According to the
book description of Tennessee Patriot: The Naval Career of Vice Admiral William P. Lawrence, U.S. Navy,
“Bill Lawrence served his country for thirty-seven years in a remarkable naval career filled with triumphs and adversities.
A naval aviator and test pilot who commanded a fighter squadron in the Vietnam War, he was shot down in combat and held by
the North Vietnamese at the notorious Hanoi Hilton prison for six years. During his imprisonment he became a hero among heroes,
demonstrating superior qualities of leadership, physical strength, and mental acumen, tap-coding messages to keep his sanity
while withstanding solitary confinement and regular torture sessions. Upon release from captivity, Lawrence learned that
his wife and the mother of their children had divorced him and remarried. Although these events had a severe emotional impact
on him, he resumed his distinguished naval career, rising swiftly through the ranks, remarrying, and being named to such prestigious
positions as Commander of the Third Fleet, Superintendent of the Naval Academy, and Chief of Naval Personnel. In this autobiography,
Lawrence credits much of his resolve and ability to overcome difficulties to his strong and nurturing parents, his youth in
Nashville, Tennessee, his experiences at the U.S. Naval Academy (where he served as brigade commander and earned letters in
three varsity sports), and to the love and support of his wife Diane. With the help of his friend and writer Zip Rausa,
the admiral tells his story without glossing over the darker elements. This recounting of his path on an extraordinary journey
through life is uniquely American and filled with lessons for us all.”
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Vice Admiral
William Porter Lawrence, USN (ret.) graduated from the Naval Academy in 1951 and became the first naval aviator to fly twice
the speed of sound in a Navy airplane. He was a POW in Vietnam from 1967 to 1973, when he resumed his naval career. Upon retirement
from the Navy in 1986, he became chair of naval leadership at the academy and later served as president of the Association
of Naval Aviation.
According to the Washington
Post, “during the Vietnam War, he was commanding officer of Fighter Squadron 143 when he was shot down in North Vietnam
in June 1967 and held as a prisoner of war until March 1973.” William P. Lawrence is the co-author
of Tennessee Patriot: The Naval Career of Vice Admiral William P. Lawrence, U.S. Navy.
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