[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 30 (Friday, March 15, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1971-S1972]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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THE 99th BIRTHDAY OF REAR ADMIRAL ELLIOTT BOWMAN STRAUSS, USN (Retired)

 Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on the 
occasion of the 99th birthday of a true American patriot Rear Admiral 
Elliott Bowman Strauss, USN (Ret.). His lifetime of extraordinary 
service to this great Nation has been an inspiration to us all.
  Elliott Bowman Strauss was born in Washington, DC on March 15, 1903, 
son of the late Admiral Joseph Strauss, USN, and Mrs. Mary Sweitzer 
Strauss, and grandson of the late Brigadier General N. B. Sweitzer, 
USA. He attended Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, CT, and entered the 
U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, on appointment at large in 
June 1919. He was graduated and commissioned Ensign on June 7, 1923, 
and subsequently progressed in rank to that of Captain, to date from 
May 1, 1943. On July 1, 1953, he was transferred to the Retired List of 
the U.S. Navy and advanced to the rank of Rear Admiral on the basis of 
citation for actual combat.
  After graduation from the Naval Academy in June 1923, he had four 
months' duty in the Bureau of Ordnance, Navy Department, Washington, 
DC, then reported to the plant of William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, 
to assist in fitting out the USS Concord. He served on board that light 
cruiser from her commissioning, November 3, 1923, until September 1925, 
during her shakedown cruise to South Africa. He next served in the USS 
Hannibal, assigned to survey duty on the southern coast of Cuba, and 
from November 1926 until November 1927, served in the USS Arkansas, 
flagship of Battleship Division Two, Scouting Fleet.
  He remained at sea for 2 years, serving successively in the 
destroyers Toucey and Blakeley, then had a tour of shore duty at the 
Naval Torpedo Station, Newport, Rhode Island. In June 1932, he joined 
the USS Manley, operating in the Atlantic, and later in the Pacific, 
and from May until September 1934 served as her Executive Officer. He 
returned to Newport for a tour of duty at the Naval Training Station 
after which, from November 1935 until September 1937, he was Assistant 
U.S. Naval Attache at the American Embassy, London, England. While 
there he was a Delegate to the Third Assembly, International Union of 
Geodesy and Geophysics, at Edinburgh, in 1936, and on May 12, 1937, was 
awarded the British Coronation Medal at the coronation of King George 
VI of England.
  Upon his return to the United States in the Fall of 1937, he was 
designated Aide and Flag Lieutenant on the Staff of Rear Admiral Alfred 
W. Johnson, USN, Commander Training Detachment, U.S. Fleet, and was 
attached to the flagship, USS New York. He later served in the same 
capacity when Admiral Johnson was made Commander Atlantic Squadron, 
U.S. Fleet. During the period October 1939 until December 1940, he 
commanded a destroyer, the USS Brooks, after which he served as 
Navigator of the USS Nashville, light cruiser, until October 29, 1941, 
participating in the expedition which took the first Marines to Iceland 
in July 1941.
  He returned to London, England as U.S. Naval Observer just prior to 
the outbreak of World War II in December 1941, and served on the staff 
of Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Chief of Combined Operations, during 
the early war period, taking part in the Allied raid on Dieppe, August 
19, 1942. In November 1943, he reported to Commander U.S. Naval Forces, 
Europe, and was assigned duty with Task Force One Hundred Twenty-two, 
later serving on the Staff of the Allied Naval Commander in Chief, 
Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsey, until August 1944.

