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Off the coast of San Diego, beneath an overcast sky, the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) cruised across the deep-blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. On the ship’s aircraft elevator, at aft portside, Sailors stood at attention in their dress white uniforms. The silence was broken by a reading of the Psalms by Cmdr. Leslie Sias, Roosevelt’s command chaplain.
Capt. Pete Riebe, executive officer of Theodore Roosevelt, spoke the solemn words: “All personnel present, request permission to bury the dead.”
Seventeen Sailors, two Marines, and two military spouses’ remains were committed to the sea in a burial at sea ceremony, May 7.
“As a Navy chaplain, my focus is to care for the living, and honor those who have served before us,” said Sias. “I am reminded of their sacrifice and the impact their memory will make on future generations.”
During the ceremony, Sias read aloud the names of the veterans and service members’ spouses as Sailors respectfully carried their remains across a red-carpeted platform to the edge of the ship and committed them to sea, with a final salute.
Capt. Carlos Sardiello, commanding officer of Theodore Roosevelt, said taps marks the last reveille, signifying the long, ultimate sleep of death as well as the hope and confidence of the life hereafter.
“I was holding a person’s life, essentially, in my hands, and that felt heavier than anything I had experienced,” said Airman Hayley Seibel, an urn bearer during the ceremony. “It was humbling to be a part of it.”
According to Lt. Cmdr. Ken Espinosa, a chaplain from Roosevelt’s command religious ministry department, burials at sea provide closure for the veterans families. They also provide one last tribute to the families' loved ones who served their country.
“I believe moments like a burial at sea remind me of what matters and what doesn’t,” said Espinosa. “Honoring these men and women who sacrificed much encourages me in some ways to focus on things that matter.”
The burial at sea was a tremendous blessing for the family members as each family respected the request of the deceased, and honored their loved ones’ service to the nation, said Sias.
Historically, the burial at sea tradition was used because ships lacked a proper means to bury mariners. As early as World War II, the Navy has been observing formal burials at sea. The ceremony has since become one of the highest honors paid to former service members, according to navy.mil.
“The sea carried the veterans away from home, and away from those they love,” said Seibel. “But the sea challenged them, shaped them, and took them to places they had never seen, and situations they had never experienced.”
After the veterans and military spouses’ remains were committed to the deep, Theodore Roosevelt’s rifle guard honored the dead with a rifle salute.
“I believe the service members we’re holding the burial for, like us, volunteered to serve our country and, one way or another, they have impacted our military and paved the way for future military members,” said Chief Logistics Specialist Ryan Asiatico, rifle guard leader. “What better way to thank them and render them final honors, volunteering to be part of their final rites.”
The ceremony ended with a playing of taps on a bugle by Logistics Specialist 3rd Class Zachary Nice.
“It was an honor being part of such a time-honored tradition,” said Nice. “It was also an honor being able to send off the veterans who have gone before us in such a respectful way.”
Family members of those who were honored were given nautical charts pinpointing the location in which their loved ones were laid to rest. More than 50 Theodore Roosevelt Sailors volunteered to participate in the ceremony.
“It is an opportunity to honor a fellow service member and is a sobering reminder of the unique fraternity of which all of us are a part,” said Espinosa.
| Date Taken: | 05.12.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 10.17.2019 12:00 |
| Story ID: | 348011 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 124 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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