THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 9, 1996 TAG: 9601090001
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
In Norfolk in 1991, as the honored guest at the commissioning of the first of a new class of destroyers named after him, Adm. Arleigh A. Burke told the warship's crew: ``This ship is made to fight. You'd better know how.''
He spoke with the authority of a naval hero known for his fearless, effective destroyer attacks in the Pacific War. Japanese warships, auxiliaries, transports, warplanes and coastal defenses were his targets. Putting them out of action was his passion.
A Colorado farm boy who concluded that a military career was his best prospect, Arleigh Burke failed to win appointment to West Point but succeeded with his bid for Annapolis. Both the Naval Academy and he would have cause for gratitude that fate had landed him in the sea service. The country, too.
As a surface sailor he had earned the respect of peers and superiors alike for his seamanship and leadership before gaining fame as the commanding officer of Destroyer Squadron 23 during the Bougainville Battles in November 1943. Fleet Adm. Ernest J. King, a hard man to please, admired his style.
Captain Burke combined competence, enthusiasm and dash. Moving swiftly and maneuvering creatively were his hallmarks. He frequently reported that he was ``making 31 knots'' with a force rated as capable of 30-knot sustained speed at best. While steaming toward Bougainville, Captain Burke received a radio message, intercepted by several commands, that began with an affectionate jibe: ``Thirty-One-Knot Burke, get athwart the Baku-Rabaul evacuation line. .
Contact followed. Thirty-One-Knot Burke - the nickname stuck - emerged from the subsequent battles with substantial honors and a secure place in the history of naval warfare. In all, he commanded destroyers in 22 battles in the South Pacific and, as chief of staff of Vice Adm. Marc A. Mitscher's task force, helped plan the battles of Iwo Jima, Guam, the Marianas and Okinawa.
He need have done no more. But he served three terms as chief of naval operations during the Eisenhower years, setting the Navy's course firmly toward the 21st century. At his death last week, at age 94, legions of veterans of World War II and not a few youngsters spoke reverently of Admiral Burke as a sailor's sailor. There's no higher tribute. by CNB