[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 20 (Monday, February 6, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S865-S866]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            MORNING BUSINESS

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               TRIBUTE TO ADMIRAL LLOYD R. ``JOE'' VASEY

 Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, last week, we celebrated the 100th 
birthday of an American for whom my family

[[Page S866]]

and I have always had the greatest personal respect and admiration: ADM 
Lloyd R. ``Joe'' Vasey.
  Joe Vasey was my father's dear friend and comrade for so many years. 
As he marks a century of life well lived, I send him the warmest wishes 
and convey to him thanks of a grateful nation for embodying the very 
finest qualities of patriotism and for his constant service to a cause 
greater than himself.
  From the Naval Academy to dangerous duty in the Second World War to 
five commands at sea to service in the highest councils of military 
command, Joe Vasey's was a most distinguished and honorable Navy 
career. But he did not believe that his retirement from active duty 
relieved him of the responsibilities of patriotism. He continued to 
serve the national interest by founding the Pacific Forum to promote 
security and stability in the critically important Asia-Pacific region.
  The only elaboration of this illustrious life I can offer are 
reminiscences of a friendship, some of which I was privileged to 
personally observe, which for me served as emblematic of a tradition; 
that of service as an officer in the U.S. Navy and the bonds of respect 
and love that unite good officers in shared sacrifice and devotion to 
their service and their country. It is the tradition upon which, in the 
most difficult moments of my life, I relied for the strength to 
persevere for my country's honor and for my self-respect.
  Very late in his life, my father was interviewed for an oral history 
of our officers in the post-World War II Navy. ``There's a term which 
has slipped somewhat into disuse,'' he remarked in the interview, 
``which I always used to the moment I retired, and that is the term: an 
officer and a gentleman.'' Had my father been asked to identify a 
contemporary who personified the virtues he considered essential to the 
life of an officer and a gentleman, I have no doubt he would have 
thought first of his friend Joe Vasey.
  My father's respect and affection for Joe Vasey was unlimited. Their 
friendship was forged in the crucible of war and strengthened to last a 
lifetime by their shared experiences aboard the USS Gunnel as it 
prowled the Pacific from Midway to Nagasaki in search of the enemy. And 
find them they did. On one occasion, the ship sank a Japanese freighter 
and destroyer, but was then forced to submerge for 36 hours while 
avoiding Japanese depth charges. With the temperature on the submarine 
reaching 120 degrees and oxygen running low, my father decided to 
surface and try to fight the remaining Japanese ships. But he offered 
his torpedo officer, Joe Vasey, and the rest of his officers the option 
to abandon ship. To a man, they agreed with my father and rejected that 
course. When the Gunnel surfaced, its weary crew found the Japanese 
destroyers had given up and were steaming away. My father, Joe Vasey, 
and their comrades lived to fight another day.
  My father and Joe Vasey were proud veterans of an epic war. They 
never felt the need to exaggerate their experiences, extraordinary as 
they were. But they did talk about the lessons of leadership they 
learned and how they could be applied to new circumstances. And they 
had many occasions to do so. They were together when my father became 
commander-in-chief of Pacific Command during the Vietnam war and 
Admiral Vasey served as his most trusted adviser as head of strategic 
plans and policies. They were together when they argued to Washington 
for a strategy to win the war rather than just continue the bleeding. 
And they were together when my father gave orders for B-52s to bomb the 
city in which his son was held a prisoner of war. They were the best of 
friends and exemplified that noblest of traditions: brothers in arms.
  I count myself immeasurably fortunate to have benefited from their 
example early in life so that I could derive the strength I needed to 
survive later misfortune from their stories, their courage, and their 
honor.
  So to Joe Vasey, a great patriot, a good man, an officer and a 
gentleman, and a brave defender of this Nation, I wish a very happy 
birthday, fair winds, and following seas.

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