In 
     June 1962 he was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Naval 
     Operations, Navy Department, where he served as Assistant 
     Director of the Aviation Plans Division until January 1963, 
     then was designated Director of that division. On April 6, 
     1964, he assumed command of Carrier Division SEVEN. ``For 
     exceptionally meritorious service as Commander Attack Carrier 
     Striking Force SEVENTH Fleet and as Commander Task Group 
     SEVENTY-SEVEN POINT SIX from March 29 to June 29, 1965, and 
     as Commander Task Force SEVENTY-SEVEN from May 26 through 
     June 27, 1965 . . .'' he was awarded the Legion of Merit with 
     Combat ``V''.
       On July 12, 1965 he became Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans 
     and Operations to the Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet 
     and was awarded a Gold Star in lieu of the Second Legion of 
     Merit for exercising ``. . . forceful supervision and 
     outstanding direction over each of the many diverse and 
     complex operations conducted by the Pacific Fleet . . .'' In 
     November 1967 he became Commander SEVENTH Fleet and for 
     ``exceptionally meritorious service . . . was awarded the 
     Distinguished Service Medal and Gold Star in lieu of a Second 
     similar award for combat operations in Southeast Asia during 
     the Vietnam conflict.
       In March 1970 he became Commander Naval Air Force, U.S. 
     Pacific Fleet, with headquarters at the Naval Air Station, 
     North Island, San Diego, California. For ``. . . his 
     distinguished and dedicated service . . .'' in that capacity, 
     from March 1970 to May 1971, he was awarded a Gold Star in 
     lieu of the Third Legion of Merit. In July 1971 he reported 
     as Commander in Chief, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe and Naval 
     Component Commander of the U.S. European Command with 
     additional duty as United States Commander Eastern Atlantic. 
     ``For exceptionally meritorious service . . . from July 1971 
     to August 1973 . . .'' he was awarded a Gold Star in lieu of 
     the Third Distinguished Service Medal. The citation further 
     states in part:
       ``. . . Admiral Bringle displayed inspirational leadership, 
     outstanding executive ability and exceptional foresight in 
     directing the complex and manifold operations of his command 
     in the execution of United States national policy . . .''
       Returning to the United States, Admiral Bringle had 
     temporary duty at Headquarters Naval District, Washington, 
     D.C. from September 1973 and on January 1, 1974 was 
     transferred to the Retired List of the U.S. Navy.
       In addition to the Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Medal 
     with two Gold Stars, Legion of Merit with two Gold Stars and 
     Combat ``V'', Distinguished Flying Cross with five Gold 
     Stars, Air Medal with sixteen Gold Stars, the Navy Unit 
     Commendation Ribbon with two stars, and the French Croix de 
     Guerre with Silver Star, Admiral Bringle has the American 
     Defense Service Medal; American Campaign Medal; European-
     African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one operation 
     star; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with four operation 
     stars; World War II Victory Medal; Navy Occupation Service 
     Medal, Europe Clasp; China Service Medal; National Defense 
     Service Medal with bronze star; Armed Forces Expeditionary 
     Medal with two stars, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal; 
     and the Philippine Liberation Ribbon.
       Married to the former Donnie Godwin of Coronado, 
     California, Admiral Bringle has two children, Rosalind 
     Bringle Thorne and Donald Godwin Bringle. His official 
     residence is 1639 Peabody Street, Memphis, Tennessee, the 
     home of his mother.

                          ____________________