In Appreciation: Frank B. Kelso
One of the more popular oral histories in the Naval Institute’s collection is that of Admiral Frank B. Kelso II, USN (Ret.), who died unexpectedly in late June just shy of his 80th birthday. While Chief of Naval Operations from 1990 to 1994, he also served as the Institute’s president and remained a loyal member and generous supporter throughout his life. The following anecdote is from an April 2002 interview with historian Paul Stillwell, one of 16 sessions recorded between October 2001 and May 2002 for Kelso’s oral history.
When Queen Elizabeth was going to visit President George H. W. Bush in May 1991, she requested to take a boat ride up the Potomac to Mount Vernon. She was to be part of some event there and had asked to come back to Washington on the river.
Well, when you stop and look around the area, the only waterborne vessel of any nice ilk that is owned by the U.S. Government is the CNO’s barge. And so, the White House called and said, “Gee, would you let us borrow your barge to bring Queen Elizabeth back to Washington?”
I was not stupid enough to say, “No.” So we brought Her Majesty back on the barge, and they asked us nicely would we like to ride along. And so Navy Secretary Larry Garrett, my wife Landess, and I rode with her.
The major topic she wanted to talk to me about concerned the criticism in the U.K. she had taken because her young son Andrew, who was in the Navy, did not participate in the Gulf War. Our naval allies were pretty much all willing to chip in. It wasn’t a matter of having to coax the Canadians or the British to come. Once their governments took the position they were going to participate, they all came in support. But Prince Andrew was on a British ship that happened to be in Standing Naval Force Atlantic, and NATO would not let SNFA join in the war—rather, they couldn’t come together and vote on whether they wanted to get involved or not. Andrew didn’t have any choice.
USNI Oral Histories in Action
Since the Naval Institute began producing oral histories in 1969, these first-person accounts have proved to be a treasure trove for students, historians, and the media. Our histories have been used in significant projects, such as the 2000 movie Men of Honor, which is based on the Institute’s oral history of Master Chief Petty Officer and Master Diver Carl Brashear. Also, Senator John McCain referred to his father Admiral John S. McCain Jr.’s oral history when writing his 1999 bestseller Faith of My Fathers.
Among more recent examples, Naval Institute oral histories were used for research in the following projects:
• The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944–1945, the final installment of the bestselling Liberation trilogy by Pulitzer Prize-winner Rick Atkinson.
• Neptune’s Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal, by bestselling author James D. Hornfischer.
• Author Elliot Carlson relied on Captain Joseph J. Rochefort’s oral history for his award-winning 2012 Naval Institute Press book Joe Rochefort’s War: The Odyssey of the Codebreaker Who Outwitted Yamamoto at Midway.
• Producer Kathleen M. Ryan used our World War II WAVES histories for her documentary Homefront Heroines, which was selected for the 2013 Sarasota Film Festival.
• Notables who have used USNI oral histories in public speeches include the Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State (in 2012); Senator John S. McCain (2011) and Admiral Jonathan Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations (2012).
Oral histories are labor-intensive to produce, so the Naval Institute must rely on charitable gifts to keep the program moving forward. If you can help, your tax-deductible gift can be made at the Institute’s website, www.usni.org (click on “Donate”), or mailed to the Naval Institute Foundation: 291 Wood Road, Annapolis, MD 21402. For more information, please contact Sue Sweeney at (410) 295-1054 or at [email protected].
Advancing the Next Generation of Naval Leaders
An update on sponsored Naval Institute membership for Sea Service midshipmen and cadets to date for the 2013–2014 academic year:
• NROTC Units: 16 of 58 sponsored
• U.S. Naval Academy Companies: 8 of 30 sponsored
• U.S. Coast Guard Academy Companies: 2 of 8 sponsored
• U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Companies: 0 of 5 sponsored
For more information and to sponsor midshipmen at your alma mater, please visit www.usni.org/gift-membership-landing or contact Heather Lancaster at (410) 295-1048 or at [email protected].