William P . Lawrence William Porter " Bill " Lawrence ( January 13 , 1930December 2 , 2005 ) , was a decorated United States Navy vice admiral and naval aviator who served as Superintendent of the U . S . Naval Academy from 1978 to 1981 . Lawrence was a noted pilot who became the first naval aviator to fly twice the speed of sound in a naval aircraft and was also one of the final candidates for the Mercury space program . During the Vietnam War , Lawrence was shot down while on a combat mission and spent six years as a prisoner of war , from 1967 to 1973 . During this time he became noted for his resistance to his captors . A graduate of the U . S . Naval Academy , Lawrence served as the school ' s Superintendent from 1978 to 1981 . Early life and education . Lawrence ' s parents and grandparents were from Tennessee . Lawrences father attended Vanderbilt University , where he was a noted student - athlete who graduated in 1924 . Lawrence was a native of Nashville , and attended local schools . When in the fourth grade , Lawrence composed a poem called " Little Fly " : Lawrence distinguished himself as a student athlete at Nashvilles West High School , and in 1947 turned down a scholarship at Yale University to attend the United States Naval Academy . Career . U . S . Naval Academy midshipman . Lawrence stood out as a varsity athlete in three sports at the Naval Academy , excelling in football , basketball , and baseball . During his time at the Academy , he held several high - ranking midshipman offices , including Commander of the Brigade of Midshipmen , President of the Class of 1951 , while also graduating number 8 academically 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 . Naval aviator . 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 , Maryland , where he received the Outstanding Student Award with the Test Pilot School Class 16 . When the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ) established the manned spaceflight program , Lawrence became part of Project Mercury and made it to the final round of candidates . He was released from the program only because of a small heart murmur discovered during flight training . Prisoner of War . In 1967 , then - Commander Lawrence was serving as commanding officer of Fighter Squadron 143 ( VF - 143 ) , aboard the aircraft carrier . On 28 June 1967 , Lawrence and his radar intercept officer , Lieutenant , junior grade James W . Bailey , were flying an F - 4B Phantom II aircraft , Bureau Number 152242 , while leading an antiaircraft suppression section during a raid northwest of Nam Dinh , North Vietnam . Struck by an 85 - mm round while rolling in on target . Despite failing hydraulics , Lawrence and Bailey released their bombs , but part of the aircrafts 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 in Hanoi until 1973 , during which time they suffered repeated torture and beatings . Along with fellow prisoner , naval aviator and Commander ( later Vice Admiral ) James Stockdale , Lawrence became noted for resistance to his captors . Additionally , he memorized every POW by name and rank while in captivity . He developed a code by tapping on the prison walls to communicate with other prisoners . Bailey was released on 18 February 1973 and Lawrence on 4 March 1973 . Author of Tennessee State Poem . While a prisoner of war , Lawrence mentally composed poetry to help keep up his spirits . During a 60 - day period of solitary confinement , he composed , by memory , the poem " Oh Tennessee , My Tennessee , " in honor of his native state . In 1973 , the Tennessee State Legislature adopted the poem as Tennessee ' s official state poem . Superintendent of the U . S . Naval Academy . Admiral Lawrence served as Superintendent of the U . S . Naval Academy from August 1978 to August 1981 . His daughter , Wendy Lawrence , attended the U . S . Naval Academy during that period as part of the Class of 1981 , the second USNA class to include female graduates . Like her father , she became a Naval Aviator and later applied to become a NASA astronaut . Unlike her father , she was selected as an astronaut and subsequently flew multiple Space Shuttle missions . She retired from the Navy as a Captain . Personal life . Family . Wendy B . Lawrence , one of Lawrence ' s daughters , graduated with the Naval Academy in 1981 and became a Naval Aviator and Astronaut , attaining the rank of Captain . Lawrence ' s other daughter , Dr . Laurie Lawrence , attended Vanderbilt University and is a physician at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center .