Somber Graduation at Naval Academy

Under flags flying at half-staff on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy, a solemn Navy Secretary James H. Webb on Wednesday urged the 1,022 academy graduates to remember the sailors killed and injured in Sunday’s attack on the guided-missile frigate Stark, even as they rejoiced in their release from the rigors of the academy.

The accustomed exuberance of this day was tempered by the graduates’ knowledge that just three days earlier, 37 of their comrades in the Persian Gulf gave what a Navy chaplain, Capt. Byron Holderby, called “the full measure of devotion” to their country.

“We cannot escape the sadness brought on by the recent loss of so many of your shipmates in a faraway place,” said Webb, a Naval Academy graduate and a decorated Marine Corps combat officer. “There is a time for grieving, and we will remember the sacrifices of those aboard the Stark. But you will take nothing away from the greatness of that sacrifice by having the courage to celebrate your own accomplishments today.”

Bush Praises Victims

Vice President George Bush, delivering the commencement address, praised the Stark victims’ devotion to duty, and said: “We grieve with their families and join with the President in offering whatever comfort we can.”

He also told the young officers that they are entering a world marked by intense political, economic and military competition with the Soviet Union.

“We face an adversary that considers our decency and democratic values as weakness,” Bush said. “To them, struggle, violence and power over others is vital to success. The modern Soviet regime has been ideologically driven to expand its global reach, not shrinking from the use or threat of force.”

Bush called for dialogue with the Soviets and promised progress in arms control talks, but he emphasized the need to strengthen the nation’s nuclear and conventional forces. He also said that nuclear deterrence is not sufficient to guarantee American security, and he endorsed further research and testing of the Strategic Defense Initiative, the “Star Wars” space-based anti-missile system.

‘Effective Deterrent’

“Maybe not in the short term, but in the long term, SDI will be, in my view, an effective deterrent,” the vice president said. “Isn’t it better, as we move forward in the nuclear age, to put weapons at risk, not people?”

Bush, an unannounced candidate in next year’s presidential contest, said U.S. policy toward the Soviet Union must “start from the fact that we disagree with the Soviets on virtually every question of how human beings should govern themselves. . . . What’s more, this moral conflict may be irreconcilable.”

He welcomed recent signs of change in the Soviet Union under Mikhail S. Gorbachev. “But we shouldn’t kid ourselves into thinking that the next Soviet revolution is just around the corner. It’s not.”

Suggests Push From U.S.

However, Bush suggested, the United States can accelerate the Soviets’ liberalization by resisting their “aggressiveness” in the Third World, by expanding cultural and trade contacts with them and by pushing for human rights.

After the traditional hat toss that marks the end of the commissioning ceremony, some of the new officers said they remained mindful of the attack on the Stark as they prepared for their first duty.

“It just kind of reminded people of what we’re here for and what faces us when we get out there,” said Ens. Steve Battle, 23, of Salisbury, Md., who will serve as a surface warfare specialist on the destroyer Lawrence.

“It brings it home--where we’re going and what kinds of political hazards there are,” said Ens. Jim Matheson, 22, of Wooster, Ohio. “It just makes it more meaningful.”