Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Trey Hutcheson | 190410-N-VQ790-1127 WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (April 10, 2019) Airman Apprentice Dylan Nieves,...... read more read more
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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - (April 16, 2019) – The date is June 17, 2017. Sailors of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) awaken from a well-deserved night’s rest to their ship abruptly shaking and water rushing into the berthing compartment. Seven Sailors lost their lives the night the Fitzgerald collided with the Philippine-flagged merchant vessel ACX Crystal.
While we remember all of the Sailors who lost their lives that fateful day, one Sailor stands out because of his heroic actions. Fire Controlman 1st Class Gary Rehm Jr., from Elyria, Ohio, had an unfulfilled promise to his parents, and his shipmates took up the charge of keeping it.
Rehm’s parents, Gary Rehm Sr. and Anita Rehm, receive support from programs like the Navy Gold Star program.
“When the chaplain came to our house on Father’s Day of 2017, the first thing he said was that we are now gold star parents,” said Anita Rehm. “He handed us the two gold stars and my first initial thought was, I handed them back and said I don’t want the gold star. I want my son. That was the very first we ever knew of gold stars.”
The Navy Gold Star program has provided the Rehms with event invitations to honor their loved one and phone numbers of people to call for support, but one Sailor aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) organized a group of Sailors to fulfill Gary Rehm Jr.’s promise of getting his parents a new fence.
“I got involved with helping Gary and Anita because their son and I were roommates in “A” school,” said Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Equipment) 1st Class Robert Van, from Tulare, California, the leading petty officer of preventative maintenance team 11. “On the weekends we used to go back to his house back in Ohio, and I got to know his family. Shortly after he passed, we did a couple of fundraising events to replace the fence, because that was one of the things he wanted to do before he passed. We came out to cut a tree down and in the process, we kind of destroyed their shed, so we told them we would replace their shed. [We] got the money, replaced the shed; now we just need to build it.”
Rehm was a father figure to his younger shipmates and was willing to help them with anything they needed.
“I am very proud to know someone like Gary,” said Van. “He was somebody that you could have gone to at any time of the day. Regardless of rank or whether you worked for him, he would help you. He was that type of Sailor. If you need help on your car over the weekend, he would be there, and he loved doing that stuff.”
Rehm’s parents are part of a much larger family now, the Navy family, and will receive continued support from them.
“It is an immense feeling,” said Anita Rehm. “They stick together. We were told the Navy is always a family for us. I didn’t realize it at first, but it’s been tremendous.”
Through the actions of a few Sailors, they were able to show how much the Navy cares about their shipmates.
“Helping someone with something they may not be able to do at that time or just being there to support them goes a long way,” said Van. “The Navy, as a family, you try to be there for each other. If somebody is in need, it doesn’t matter if they are at a different division, department, or ship. They are your brothers and sisters and should be doing everything we can for one another.”
Join the conversation with GW online at www.facebook.com/USSGW and www.twitter.com/GW_CVN73. For more news from USS George Washington, visit www. Navy.mil/local/cvn73/.
| Date Taken: | 04.16.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 04.24.2019 13:30 |
| Story ID: | 319268 |
| Location: | NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 58 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, For The Fallen: Sailors Lend a Hand, by PO1 Trey Hutcheson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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