Namesake:
Admiral Bulkeley was a
patriot, a legend, and a hero in the truest sense. A husband and
a father, he was a simple man who did his duty as God gave him
the ability to do it, a man who tried to keep a low profile but
somehow always ended up in the limelight of life. He devoted his
entire life to his country and to his Navy. Six decades of his
life were spent in the active defense of America. Even after
retirement in 1988, he remained engaged in the direction of our
Navy and our country. He represented the U.S. Navy and veterans
at Normandy during D-Day celebrations, laying wreaths and
flowers at the graves of his and our fallen comrades; he
provided inspirational speeches to our youth and to our
leadership. He believed in America; he believed in a strong
defense; he believed in a Navy he loved more than his own life.
John Bulkeley's destiny may
have been cast long before he sought the salt spray of the open
ocean. His ancestors, including Richard Bulkeley, brought aboard
HMS VICTORY by Lord Nelson just prior to the Battle of Trafalgar
in 1804; John Bulkeley of HMS WAGER under Captain Bligh, who
sailed with Anson's Squadron to raid Spanish silver ships of the
new world; and Charles Bulkeley, raising the Union Jack for the
first time on an American warship, the ALFRED, commanded by John
Paul Jones, influenced his intense love of the sea. He was born
in New York City, grew up on a farm in Hacketstown, NJ, and
wrote his high school class poem in 1928, if you can believe
that. He loved opera. He loved animals and took great care of
feeding and caring for any that sought his help. He was
compassionate to their needs. He loved his black cat.
His love of the sea,
however, was his dream and his destiny. Unable to gain an
appointment to Annapolis from his home state of New Jersey, he
was led by his determination to Washington, and, after knocking
on a lot of doors, he gained an appointment from the state of
Texas. As America dealt with the Great Depression, his dream of
going to sea, however, received a set back. Only half of the
1933 Academy class that graduated received a commission. John
Bulkeley, noted early on for his intense interest in
engineering, went on and joined the Army Flying Corps. Like the
crazy flying machines of the day, he landed hard more than once
and, after a year, left flying for the deck of a cruiser, the
INDIANAPOLIS, as a commissioned officer in the United States
Navy.
Ensign John D. Bulkeley
charted an interesting course in his early years and was
recognized early on by the Navy's leadership. As a new ensign in
the mid-thirties, he took the initiative to remove the Japanese
ambassador's brief case from a stateroom aboard a
Washington-bound steamer, delivering same to Naval Intelligence
a short swim later. This bold feat, of which there were to be
many more in his life, didn't earn him any medals, but it did
get him a swift one way ticket out of the country and a new
assignment as Chief Engineer of a coal burning gunboat, the
SACRAMENTO, also known in those parts as "The Galloping
Ghost of the China Coast." Picture in your minds the movie "Sand
Pebbles". There he was to meet a young, attractive English
girl at a dinner party aboard HMS DIANA. Alice Wood and the
handsome swashbuckling John Bulkeley would, in the short period
of courtship, live an incredible story together. In China they
would witness the invasion of Swatow and Shanghai by Japanese
troops and the bombing of Panay. They were strafed by warring
planes and watched from a hotel soldiers at war in the street
below. John Bulkeley, with an uncanny propensity to stir things
up, often took the opportunity to bait the occupying Japanese
soldiers, dashing with his bride to be into no-mans land, chased
by Japanese soldiers, and, every once in awhile, shooting them
with an air pistol on their backsides "just for fun".
He fit the mold of Indiana Jones, hat, coat, and all, and not
necessarily a commissioned officer in fore and aft cap of the
day.
John Bulkeley learned a lot
from his experience as a Chief Engineer and also what war was
all about and what an enemy invading force was capable of doing.
At the dawn of World War II, and now a fleet lieutenant
commanding motor torpedo boats, John Bulkeley hit his stride as
a daring, resourceful and courageous leader, determined to fight
to the last against enemy forces attacking the Philippine
Islands. His exploits are what make legends as well as movies.
