Wasp Remembers Sept. 11 and Navy Heroes

Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Koons | Chief Petty Officer (SW/AW) Jill Violini, cryptologic technician (collection), talks to the audience gathered in USS Wasp's hangar bay about the bravery displayed by New York City firemen following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks during a ceremony entitled "9/11 and Navy Hero Memorial," Sept. 10. During the event, Violini and other newly selected Wasp Chiefs talked about the heroism displayed by sailors and civilians during tragedies such as the Sept. 11 attacks, the attack on the USS Cole in 2000, and the USS Forrestal fire in 1967.  

NORFOLK, VA, UNITED STATES

09.10.2010

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Koons 

USS WASP (LHD 1)   

NORFOLK, Va. – History proves that acts of heroism can arise out of unspeakable tragedy. As the nation remembers the events of Sept. 11, 2001, sailors onboard USS Wasp held a ceremony Sept. 10 to pay tribute to those who have put their lives on the line to defend this nation during such turbulent times.

Dubbed “The 9/11 and Navy Hero Memorial Ceremony,” the event featured some of the ship’s recent class of new Chief Petty Officers, who were pinned Sept. 16, describing acts of heroism in American and U.S. Navy history. The ceremony focused on the actions of sailors and civilians during national tragedies such as the Sept. 11 attacks.

“On Sept. 11, 2001, we saw ordinary people choose duty in the face of death and loyalty to friends overwhelm all sense of danger, as the New York City firefighters searched tirelessly for their own,” said Capt. Lowell D. Crow, Wasp’s commanding officer, who spoke first. “Americans will be meeting like this every Sept. 11 to refresh our national memory of what we learned that day in 2001.”

Crow also talked about how the Sept. 11 attacks spurred a new generation of Americans to answer the call to serve in the nation’s military to help defend the country against any further attack by its enemies.

“We pay tribute to the service of a new ‘great’ generation, young Americans raised in a time of peace who saw their nation in its hour of need and said, ‘I am an American and I will do my part to defend this country,’” said Crow. “Let us renew the true spirit of that day; not the human capacity for evil, but the human capacity for good. Not the desire to destroy, but the impulse to save, to serve, and to build.”

During their presentations, the then Chief selects talked about how the efforts of junior sailors were instrumental in saving the lives of their shipmates as well as the ships themselves following events such as the Iraqi attack on the USS Stark in 1987 and the al-Qaeda attack on the USS Cole in 2000.

“It’s good to remember how sailors have reacted to past crises,” said Chief Petty Officer (AW) Morgan Foister, air traffic controller, who talked to the audience about the Stark tragedy. “There’s been many times when we’ve had to go from a normal work day to having to rise to the occasion, and every single time we’ve reacted exactly as we should have.”

For Chief Petty Officer (SW) Galen Draper, personnel specialist, it is a duty and honor to remember all those fighting for their nation in such critical times, and to serve in their footsteps.

“Today, we honor not just those who made the ultimate sacrifice, but also those who survived to tell the world their stories,” said Draper. “There is no greater heroism than self-sacrifice in the defense of family and country, and today we told the story of those heroes.”

• Date Taken: 09.10.2010
• Date Posted: 10.06.2010 11:21
• Story ID: 57599
• Location: NORFOLK, VA, US