Chief's Mess aboard the USS Wisconsin (BB-64) hosts groups of CPO Selectees

Photo By Max Lonzanida | BTCS(SW) Thomas Dandes (Ret.), the co-chair for the 18th Annual CPO Heritage Days training event, presented a first person narrative account of the fateful actions of Chief Water Tender Peter Tomich, who perished aboard the USS Utah (BB-31/AG-16) during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Dandes provided the presentation in the Chief’s Mess aboard the USS Wisconsin (BB-64), a space that is generally closed to the publich. Dandes is dressed in the US Navy dungaree uniform, and had the opportunity to demonstrate the uniform’s lack of sweat wicking abilities. The Hampton Roads Naval Museum, in conjunction with local Chief Petty Officers and Nauticus, hosted the annual CPO Heritage Days event, which provides history and heritage training for CPO selectees over the course of three days. This years event was held on August 21-23, 2018, and attracted over 840 CPO Selectees from 58 area and out of state commands. (US Navy Photo by Civilian Public Affairs Officer Max Lonzanida/Released)  

NORFOLK, VA, UNITED STATES

08.28.2018

Story by Max Lonzanida  

Naval History and Heritage Command

The Hampton Roads Naval Museum’s 18th Annual Chief Petty Officer Heritage Days was held on August 21-23, 2018. This year’s event set a new record, with over 840 Chief Petty Officer Selectees participating from 58 US Navy Commands. The event is proudly hosted by the museum, local Chief Petty Officers, and Nauticus aboard the USS Wisconsin (BB-64) and the adjoining pavilion. According to the event’s co-chair, BTCS(SW) Thomas Dandes (Ret.), the three-day event “is an opportunity for Chief selectees to connect with their history and gain insight into being a chief, which will help them become stronger Navy leaders”.

After a muster before sunrise at Norfolk’s Town Point Park, CPO Selectees were divided into separate groups, and took to “moving with a purpose” across the gangway to the USS Wisconsin (BB-64). CPO Selectees had the rare opportunity to venture into spaces of the warship that are closed to the general public for historical presentations; one of those being the Chief’s Mess.

The cramped and stiflingly humid space of the Chief’s Mess did not deter the interest in a presentation about Chief Water tender Peter Tomich, who perished aboard the USS Utah (BB-31/AG-16) during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941. At the time, the Utah was utilized as a target ship, but that did not deter two torpedoes from sinking her during the attack. The event’s co-chair, Tom Dandes, provided some historical remarks about the sinking of the Utah and a somber narration in first person about the heroic and fateful efforts of Chief Water tender Peter Tomich.

Tomich immigrated to the U.S. from what is now Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is the federal agency tasked with providing immigration and naturalization services and benefits, provides the following summary of Tomich’s heroic actions:

Peter Tomich (Tonic) was born in 1893 in Prolog in what is now Bosnia-Herzegovina, near the Croatian border. He immigrated to the United States in 1913 and joined the U.S. Army in 1917. He became a U.S. citizen and, 10 days after his Army enlistment expired, joined the U.S. Navy. Tomich was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for actions he took during Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

“For distinguished conduct in the line of his profession, and extraordinary courage and disregard of his own safety, during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, by the Japanese forces on Dec. 7, 1941. Although realizing that the ship was capsizing, as a result of enemy bombing and torpedoing, Chief Water tender Tomich remained at his post in the engineering plant of the U.S.S. UTAH (AG-16), until he saw that all boilers were secured and all fireroom personnel had left their stations, and by so doing lost his own life”. -From Peter Tomich's Medal of Honor Citation.

Adding to the authenticity of Dandes’ presentation was the dungaree uniform that he donned. The humidity inside the Chief’s Mess demonstrated uniform’s lack of sweat wicking ability. According to the Naval History and Heritage Command:

Dungarees, a denim, bell-bottomed working uniform with a blue over shirt existed in the Navy from 1913 to 1999. At the time, they were well suited to naval environments due to their simple and durable design.

Dandes pointed out that the khaki colored Chief’s hat was a distinguishing factor of the dungaree uniform.

Also present in the Chief’s Mess and assisting Dandes with his historical first person narration, was Electronics Technician Chief Cheyenne Shasky, from the Mid-Atlantic Maintenance Center. ETC Shasky, like Dandes, was dressed in period specific uniform; and donned a uniform that embodied the cultural icon during WWII; Rosie the Riveter.

An excerpt from Megan Churchwell, Museum Curator at the Naval History & Heritage Command’s Puget Sound Naval Museum, provides some historical context with regard to Rosie the Riveter:

With many civilian jobs vacated by men headed off to war, women performed jobs that were previously reserved only for men, working as mechanics, chemists, welders, and electricians. A woman who toiled in the defense industry came to be known as “Rosie the Riveter,” a term popularized by a 1942 hit song of the same name. This time around, the Navy organized to recruit women into a separate women’s auxiliary, rather than in the regular Navy. On July 30, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Public Law 689, creating the Navy’s women reserve program. These women were known as Women Appointed for Voluntary Emergency Service (or WAVES, for short).

Before the presentation concluded, Dandes hit home with many CPO selectees inside of the Chief’s Mess regarding an urn that went down with the USS Utah on that fateful day. The urn contained the ashes of Nancy Lynne Wagner, who was born premature in the Philippines. Baby Nancy died shortly after her birth. Nancy, and her surviving twin, Mary, were the daughters of US Navy Chief Yeoman Albert Wagner. The original plan was for Nancy’s ashes to be scattered at sea in a memorial service by the ship’s chaplain. The urn was stored in Chief Wagner’s footlocker aboard the ship until the ceremony could be arranged. During the attack on Pearl Harbor, Chief Wagner was able to escape from the capsizing ship; however Baby Nancy’s urn, along with over 60 crewmembers, and Chief Water Tender Tomich, were entombed on the ship.

About the Museum:

The Hampton Roads Naval Museum is one of ten Navy museums that are operated by the Naval History & Heritage Command. It celebrates the long history of the U.S. Navy in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia and is co-located with Nauticus in downtown Norfolk, Virginia. Admission to the museum is free, simply by-pass the ticket line and take the stairs or elevator to the museum on the second deck. The museum hosts a robust educational program for area schools and commands, with free educational programs to area schools aligned with state curriculum standards, a travelling sea chest program, a premier Lego outreach program, and historical presentations for area commands. To inquire, contact their Educational Director, Laura Orr at [e-mail] or at [phone]. The museum is also host to a robust volunteer corps, who serve as docents, support special events, and assist in museum archives. To inquire, contact their Volunteer Coordinator, Darcy Sink at [e-mail] or at [phone]. Lastly the museum proudly hosts military ceremonies, such as re-enlistments, retirements, and promotions for area commands aboard the U.S.S Wisconsin and in the museum’s gallery. To inquire, contact their special events coordinator, Tom Dandes at [e-mail] or call [phone].

• Date Taken: 08.28.2018
• Date Posted: 08.28.2018 12:59
• Story ID: 290620
• Location: NORFOLK, VA, US