Albert C. Burley – Captain, United States Navy

From a contemporary press report:

Albert C. “Ace” Burley, 77, a submariner who served in the Navy for more  than 25 years before retiring in 1968 as a captain, died of cardiac arrest November 1, 1998  at Inova Fairfax Hospital, Virginia. He lived in Alexandria.

After retiring from active Navy duty, Captain Burley spent a year as a civilian consultant to the Defense Department, then was a tax consultant and trainer with H&R Block Co. from 1970 to 1975.

He was a substitute math teacher at Mount Vernon and Groveton High schools from 1968 to 1976 and had coached boys and girls softball teams in the Mount Vernon-Lee District from 1964 to 1976.

He also had studied toward a master’s degree in mathematics at George Mason University until forced to curtail his activities after learning he had cancer in the mid-1970s.

Captain Burley, who was born in Buffalo, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis in 1942. He then served nine war patrols as an officer aboard submarines in the Pacific during World War II. He received the Bronze Star with combat “V.”

After the war, he served aboard subs in Europe and became a submarine executive officer before working on anti-submarine warfare in the Bureau of Ordnance. He returned to sea in 1951, serving and commanding a radar picket sub before serving from 1955 to 1957 as an ordnance and gunnery instructor at Annapolis. Later posts included command of a submarine division and a tour as technical adviser for the movie “Battle of the Coral Sea.”

He also served as executive officer of an anti-submarine warfare school, commanded the amphibious dock landing ship Alamo and was head of the logistics planning branch in the office of the chief of Naval Operations before retiring from active duty.

Survivors include his wife of 53 years, the former Mary Ann    Bartholomew, of Alexandria; two sons, Albert Jr., of Wilmington, N.C., and Michael, of Alexandria; six daughters, Terri Burley-Anderson of Alachua, Fla., Ann Burns of St. Claire, Mich., Janet Drury of Reston, Mary Lou D’Agostino of Bowie, and Margaret Burley and Patricia Suhy, both of Alexandria; a brother, Charles, of Rochester, N.Y.; three sisters, Ninor Mansius of Rockville, Clara Tullar of Winter Springs, Fla., and Patricia Barnes of High Springs, Fla.; and 14 grandchildren.

BURLEY, ALBERT C. ”Ace” CAPT, USN (Ret.)

On Sunday, November 1, 1998 (All Saints Day), at Fairfax Hospital. Beloved husband of Mary Ann Burley; loving father of Margaret Burley, Patricia Suhy, Terri Burley-Anderson, Janet Drury, Ann Burns, Albert C. Burley, Jr., Michael Burley and Mary Lou D’Agostino; brother of Ninor Mansius, Clara Tullar, Patricia Barnes and Charles Burley. Also survived by 14 grandchildren.

Mass of Christian Burial will be offered on Friday, November 13 at 11 a.m. at St. Louis Catholic Church, 2907 Popkins Lane, Alexandria, VA. Reception will follow Mass from 12 Noon to 2 p.m. Interment at Arlington National Cemetery at 3 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Poor Clare Monastery, 2505 Stonehedge Dr., Alexandria, VA  22306 or the American Kidney Association, 5335 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Suite 830, Washington, DC 20015-2030.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard