THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 16, 1995 TAG: 9512160251
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 106 lines
Sometime after today's memorial service, in the Atlantic off the Florida coast, the crew of the guided missile destroyer Carney will scatter their commanding officer's remains from the freshly minted grey deck.
The Carney was the ship Cmdr. Lanny King had always wanted to command. For the past 21 months, as its prospective commanding officer, he worked to form its crew. He watched the sleek hull and powerful superstructure of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer take shape at the Bath Iron Works shipyard. He had begun to plan for its commissioning in the spring, scheduled a week after Easter.
The 39-year-old Naval Academy graduate, married, the father of two, previously of Virginia Beach where he was assigned to the 2nd Fleet staff as an admiral's flag secretary, had worked toward his dream for 17 years.
He died Thursday in a Georgia hospital following complications that resulted from a ruptured blood vessel in the brain. The aneurysm developed without warning while King was driving his family to their home in Mayport, Fla., during the Thanksgiving weekend.
Today, as any community in mourning would do, part of the Navy from Maine to Florida will come together to call on their captain for one last time.
A Navy airliner is taking about 55 members of the crew, which has been training in Bath, Maine, to the memorial service in Mayport, where the Carney is to be based. They will make a stop in Norfolk to pick up other crew members training here.
Vice Adm. Douglas J. Katz, commander of the Atlantic Fleet Surface Force, and other flag officers, plan to attend, too.
King served as 2nd Fleet flag secretary to Adm. William J. Flanagan, now the commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Fleet, until December 1993.
``He was one of our Navy's brightest rising stars,'' Flanagan said on Friday. ``He was the type of leader who inspired greatness in others.''
Seaman Robert Cutler, 20, a Navy veteran of just 15 months, was such an example.
``I had contact with him every day,'' said Cutler, who works in the administrative office of the ship's command at Bath. ``He had that charisma. His sheer presence would affect you.
``Without saying anything, he could motivate you. You wound up doing for him what you probably wouldn't do for anybody else.''
Chief Petty Officer Jeffrey Adkins, 31, was most impressed by King's love of family.
``What made him so successful was his appreciation of the Navy family,'' said Adkins. ``He let you know right off the bat that you didn't need to put your family on the back burner in order to be successful.
Yet he also let the crew know there was always time to do things right, said Adkins. ``He wanted a good product, even it it took a little longer.
``He gave an individual respect, regardless of rank. You wanted to work around him. I don't think there is a member of the chief's mess or ward room that didn't go hunting or fishing with him.''
Lt. Cmdr. Jim Yohe, the Carney's executive officer, said King was able to listen to his crew and give them the professional attention they deserved. He used the Navy's Total Quality Leadership tools to their best, said Yohe.
``I can't imagine anybody who embodies the spirit of what's going on in the Navy today better than him. He passed that to the crew. It was like pouring water on a plant and seeing it shoot up.''
Even without knowing him, King must have had some kind of effect on bystander Wendel Harrelson.
When he collapsed at the wheel, King was driving his wife, Virginia, son Ritchie, 11, and daughter, Rebecca, 15, home from a relative's house in Georgia.
His wife tried to control the car, but it hit two parked cars before it stopped.
Harrelson saw the accident, called for an ambulance and then helped the family out of their van.
``He told Gini (Virginia) she needed to get to the hospital, then escorted them there with the ambulance,'' said Yohe.
The local hospital said King needed more advanced treatment in Savannah, 85 miles away. The weather prevented an air ambulance, so Harrelson gave Virginia the keys to his car.
``He didn't even know her name, or the captain's name,'' said Yohe.
``I was so touched by that. We got the secretary of the Navy to write him a thank you note. We sent him a ball cap and said that if anyone was to be our honorary plankowner he was.''
Thursday night, when the Carney's crew learned of King's death, they had just started their annual Christmas party. Friday was the first day for the holiday leave to start.
Many of the crew members had already made arrangements to go to their hometowns for the holidays.
``I don't want to say it was sad,'' said Adkins of the Christmas party. Maybe shock. He affected the crew so much . . . all the stories of how great he was to work for.
``I guess sad is a good word. There's a lot of sadness here.''
The family, which owns a house in Virginia Beach, plans to return following the end of school in Mayport, where Virginia teaches, said Yohe.
Lanny King, the naval officer who nearly reached his dream, will return to his ship and the sea next year.
``I promised Gini I would bury the captain at sea from Carney,'' said Yohe. MEMO: An educational trust fund has been established for the children of Cmdr.
Lanny King. Donations may be made to: American National Bank, U.S. Naval
Station, Mayport, Fla., 32228-0065.
ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
Lanny King would have commanded a guided missile destroyer of the
Arleigh Burke class.
by CNB