NORFOLK, Va. - A year has passed since the tragic loss of 24-year-old Master-at-Arms 2nd Class Mark A. Mayo, a named hero whose life was taken during an act of selflessness to save another Sailor’s life.
It was March 24, 2014, when Jeffrey Tyrone Savage, a non-Department of Defense civilian, gained unauthorized access to Naval Station (NAVSTA) Norfolk and Pier 1, the location where Mayo was on duty that night as chief of the guard.
As Savage boarded USS Mahan, moored at Pier 1, he attacked and disarmed the ship’s duty petty officer of the watch (POW) where Mayo then put himself between Savage and the POW, giving his own life to ensure the safety of the Sailors on board the ship.
“Every single time I read the story and I think about all the things that went wrong, I can’t help but think there are several people that wish they could turn back the clock,” said Senior Chief Master-at-Arms Jerry Mosley, Regional Security leading chief petty officer. “It’s so important that we do the right thing when it comes to security. This could have happened anywhere.
It comes down to doing the right thing every time...lives depend on it!”
In the memorial service aboard NAVSTA Norfolk following Mayo’s death, he was named a “hero,” and “courageous,” by NAVSTA Norfolk’s Commanding Officer Capt. Robert Clark, who went on to talk about Mayo’s self-sacrificing morals that he lived by day-to-day, saying, “he made a split-second decision to act and benefit more than just himself. This type of courage cannot be taught, it is something that resides deep within and is displayed without conscious thought. It is the decision to render aid when many would watch from the sidelines.”
In the year following Mayo’s death, his memory has not only lived on through the lives of his family friends, but through his shipmates as well. In honor of Mayo, Navy master-at-arms can still be seen wearing police badges with a black horizontal strip crossing over the badge; he was posthumously awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal; NAVSTA Norfolk ran their St. Patrick’s Day Run for the Green 5K run in his honor; a memorial unveiling ceremony took place at Naval Technical Training Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland; and many more different ceremonies, plaques, photos, pages, and social media sites have been made in his honor.
“MA2 Mayo’s unselfish act showed volumes of who he was as a person and as a Sailor,” said Mosley. “I think when there are lives on the line, the instinct to do the right thing without hesitation, is something that we all have inside of us, and Mayo definitely displayed that March 24, 2014.”
Mayo was laid to rest, April 25, 2014 at Arlington National Cemetery.
| Date Taken: | 03.24.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.24.2015 13:55 |
| Story ID: | 157902 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 147 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Naval Station Norfolk remembers fallen Sailor, by SCPO Molly Burgess, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
LEAVE A COMMENT