[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16005-16006]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              IN MEMORIAM: CAPTAIN CHARLES BURLINGAME, III

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I would like to take this opportunity to 
share with the Senate the memory of one of my constituents, Captain 
Charles F. Burlingame, III, who lost his life on September 11, 2001. 
Captain Burlingame was 51 years old when the flight he was piloting, 
American Airlines Flight 77, was overtaken and hijacked by terrorists. 
As we all know, that plane crashed into the Pentagon, killing everyone 
on board.
  Charles Burlingame was known as ``Chic'' his entire life by family 
and friends. He was born in St. Paul, MN, and grew up in Anaheim, CA. 
Chic was an Eagle Scout and played trumpet in his high school marching 
band. After graduating from Anaheim High School in 1967, President 
Lyndon Johnson appointed him to the United States Naval Academy in 
Annapolis, MD.
  He continued developing his musical talents and played bugle in the 
Naval Academy Drum and Bugle Corps. After graduating from the Naval 
Academy in 1971, he attended Naval air training at Pensacola, FL and 
then enrolled at the advanced tactical school at Meridian, MS, and 
Corpus Christi, TX. He flew F-4 Phantom jets as a carrier-based pilot 
aboard the U.S.S. Saratoga.
  In 1979 Captain Burlingame was honorably discharged from active duty 
and became a member of the Naval Reserves. During the Gulf War he 
served at the Pentagon under the Assistant Secretary of Defense and was 
awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal. Later, as a pilot for 
American Airlines he flew domestic and international flights.
  At his eulogy, Navy Vice-Admiral Timothy Keating described Captain 
Burlingame as ``a gifted aviator who could make jets talk.'' Senator 
George Allen of Virginia eulogized him as a man who ``gave his last 
breath in a struggle against terrorism. He was a true American patriot 
who paid the ultimate sacrifice as one of our Nation's first warriors 
to perish in the war on terrorism.'' Perhaps Chic Burlingame's attitude 
toward life is best summed up

[[Page 16006]]

by a statement he wrote in a classmate's high school yearbook when Chic 
was about to graduate, ``Remember, desire and hard work equal 
victory!'' Chic believed that one person really can make a difference.
  Captain Burlingame is survived by his wife, Sheri G. Harris 
Burlingame, his daughter, Wendy D. Pattavina, his grandson, Jack 
Pattavina, step-sons John Harris and Chad Harris, brothers Mark M. 
Burlingame and Bradley M. Burlingame and sister Debra A. Burlingame.
  None of us is untouched by the terror of September 11th, and many 
Californians were part of each tragic moment of that tragic day. Some 
were trapped in the World Trade Center towers. Some were at work in the 
Pentagon. And the fates of some were sealed as they boarded planes 
bound for San Francisco or Los Angeles.
  I offer today this tribute to one of 51 Californians who perished on 
that awful morning. I want to assure the family of Charles Burlingame, 
and the families of all the victims, that their fathers and mothers, 
sons and daughters, aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters will not be 
forgotten.

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