Photo By Petty Officer 3rd Class Akinwande Ayeni | 231203-N-SX495-1052 PHILIPPINE SEA (Dec. 3, 2023) Ensign Jacob Nilsson, from...... read more read more
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PHILIPPINE SEA – It was a cool and sunny Sunday afternoon in the Philippine Sea, Dec. 3, when sailors aboard Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG 104) gathered on the flight deck to honor the life of Cmdr. Jeffrey Nilsson during a burial-at-sea ceremony. The late Nilsson was a retired naval officer with more than 40 years of service to the United States.
For one Sterett sailor, the ceremony was much more than honoring a shipmate. It served as one final goodbye, according to Ensign Jacob Nilsson, grandson of the late Nilsson.
“I grew up in a huge Navy family and he [late Cmdr. Nilsson] would have loved every second of this,” said Nilsson. “He [late Cmdr. Nilsson] loved everything about the Navy and I know looking down, he would be so happy about today.”
The ceremony began as the word was passed on the ship’s mass communication system, “All Hands, bury the dead.” At this call, the U.S. flag was lowered to half-mast, and sailors, dressed to the nines in their dress blues, began to honor the life and service of late Cmdr. Nilsson.
“Burial at sea is a long-standing Navy tradition for as long as seafarers have gone out to sea,” said Cmdr. Jason Garfield, Sterett commanding officer. “However, this ceremony means even more for this crew, knowing we had the privilege to honor an officer and a family with such a proud lineage of service to both our Navy and our nation.”
Late Cmdr. Nilsson’s naval service spanned more than 40 years and paygrades from Seaman Recruit to the rank of Commander. Specializing in intelligence, Nilsson helped to establish the command known today as the Joint Interagency Task Force – South (JIATF-S).
As the ceremony proceeded and in unison, the pall bearers lifted the remains and slowly walked across the flight deck to the port side edge. The entire procession maintained solemn salutes as sailors released the remains, committing them to their final resting place. Finally, Garfield presented Ensign Nilsson with a commemorative U.S. flag in honor of his grandfather’s service to the United States.
“It meant a lot, especially being freshly checked aboard,” said Nilsson. “The amount of support, how much people have cared and the effort that was put into the ceremony today was just amazing and I couldn’t be more grateful for a better command.”
Ensign Nilsson credits part of his decision to join the Navy to both his grandfather and father, both of whom served as naval officers.
“At the root of it all was those two,” Nilsson continued. “I grew up around it [the navy], always living by a beach and seeing the ships, always around a base and hearing the sea stories from my dad and granddad. It was something I always knew I wanted to do and I’m grateful that I get to do it now.”
Nilsson said at the end of the day, he hopes the sunset tonight is perfect. “One of the first things I ever learned about the Navy was the sunsets underway. My granddad had thousands of pictures of the sunsets underway and I remember sitting for hours looking through them. So I hope we have a good one tonight.”
Fortunately for Ensign Nilsson, the day ended with a display of reds and oranges across the sky, reflecting atop the blue Philippine Sea; fitting enough to add yet another photo to the Nilsson family album of underway sunsets.
Sterett is assigned to Carrier Strike Group ONE (CSG) 1 and is currently deployed to U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of free and open Indo-Pacific. CSG-1 is a multiplatform team of ships and aircraft, capable of carrying out a wide variety of missions around the globe from combat missions to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief response.
For more news from CSG-1, visit http://www.dvidshub.net/unit/CSG1.
| Date Taken: | 12.03.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 12.04.2023 04:53 |
| Story ID: | 459015 |
| Location: | PHILIPPINE SEA |
| Web Views: | 732 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Sterett Honors Sailor’s Grandfather During Burial-at-Sea, by PO1 Charles J Scudella III, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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