Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) - Naval Cruise Book

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Mrs Arleigh Burke Sponsor Mrs Arleugh Burke has been known for years as the Flrst Lady of the Navy Born Roberta Gorsuch In Lawrence Kansas on 3 jan uary 1899 Mrs Burke was ralsed ln the Mrdwest and In Washington D C She met Admlral Burke on a bland date durmg hrs plebe year at the Naval Academy Four years later on 7 june 1923 the day Arleigh Burke became Enslgn Arleigh Burke Mlss Roberta Gorsuch became Mrs Arleigh Burke The newlyweds managed a one mght honeymoon In Baltimore before heading west to Bremerton Washington and Ensrgn Burke s flrst duty aboard USS ARIZONA It was the joyous start of a marruage that has endured nearly seven decades It was also the beglnnlng of a mllltary llfe of frequent separations and uprootlngs But Mrs Burke who pos sesses the rare abrllty to turn chaos Into order qulckly developed a foolproof system of house hunting to sat lsfy a husband who wanted to spend hrs shore leave with her whlle stlll not losmg srght of his beloved shrp She has always been a Navy wlfe first and fore- most When her husband llmlted her baggage to one household box and a wardrobe trunk, she managed When her husband was sent to gunnery school In New York Cnty and she was given a household budget of S120 to stretch out for srx weeks, she managed Durmg the war years, she llved In Washington, D C She devoted herself to Red Cross work and to helping other Navy wlves learn to cope wlth their husbands' long wartime absences For the U S Navy, as well as Admlral Burke, Roberta Burke went about her job with an Inner strength that never seemed to falter Asked once about her marriage, Mrs Burke sand. It's luke moving from a house to an apartment. You brmg all your favorite properties and you enjoy the thrngs you luke best Its that way with another person You appreciate the best things about them more as the years go by . Durmg the years Admlral Burke spent as Chief of Naval Operatlons, Mrs Burke was one of Washrngton's warmest and most elegant hostesses She IS also an accomplished musrclan. Yet, ln splte of all this she remalns a modest ' - woman. When ask d h th b - raphy should say, she answered: e W a er log lust tell them I am the wife of Arleigh Burke. Mrs Mllton Mules Matron of Honor After graduatmg from Cornell Unlverslty In 1925 Wllma Bully Mules set out on the flrst of what would soon become a llfetlme of journeys and adventures In the beglnnrng her travel companlon was her husband Ensign Milton Mules Later their entourage grew to Include three young sons Whether journeylng In and out of China durmg the turbulent 1920s and 30s or across Asla by tram and ammunltlon truck just before World War II Bully Mules was never one to say no to a new experience Durmg the war years Mrs Mules earned a Masters degree In Home Economics from Columbia Umverslty and began a twelve year volunteer stunt as Chairman of the Washington D C Red Cross Nutrltlon Service There she met Mrs Burke and the two became good frlends It was Mrs Burke who drew the Illustrations for the natronally circulated Nutrltlon Servlce brochure It was also Mrs Burke who patiently taught the youngest Mules sons to play the accordion Mrs Mules husband, Vlce Admlral Milton Mules, dled In 1961, shortly after hrs retirement from the Navy Today, Mrs Mules continues her Interests In good friends, good food and good travel. She has four grandsons and one great granddaughter