National Football Foundation

The Nashville, Tenn., native distinguished himself as a student athlete at Nashville '?s West High School, and in 1947 turned down a scholarship at Yale University to attend the United States Naval Academy. Lawrence stood out as a varsity athlete in football, basketball and baseball at Navy. He held several high-ranking midshipman offices, including Commander of the Brigade of Midshipmen and President of the Class of 1951, while also graduating eighth out of a class of 725. His other major accomplishments included helping to establish the honor concept governing midshipman's conduct. He graduated from the Academy in 1951, and continued on as Aide to the Commandant until September 1951.

Lawrence received his "Wings of Gold" as a Naval Aviator in 1952. He attended the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at the Naval Air Test Center, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., where he received the Outstanding Student Award. In 1967, then-Commander Lawrence was serving as commanding officer of Fighter Squadron 143, aboard the aircraft carrier USS Constellation. Lawrence and his radar intercept officer, Lieutenant, junior grade James W. Bailey, were struck down during a raid northwest of Nam Dinh, North Vietnam. Lawrence and Bailey released their bombs, but part of the aircraft’s tail section separated while attempting to pull out of a dive. Both officers were forced to eject, were captured, and were held as prisoners of war at the H?a Lò Prison – which the prisoners nicknamed "Hanoi Hilton" – until March 1973, during which time they suffered repeated torture and beatings.

Admiral Lawrence served as Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy from August 1978 to August 1981. In 1984, the NCAA selected him for their highest honor, the Theodore Roosevelt Award, recognizing Lawrence as one "For whom competitive athletics in college and attention to physical well-being have been important factors in a distinguished career of national significance and achievement." In 2000, the Naval Academy recognized Lawrence '?s contributions to his alma mater by presenting him with one of its Distinguished Graduate Awards.

In 2004, Admiral Lawrence was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, in recognition of his athletic achievements both in high school and college. In 2009, the U.S. Navy named the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS William P. Lawrence in his honor, sponsored by his widow and daughters. On Oct. 17, 2008, a bronze statue of Vice Admiral William P. Lawrence was dedicated at the Naval Academy, a gift from Naval Academy graduate and business tycoon H. Ross Perot. Lawrence died in 2005 at the age of 75.