Cooper Buck Bright

CHARLOTTE HALL - Cooper Buck Bright, Captain USN (Retired), 98, died May 1, 2007, at the Charlotte Hall Veterans Home, Charlotte Hall.

Mr. Bright was born in Wildwood, N.J., on Jan. 31, 1909, one of six siblings including a twin brother, Ward. He was the son of a prominent New Jersey family. His father, William H. Bright, was Cape May County state senator in the 1920s and served as president of the upper house. His mother, Priscilla F. Buck Bright, ran the family real estate business and was a women's suffrage activist.

Mr. Bright with his brother, Ward, attended Staunton Military Academy in Staunton, Va., beginning in 1921. They graduated in 1927 as certified second lieutenants in the U.S. Army Infantry Reserve. He graduated with a bachelor of arts from Rutgers University in 1931.

During the Depression, he lived in Wildwood and Wildwood Crest, working in the family real estate business, built and operated a yacht marina, served as a sales manager for Curtis Publishing Co., and operated a fishing party boat during the summers.

His penchant for seeking creative solutions to problems resulted in his invention and patenting of an internal combustion, free piston engine, which was later sold to the American Machine and Foundry Corp.

Mr. Bright joined the Navy immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Four of his siblings also enlisted in the armed forces at that time. Mr. Bright spent the war years aboard the USS Yorktown (CV10), known as the "Fighting Lady." He was awarded 11 battle stars and the Bronze Star during that time. His leadership role in air operations aboard the Yorktown has been immortalized in a film entitled "The Fighting Lady." Also three books were written about his role -"Fighting Lad" and "On the Warpath in the Pacific," both by Clark G. Reynolds; and "Carrier War" by Joseph Bryan. Mr. Bright's achievements are part of the history told to visitors to the USS Yorktown, which is now part of the floating museum at Patriots Point near Charleston, S.C.

Mr. Bright made the Navy his career after the war, and worked at the Office of Naval Research and its predecessor, the Office of Special Devices. He was involved in the development of low-frequency air search radar and directed its deployment on Navy lighter-than-air blimps.

He also served as executive officer aboard the USS Winston, and became part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission to the Middle East headed by Dr. Ralph Bunche. In 1950 he became the last free balloon officer pilot to be trained by the Navy at Lakehurst, N.J., qualifying him to wear the half wing and be recognized as an aviator.

Other career highlights include being commanding officer of the USS White Marsh (LSD8), an amphibious landing ship dock, and commanding the USS Wrangell (AE12), an ammunition ship operating out of Earle, N.J. He served on the Joint Chiefs of Staff and with the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, where he instituted operations research techniques in war gaming. He was a charter member of the Operations Research Society of America.

His favorite assignment was in 1961 when he served as naval aide to former President Harry S. Truman during the Kennedy inauguration. Another of his naval career high points was being sworn in as a captain by his sister, Capt. Joy Bright Hancock Ofstie. She was a founding member and later director of the WAVES. Mr. Bright is also recognized as an aviation innovator by the Ohio Aviation Museum in Columbus as one of the inventors of the U.S. Navy inflatable airplane and for using Navy blimps to carry the large low-frequency antennae for anti-submarine warfare.

After his retirement from the Navy in 1963, he again attended Rutgers University on the G.I. Bill and studied for his Ph.D. in political science. He subsequently served as head of the Center for Transportation Studies at Rutgers' Eagleton Institute of Practical Politics until his final retirement to his farm, "Drop Anchor," on Maryland's Eastern Shore in Dorchester County near Cambridge. There he spent his days with his wife, Mary Williams Bright, restoring an old farmhouse and enjoying life on the Chesapeake Bay. He also served on the County Soil Conservation District Committee and was president of the Dorchester Democratic Club.

He is survived by a son, Richard D. Bright and daughter-in-law Sally S. Bright, of Cambridge; and a granddaughter, April B. Baer and great-grandson, Cooper H. Baer of Ellicott City. He is also survived by three nieces, Joy Bright Mosley, Priscilla Bright Varecha, and Ann Allen Meyenburg; and one nephew, Noble Bright Jr.

In addition to his wife, he was preceded in death by two brothers, Ward and Noble; and three sisters, Honor Bright Allen, Eloise Bright, and Joy Bright Hancock Ofstie.

The family will receive friends for a memorial gathering at noon on May 20, at Drop Anchor farm near Cambridge.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the George F. Boyer Museum, c/o the Wildwood Historical Society, 3907 Pacific Ave., Wildwood, NJ 08260.