Photo By Chief Petty Officer Edward Kessler | Sailors of Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group stand at attention for reading...... read more read more
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group (NAVELSG) Sailors honored those who fought and died at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 with a remembrance ceremony at the NAVELSG drill deck in Cheatham Annex, Va. Dec. 5.
The ceremony featured guest speaker Master Chief Information Systems Technician James Leuci from Naval History Heritage Command (NHHC), a presentation on the attack, a moment of silence, and a reading of awards for all in attendance.
"The Navy in 1941 right before Pearl Harbor consisted of about half of the officers who were Naval Reserves and 15 percent of the Navy," Leuci. "By the wars end the Navy had grown to 3.8 million people, 84 percent of them were naval reservist."
To begin the ceremony, following the national anthem and benediction, the ceremony host, NAVELSG first class petty officers association, played a brief video of Presidents Roosevelt's famous speech given to Congress on Dec. 8, where he declared the 7th of December as a day of infamy and asked for war to be declared on Japan and the axis powers.
Following the opening remarks, Leuci gave a presentation on the role of the USS Ward (DD 139), credited with firing the first shot of WWII, the size of the Navy just prior to Americas entry into the war and how the reserves and Seabee's directly impacted and resulted from attacks that devastated the island and brought America into World War II.
"USS Ward was a WWI era destroyer built on Mare Island and decommissioned shortly after the war, placed in moth balls for 20 years," said Leuci. "She was pulled back into service in 1939, manned by active and reserve component Sailors."
Leuci continued to tell the story of the Ward, a crew made up 2/3's of reserve component Sailors from Minnesota, and her attack on one of Japans midget submarines. She fired a shot, hitting the conning tower and sinking it. For 61 years this claim was never able to be verified until 2002, when the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL) discovered the sub just outside of the harbor entrance to Pearl and confirmed the hit Ward made on the conning tower. Today that gun is on display in St. Paul, Minn.
The ceremony continued with a reading of the order of events during the battle, recognizing the account of 22 ships lost and damaged as well as recognizing eight sailors by reading their awards of valor and courage demonstrated that day.
"By understanding our heritage and the events that are important to our Navy," said Capt. Michael Stiglitz, Deputy Commander, NAVELSG, "as we move forward we need to keep those things in mind when we are called upon in times of crisis."
As the ceremony concluded, Sailors reflected on Dec.7 and the important role it plays in our Navy's history, and how passing that along to the next generation of Sailors is both challenging and important.
"One of the challenges is participation and leadership from the front," said Equipment Operator 1st Class Sam Sutheimer. "We always follow those who lead in front of us, and if everybody has the same sense of history and wanting to know where we came from, then that should just naturally trickle down to those behind us."
The attack on Pearl Harbor cost the lives of 2,341 service members, of which 2,001 were Sailors. 164 aircraft were destroyed and 12 ships were either sunk or breached during the attack.
NAVELSG is home ported in Williamsburg, Va., with an active battalion located at Cheatham Annex and forward-deployed detachments and reserve battalions located across the United States. NAVELSG provides Sailors with the knowledge and skills needed to support the Fleet's surface and air-handling mission. More than 100 Sailors and civilians work hand-in-hand with the Fleet and are dedicated to ensuring training is current and well executed on behalf of 3,500 active duty and reserve Sailors in the administration, logistics and training of their active and reserve components.
| Date Taken: | 12.08.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 12.08.2014 15:26 |
| Story ID: | 149682 |
| Location: | WILLIAMSBURG, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 70 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NAVELSG Sailors remember Pearl Harbor, by CPO Edward Kessler, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT