S-3627.1  _______________________________________________

                    SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 8017

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      55th Legislature     1998 Regular Session

By Senators Oke, Rasmussen and Winsley

Read first time 01/12/98.  Referred to Committee on Transportation.

Naming the Admiral James S. Russell Bridge.

    WHEREAS, Admiral James S. Russell was a Tacoma native, who attended Stadium High School and graduated at the age of 15 to begin his naval career with the Merchant Marine in 1918 after spying wooden vessels below Stadium Way in Tacoma; and

    WHEREAS, Admiral Russell was appointed to the Naval Academy in Annapolis at the age of 19, where he graduated 15th of 450 in 1926; and

    WHEREAS, Admiral Russell went on to fly as a naval aviator from the first six aircraft carriers owned by the Untied States, to serve during the Aleutian Campaign and in the Pacific Theater during World War II, and to command aircraft carriers and carrier divisions; and

    WHEREAS, Admiral Russell codesigned the "Crusader," the first ship-based supersonic aircraft and commanded the U.S.S. Bairoko, which was equipped with the first Navy jet fighter; and

    WHEREAS, Admiral Russell completed his illustrious 43 year career as a U.S. Navy four-star Admiral and Vice Chief of Naval Operations and Commander-In-Chief of NATO forces in Southern Europe while keeping Tacoma as his home and having served as Past Director of the Pierce County Chapter of the American Red Cross, Puget Sound Area U.S.O., Annie Wright Seminary, and the Tacoma Boat Building Company and as past member of the Tacoma Yacht Club and the Tacoma-Pierce County and Lakewood Area Chambers of Commerce; and

    WHEREAS, The community and the Military Affairs Subcommittee would like to acknowledge the many accomplishments and contributions of Admiral Russell by bestowing the name of the "Admiral James S. Russell Bridge" to the new cable stay bridge that crosses the Thea Foss Waterway on the SR-509 route; and

    WHEREAS, The Washington State Legislature supports the actions and proposals of the community and the Military Affairs Subcommittee;

    NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully ask that the Washington Transportation Commission take appropriate action to name the SR-509 bridge the "Admiral James S. Russell Bridge."

    BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Washington Transportation Commission.

                            --- END ---