Navy divers remembered

Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class STEVEN HOSKINS | Cmdr. Michael Runkle, commanding officer, Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2, delivers remarks during a memorial service held at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story for Navy Diver 1st Class James Reyher and Navy Diver 2nd Class Ryan Harris, from MDSU 2, who died Feb. 26. MDSU 2 is an expeditionary mobile diving unit homeported at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Ft Story in Virginia Beach Va. and has successfully conducted salvage operations to support TWA Flight 800, Swiss Air Flight 111, the space shuttles Challenger and Colombia and the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2rd Class Steven C. Hoskins/Released)  

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA, UNITED STATES

03.14.2013

Story by Lt. Nathan Potter 

Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group Two

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2 held a memorial service for two navy divers aboard Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Ft. Story, March 14.

The ceremony honored two navy divers who died while conducting dive operations at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland last month.

Honored during the memorial service were Navy Diver 1st Class James Reyher, 28, of Caldwell, Ohio, and Navy Diver 2nd Class Ryan Harris, 23, of Gladstone, Mo. Reyher and Harris died while diving at Aberdeen Proving Ground’s Underwater Explosion Test Facility also known as the Super Pond, Feb. 26.

Cmdr. Michael Runkle, commanding officer, MDSU 2, spoke of the challenges Navy Divers face and offered words of comfort to the crowd of more than 400 service members, civilians, families and friends.

"We come together to honor ND1 James Reyher and ND2 Ryan Harris, two extraordinary men who made the ultimate sacrifice serving as Navy divers," said Runkle. "These heroes and those like them understand and accepted dangers, not for fame or fortune, but for their friends, for their families, and for their country."

The memorial included remembrances and sea stories of Reyher and Harris from fellow Navy Divers and concluded with the playing of taps.

An investigation to determine the cause of the accident is currently ongoing and is being conducted by Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group (EODGRU) 2.

MDSU 2 is an expeditionary mobile diving unit homeported at Joint Expeditionary Base, Little Creek-Ft. Story in Virginia Beach, Va. and has successfully conducted salvage operations to support TWA Flight 800, Swiss Air Flight 111, the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, and the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor.

For more news from MDSU 2 and EODGRU 2, visit www.navy.mil/local/eod2/.

• Date Taken: 03.14.2013
• Date Posted: 03.18.2013 13:20
• Story ID: 103663
• Location: VIRGINIA BEACH, VA, US