[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 12706-12707]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO THURSTON ESCO WOMBLE

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, when we dedicated the National World War II 
Memorial and commemorated the 60th anniversary of D-Day, much was made 
of the fact that this Nation loses an average of over 1,000 World War 
II veterans every day. Just last week, we honored the passing of one of 
the greatest members of that great generation, President Ronald Wilson 
Reagan.
  I want to take this opportunity to recognize the passing of another 
great member of that great generation, Thurston Esco Womble. When 
President Reagan spoke at the 40th anniversary of D-Day, he memorably 
referred to the assembled veterans as ``the boys . . . , the heroes who 
helped end a war.'' Thurston Womble was one of those boys, one of this 
Nation's unsung World War II veterans who helped ensure the United 
States of America maintained its freedom and way of life during a very 
difficult time in our Nation's history.
  Mr. Womble's service began prior to Pearl Harbor, when he enlisted in 
the Navy in March, 1941. By that October, he had gone through the 
Metalworkers School in Norfolk, VA. Womble was soon assigned to duty on 
the U.S.S. Cincinnati (CL-6), engaged in patrol and convoy duty in the 
western Atlantic and Caribbean, blockading occupied French men-of- war, 
and searching for German blockade runners.
  In November, 1942, Cincinnati assisted in the interception and 
destruction of the German blockade runner S.S. Annalise Essberger. 
Although the German crew scuttled their ship, a boarding party reached 
it in time to take all 63 crew members prisoner before the blockade 
runner sank. Early in 1944, Cincinnati served as escort flagship for 
three convoys transporting men and equipment from New York to Belfast 
in preparation for the invasion of Normandy. She subsequently 
participated

[[Page 12707]]

in the assault on Southern France and patrolled South Atlantic shipping 
lanes until the war in Europe ended.
  But Thurston Womble's naval service did not end there. After the war 
ended, he went back to school at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and 
graduated as a boilerman. He was then assigned to duty aboard U.S.S. 
Lake Champlain (CV-39), one of our newly built aircraft carriers 
assigned to so- called ``Magic Carpet'' duty, bringing veterans of the 
European Theater back home. Womble was aboard in November, 1945, when 
Lake Champlain crossed the Atlantic in 4 days, 8 hours, 51 minutes, a 
record which held until surpassed by the U.S.S. United States in 1952. 
He was in charge of lighting off the boilers in Lake Champlain's #1 
Fireroom for that historic transit.
  On February 18, 1950, in Quincy, MA, Womble married Olive Bates 
Merrill. They became the parents of Noreen, who is a high school 
teacher in Inverness, FL, and Eric, who served as my national security 
adviser and military legislative assistant for 7 years.
  In the years after World War II, through the Korean Conflict, and up 
until 1960, Womble served on a veritable parade of U.S. Naval vessels: 
U.S.S. Beverly W. Reid (APD-119), U.S.S. Houston (CL-81), U.S.S. Fargo 
(CL-106), U.S.S. Bataan (CVL-29), U.S.S. San Marcos (LSD-25), U.S.S. 
Fort Mandan (LSD-21), U.S.S. Laning (APD-55), and finally, U.S.S. 
Saratoga (CVA-60).
  Womble rose in rank and responsibility to become a Boiler Technician 
Chief Petty Officer and Leading Chief of the Boilers Division aboard 
Saratoga. His commanding officers repeatedly cited, not only his 
mechanical abilities and technical skills, but his energy, enthusiasm, 
and his outstanding and inspirational leadership in performing tasks 
``not previously considered within the capacity of ship's force 
personnel.'' Truer words were never spoken than in 1960, when his 
commanding officer wrote, ``The Navy will realize a great loss when 
Womble retires this coming August.'' That was when Womble became a 
fleet reservist and started a second career.
  Womble's Navy career probably wasn't what his parents, Huey Clayton 
and Thelma Esco expected when he was born in Autauga County, AL, on 
August 16, 1922. But the experience of being raised in rural Alabama in 
a close knit family taught Thurston the values that carried him through 
a long and honorable Naval career.
  Following his active-duty service, he enrolled in Jones College in 
Jacksonville, FL, to study business management and worked 13 years in 
Mobile, AL, as the representative for the Royal Insurance Companies, 
specializing in employee protection and workplace safety. In 1980, he 
became Sales Manager and Quality Control Manager for G&V Industrial 
Contractors, also in Mobile, AL. Thurston then served as Director and 
Chief Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspector for my home State of 
Mississippi. All in all, it seems clear to me that Womble carried his 
experience as the son of a carpenter, fisherman and farmer, as well as 
his devotion to his Navy shipmates, into a career of devoted and humble 
service to the people and communities in Mississippi and Alabama.
  During an active and reserve career that spanned 30 years, Thurston 
was awarded the Navy Occupation Medal; European Clasp, American Defense 
Service Medal; American Area Campaign Medal; European-African-Middle 
Eastern Campaign Medal; World War II Victory Medal; Korean Service 
Medal; National Defense Service Medal; and six Good Conduct Awards.
  Thurston Womble's final days where spent with the family and friends 
he loved so much--and doing what he enjoyed most, golfing and fishing. 
He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Olive, their children, Noreen 
and Eric, Eric's wife Wendy and grandchildren, Melissa and Matthew. I 
extend my sincere condolences to the entire Womble family on their 
loss. I also want to thank Thurston for his dedicated service to our 
country and for setting an example that the rest of us can only hope to 
emulate; our great Nation owes him a debt of gratitude.

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