THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 21, 1996 TAG: 9604210105
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: THE BALTIMORE SUN
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 33 lines
Retired Vice Adm. John D. Bulkeley, a gruff sea wolf who saved Gen. Douglas MacArthur from the Japanese, helped keep German forces at bay during the D-day invasion and years later was marked for death by Fidel Castro, was laid to rest Friday at Arlington National Cemetery.
The World War II exploits of Bulkeley, who died April 6 at the age of 84, made him one of the country's most-decorated heroes. He was awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the French Croix de Guerre by Gen. Charles De Gaulle.
``We applaud a true American hero, a man who symbolizes the very best about our Navy and our nation,'' said Adm. Jeremy M. Boorda, chief of naval operations, at a ceremony that was attended by members of Congress, war veterans, academy classmates and fresh-faced midshipmen.
Bulkeley was a PT boat skipper in 1942 when he gained national fame for rescuing MacArthur from the Philippines as Japanese troops closed in. Then-Lt. Bulkeley whisked MacArthur, his family and senior commanders off the island of Corregidor in the middle of the night and outflanked Japanese ships before they reached the safety of Mindanao.
KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY by CNB