As a young lieutenant he would say, "No one knows what war
is about until you're in it." Fearless in battle,
resourceful, and daring was John Bulkeley. Men like George Cox,
skipper of PT41, would write in 1943, "I would follow this
man to Hell if asked." A lot of others would agree. General
of the Army Douglas MacArthur, after being ordered out of the
Philippines and arriving at Mindanao following a 600 mile open
ocean escape aboard a 77-foot motor torpedo boat through enemy
lines, would say, "You have taken me out of the jaws of
death. I shall never forget it."
John Bulkeley's daring
exploits will never be forgotten. Hard as leather on the
outside, he was also a man with compassion and love for his
fellow man. Reflecting upon those terrible early days of World
War II, he wept over the decision that his men and our Army at
Bataan were left behind to face an enemy of overwhelming
strength, but he also acknowledged that when the coach calls
upon you to bunt and sacrifice, you do, with all the strength
and conviction you can muster, for the overall victory cannot be
achieved unless we are prepared to give it our all. From the
Pacific campaign, where he would command another squadron of
PTs, he would go to the European theater just in time for the
Normandy invasion. At Charles de Gaulle Airport, a WWII vet,
recognizing the Admiral, engaged him in a conversation. As they
departed, the Admiral said to this vet, "See you in the
next war." Upon hearing this, the veteran quickly came to
attention, rendered a snappy salute, and responded, "I’ll
be there, ready to fight."
Where do we find such men?
John Bulkeley led naval forces of torpedo boats and minesweepers
in clearing the lanes to Utah Beach, keeping German E-Boats from
attacking the landing ships along the Mason Line and picking up
wounded sailors from the sinking minesweeper TIDE and destroyer
CORY. The tale of his WWII exploits would not be complete
without the mention of his love for destroyers, of which he
would command many in his years to come. As Normandy operations
wound up, he got his first large ship command, the destroyer
ENDICOTT, and a month after the D-day invasion of Europe he came
to the aid of two British gunboats under attack by two German
corvettes. Charging in as dawn’s light broke the horizon
with his uncanny ability and determined leadership, with only
one gun working, but with a band of brothers for a crew, he
unhesitantly engaged both enemy vessels at point blank range,
sending both to the bottom. When I asked him about this action,
he replied, "What else could I do? You engage, you fight,
you win. That is the reputation of our Navy, then and in the
future."
The Admiral was a strong
believer in standards, some would say, from the old school, as
the enemy Captain of one of the corvettes soon learned. Coming
up from the sea ladder, he would not salute the colors of the
ENDICOTT, and was promptly tossed back into the sea. The third
time did the trick, and he was taken prisoner and allowed on
deck. World War II closed, and the Admiral emerged as one of the
Navy’s and America’s most decorated hero’s,
having been awarded the Medal of Honor, the Navy Cross, the Army
Distinguished Service Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a
second award, two Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit with Combat
V, the Purple Heart twice over, the Philippine Distinguished
Conduct Star, and from France, the French Croix de Guerre. Asked
about his many decorations, John Bulkeley would only comment, "Medals
and awards don’t mean anything. It’s what’s
inside you, how you feel about yourself, that counts."
With an eye to the future,
John Bulkeley looked forward to the day he would become an
admiral in the navy he loved so much. As President Kennedy in
the early months of his administration dealt with an
ever-increasing crisis over Cuba, the Admiral got his wish and
for a quarter of a century would serve as a flag officer in the
Navy. Challenged in his first assignment as Commander,
Guantanamo Naval Base, he met and defeated the challenge of
Fidel Castro’s threats of severing the water supplies of
the base. Today, Guantanamo stands as a symbol of American
resolve because men like John Bulkeley stood up, refused to
bend, and took the initiative to stare down belligerent threats
of lesser men not friendly with America. Perhaps a tribute of
the time was the wanted poster, offering 50,000 pesos for him,
dead or alive, by the communist leadership of Cuba along with a
description, "…a guerrilla of the worst species".