  He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, with Combat ``V'', and the 
following citation: ``For meritorious achievement as the United States 
Naval Representative on the Staff of the Chief of Combined Operations 
in the Dieppe Raid, and while serving on the Staff of the Allied Naval 
Commander in Chief during the Invasion of Normandy. Embarked as an 
observer in a British destroyer which rendered close fire support 
during the Allied raid on Dieppe on August 19, 1942, Captain (then 
Commander) Strauss obtained information of great value to the United 
States and Great Britain in the planning and execution of subsequent 
operations. Ordered to the Normandy beaches on D plus 2-Day, he applied 
his comprehensive knowledge of the build-up procedure in solving far 
shore shipping problems which threatened to delay the operation. 
Serving with distinction, skill and courage despite enemy air and 
ground attack throughout these missions to halt German aggression, 
Captain Strauss upheld the highest traditions of the United States 
Naval Service.''
  On October 12, 1944, he assumed command of the USS Charles Carroll, 
an attack transport which finished her share of the follow-up 
operations in connection with the Southern France campaign, and sailed 
on October 25 for Norfolk, Virginia. Assigned to Transport Division 
Fifty-two, Pacific Fleet, she left on January 4, 1945, for the South 
Pacific, carrying supplies and personnel to Guadalcanal, Manus and 
Bougainville. In February, with Transport Squadron Eighteen, she became 
a part of Amphibious Group Four, Task Force Fifty-one, in preparation 
for a major operation, and on April 1, 1945, successfully landed her 
assault troops and their equipment on the designated beaches at Okinawa 
Jima. She had aboard the late Ernie Pyle, beloved newspaper man who 
covered her assault operations in his articles shortly before his 
death. The Charles Carroll served as Flagship of Commander Transport 
Division Sixty-three from May until July 1945.
  Detached from that command on August 6, 1945, Rear Admiral, then 
Captain, Strauss returned to the United States for duty in the Office 
of the Chief of Naval Operations, Navy Department, Washington, DC. From 
July until September 1946, he was attached to the Military Staff 
Committee of the Security Council of the U.S. in New York serving as a 
naval advisor to the First General Assembly of that body in January 
1946, then reported to the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, 
Kearney, New Jersey. There, he had charge of fitting out the USS 
Fresno, CL-121, and from her commissioning on November 27, 1946, until 
December 1947, commanded that light cruiser.
  He returned to London, England, and from January 6 to December 10, 
1948, was a student at the Imperial Defense College. In February 1949, 
he reported to the Navy Department to serve as Head of the Strategic 
Applications and Policy Branch of the Strategic Plans Division, under 
the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, Operations. Two

[[Page S1972]]

years later he was detached for sea duty organizing and in command of 
Destroyer Flotilla Six, and in March 1952 was again ordered to the 
Office of the Chief of Naval Operations where he was Head of the Long 
Range Plans Branch.

  On August 11, 1952, he was ordered to the Office of the Deputy for 
Defense Affairs, Office of Special Representative in Europe for Mutual 
Security Administration, Paris, France. On September 28, 1953, after 
his retirement in July of that year, he was ordered detached from that 
assignment, but to continue duty in Paris as Staff Assistant Secretary 
of Defense for International Security Affairs, Office of Foreign 
Economic Defense Affairs, with his duty station in the U.S. Mission to 
NATO and European Regional Organization, Paris.
  From August 1956 until March 1957, Rear Admiral Strauss was Director 
of Engineering at Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA.
  On April 6, 1957, Rear Admiral Strauss was named Chief of the new 
American Foreign Aide Mission to Tunisia. There he directed a $5.5 
million program providing commodities and technical assistance for the 
rest of the fiscal year ending June 30, a program which in 1958 had 
risen to more than $20 million, and by the time of his detachment in 
August 1960, had put more than $100 million into the Tunisian economy. 
In 1960, he served as personal representative of the Secretary of State 
as a member of a three-man team to evaluate the effectiveness of the 
Mutual Aid program to Pakistan, this assignment extended from September 
1960 to January 1961. In January 1961, Rear Admiral Strauss initiated, 
as Director, the A.I.D. mission to the Malagasy Republic and served 
there until February 1963. He retired from A.I.D. in May 1963. In July 
1965, Rear Admiral Strauss became a public member of the Foreign 
Service Inspection Corps. He was a member of the team inspecting 
Embassy, Tel Aviv and Consulate General Jerusalem, July--September 
1965.
  In addition to the Bronze Star Medal with Combat ``V'', Rear Admiral 
Strauss has the American Defense Service Medal; European-African-Middle 
Eastern Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal; World War II 
Victory Medal; Navy Occupation Service Medal, Europe Clasp; and 
National Defense Service Medal. He was made an honorary Commander of 
the Order of the British Empire and has the Croix de Guerre of France, 
with palm.
  Rear Admiral Strauss was married in 1951 to Miss Beatrice 
Schermerhorn Phillips, daughter of former Ambassador and Mrs. William 
Phillips of Beverly, MA. He has three children by a former marriage: 
Elliott MacGregor Strauss, Armar Archbold Strauss, and Lydia Saunderson 
Strauss Delaunay. His usual residence is Washington, DC.
  Rear Admiral Strauss is a member of the Pilgrims of the United 
States, the Chevy Chase Club and Army and Navy Club of Washington, DC; 
the New York Yacht Club; and the Buck's Club, and the International 
Sportman's Club, both of London, England.

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