WASHINGTON (AP) — Keith Fuller, a World War II bombardier who rose to the presidency of The Associated Press, was laid to rest Friday with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

Fuller, who ran the world's largest newsgathering organization for almost a decade, was hailed as an "American hero" by his friend and colleague, AP special correspondent Hugh Mulligan. Fuller died June 7, 2002.

Mulligan said Fuller's modesty prevented him from bragging about his war heroism or his many honors.

"When Keith became president of the AP, he did not decorate his office with pictures of himself shaking hands with presidents and world leaders or plaques and awards from various press and freedom organizations," Mulligan said at a memorial service. Instead, behind his desk hung a large painting of the sailboat they shared.

"Keith led us through dramatic and difficult times," current president and chief executive officer Louis D. Boccardi said. "We share in his loss and salute his memory."

Fuller's widow, Mattisue Scott, received the traditional American flag from the grave site honor guard. Fuller is also survived by a daughter, Barbara Jean Basler; and two sons, Geoffrey and Andrew.

Under his leadership, AP increased the number of its overseas bureaus, expanded the range of live broadcast news and took the first steps toward diversifying its sources of income. When he took the helm in 1976, AP served newspapers with just over 70 percent of the country's daily circulation. By the time he retired in 1985, the AP had reached 90 percent.

After his retirement, he served for 10 years on the board of directors of Gannett. He was succeeded at AP by Boccardi.

Before becoming chief executive, Fuller had been AP's personnel director, negotiating union contracts, and took charge of Wide World Photos, AP's commercial photo arm, and Newsfeatures.

He joined the AP in 1949 in New Orleans and worked at bureaus in Jackson, Miss.; Texas; New Mexico; Little Rock, Ark.; and Denver.

During World War II, Fuller went overseas with the Eighth Air Force as a navigator-bombardier on a B-17. On his 10th mission with the 457th Bomb Group, his plane caught fire from flak, and he bailed out over Nazi-occupied France. Fuller spent the next 14 months in a series of Stalag-lufts, POW camps for airmen, until U.S. Third Army tanks battered down the gates of Stalag VIII-A, outside Munich.

Certain that he would not survive the camp's liberation, Fuller ventured out from beneath his bunk only when he saw Gen. George S. Patton himself, in full military regalia with ivory-handled pistols, handing out C-rations to the jubilant inmates.

"He had a real affection for AP foreign correspondents and the dramatic, exciting lives they led; perhaps because the most dramatic, unspoken action of his life happened overseas, in wartime Europe," Mulligan said.

"He loved inviting foreign correspondents on home leave out for a sail on his boat. The rougher the waves and the wind, the better. Getting seasick kept them humble, he said. Even if he did have to clean up the deck."

Mulligan said Fuller remained at heart a Kansas farm boy. He once assigned Mulligan, a New York City native and Harvard graduate, to spend a week on a wheat farm watching the big machinery at harvest time. In the story, Mulligan quoted a Willa Cather poem about wheat farming. "He loved it and on the boat made me often recite it," Mulligan said.

Mulligan said Fuller struck up an unlikely friendship with Gen. William Westmoreland late in life after the two men "had almost been at war for years over our relentlessly unbiased and to many of the brass unpatriotic coverage of Vietnam."

Fuller enjoyed negotiations with the labor unions, he said. "To him, it was another poker game and with that innocent smile he was a born Mississippi River gambler. He borrowed so many cigarettes off the union negotiators that they were glad to settle for a quick contract — and this was long before they were seven bucks a pack." (July 26, 2002)

Related stories:
Keith Fuller, former president of The Associated Press, dies at age 79 (June 7, 2002)
Edited remarks of Hugh A. Mulligan (July 26, 2002)
Photos of the service are posted on an unofficial Arlington Cemetery Web site.