Vice Adm. W. P. Lawrence, POW and Naval Academy head

Vice Adm. William Porter Lawrence, a Vietnam prisoner of war, former U.S. Naval Academy superintendent and father of an astronaut, died of natural causes Friday at his home in Crownsville. He was 75.

Admiral Lawrence had an illustrious 34-year career in the Navy, beginning as a test pilot after he graduated from the Naval Academy and ending as the deputy chief of naval operations.

But he was most famous for his perseverance during six years as an American POW during the Vietnam War, when he endured torture at the hands of the North Vietnamese.

"He's probably the greatest man I've ever known in my life," said Arizona Sen. John McCain, who spent almost six years with Lawrence in the infamous Hanoi Hiltonprison. "It was his constant, steadfast, inspirational, yet very rational leadership that guided many of us through some very difficult times."

Admiral Lawrence was born in Nashville, Tenn., on Jan. 13, 1930. As a young man, he excelled academically and athletically, standing out as a football, basketball and baseball player at West End High School. He turned down a scholarship to Yale University to attend the Naval Academy, where he played all three sports, was elected class president, rose to the rank of brigade commander -- the highest-ranking midshipman -- and finished eighth academically in a graduating class of 725.

Together with H. Ross Perot, the Dallas billionaire and two-time presidential candidate, he helped develop the academy's Honor Concept, which allowed midshipmen to police themselves for conduct such as cheating.

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