China Sea Keeping Free — China is claiming just about the entire ocean between Vietnam and the Philippines as its own and the rest of the world is telling it to get real.
The United States periodically sends warships into the area to make its point most recently the destroyer USS William P. Lawrence.
No relation.
The William P. Lawrence is named for a man who was the first naval aviator to fly twice the speed of sound in a naval aircraft and was also one of the final candidates for the Mercury space program. During the Vietnam War, Lawrence was shot down while on a combat mission and spent six years as a prisoner of war, from 1967 to 1973.
He was noted for resistance to his captors. He memorized every POW by name and rank while in captivity and developed a code by tapping on the prison walls to communicate with other prisoners.
John McCain said “he’s probably the greatest man I’ve ever known in my life.”
China Sea Keeping Free