At Guantanamo, as those that have visited know, there is a hill
that overlooks the northeast gate, A Gate, with a sign that
reads "Cuba, Land Free from America". As Cuban troops
began moving about, his 19-year-old-driver, a Marine lance
corporal, came running up and stood directly in front of the
Admiral, ready and willing to take the bullet that would end the
life of his Commander. The Admiral loved his Marines; the
Marines loved and respected him in return. He would be with them
day and night, in fatigues, ready to conduct war if necessary
but more to defend Americans and The Land of the Free against
the communist yoke of tyranny. As COL Steven’s, the former
commanding officer of the Marine barracks at Guantanamo, wrote,
adding three more stories to the legend of John Bulkeley, "The
Admiral had the compassion for the men in the field, taking time
again and again to bring them relief, whether cookies on
Christmas morning or visiting them at odd hours of the night to
ease their nerves. They loved this man." The Admiral would
construct on that hill the largest Marine Corps insignia in the
world as a quiet reminder that the United States Marine Corps
stood vigilance over the base. In tribute, a Marine would write,
"John Bulkeley, Marine in Sailor’s clothing."
John Bulkeley never forgot
his early years, the hard-iron like discipline, the poor
material condition of the fleet, and the need to always be
ready, in his own words, "…to be able to conduct
prompt, sustained, combat operations at sea." Assigned as
President of the Board of Inspection and Survey, a post held by
many distinguished naval officers since it’s inception
almost at the beginning of the Navy, his boundless energy would
take him aboard every ship in the Navy, from keel to top of the
mast, from fire control system to inside a boiler, discussing
readiness and sharing sea stories and a cup of coffee with the
men who operate our ships, planes, and submarines. He was
relentless in his quest to improve the safety and material
condition of the fleet and the conditions for the health and
well being of those that manned them. He conducted his
inspections by the book in strict accordance with standards as
many a man well knows, but his love for the sailors always came
through. His "Just thought you’d like to know"
letters were another invention of his that were designed to be "unofficial
reports" but of course were often greeted by a groan from
the recipient in the Navy’s leadership, knowing that John
Bulkeley had another concern that needed attention and that the
list of information addressees receiving the same "Just
thought you’d like to know" letter often was longer
than the letter itself. The Admiral would laugh about his
informal invention.
After fifty-five years of
commissioned service, John Bulkeley retired to private life.
John Bulkeley did not like notoriety and wanted to keep a low
profile throughout his life, even on his last day in the Navy.
His ceremony, as requested, was brief and to the point, held in
the CNO’s office, with family present. All he sought after
giving his entire life to his country and his service was to
have the CNO’s Flag Lieutenant open the door so he could
slip his mooring line and leave quietly. John Bulkeley’s
career and service to the nation spanned six turbulent decades
of the 20th century. He saw first hand desperate times and the
horror of war. Yet he was also a father, marrying the woman he
loved, and in his own words, "It was the best thing I ever
did." He raised a family he could be proud of. His wife was
his right arm, his closest friend for a long and full life. She
gave him love and support. She was truly "The Wind Beneath
His Wings". Before he passed away, his family, every
member, child, grandchild, son, and daughter-in-law came to be
with him in his last days. This by itself is testimony to the
legacy he left behind and the love his family had for him.
Admiral Bulkeley’s efforts and sacrifices for a better
world, a free world, his integrity and honor, and a combat ready
fleet, ready to conduct prompt, sustained combat operations are
his legacy to our nation.
Paraphrased from eulogy for
Admiral John D. Bulkeley presented by his son:
CAPTAIN PETER W. BULKELEY
19 APRIL 1996
FT MEYER MEMORIAL CHAPEL
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
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