Stocksdale Cadets Lend Hand at WWII Memorial Dedication

Sea Power, Jul 2004 by Atkinson, Peter E

Sea service veterans of old and sailors and Marines of the future played a part in the ceremonies around Washington, D.C., during the recent Memorial Day weekend.

This year's celebration in the nation's capital was more extensive than usual because of the dedication of the new World War II Memorial on the National Mall and the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, which drew veterans of all the services from around the world.

A group of about 50 cadets from the Vice Adm. James B. Stocksdale Division of the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, and another dozen or so chaperones, traveled from Syracuse, N.Y., to help out at the World War II Memorial dedication. The division is sponsored by the Navy League's Central New York Council.

The cadets, under the direction of commanding officer Lt. Cmdr. Peggy A. Farnsworth, USNSCC, handed out programs, assisted with seating, gave directions, got water and did "whatever we could do to help the veterans," at the May 29 dedication ceremony, said division Chief Petty Officer James W. Hurley.

"It was amazing. Just to see the gleam in the veterans' eyes at the dedication was awesome. You could see that this meant a lot to them," he said. "It was well worth the effort."

That one day's work was actually more than three years in the making, as preparations for the trip began soon after ground was broken on the site, according to Central New York Council youth coordinator Peter J. Soler.

"I was in town for a reunion of the Lansdale" said Soler, a World War II veteran who was serving aboard the destroyer when it was sunk by German torpedo bombers in the Mediterranean Sea while on convoy duty April 20, 1944. "And I attended the groundbreaking for the memorial and thought it would be a good idea to get the cadets down here for the dedication.

"Kids of that age know very little about the events of World War II and I thought it would be a good learning experience."

He took the matter up with Rick Wieczorek, the division's operations and recruiting officer, who concurred and who then "took the ball and ran with it."

That effort involved fund-raising, logistics, publicity and, in many cases, the kindness of strangers. After a slow start, a local newspaper ran an article about the cadet campaign, "And that opened the floodgates and got a lot of private contributions," said Soler, who recently had the cadet Training Ship MCPO P J Soler named in his honor.

As the dedication drew closer, the cadets got a huge hand from Naval District Washington, with Commandant Rear Adm. Jan Cody Gaudio, Command Master Chief Susan C. Sanson and other service officials in the area helping ease the potentially staggering cost of transporting, feeding and housing the cadets. They were offered free berthing aboard the museum ship USS Barry, which is docked at the Washington Navy Yard. They also were invited to dine at the nearby Marine Corps Barracks.

"I called down here and told them our story and asked, 'Can you do anything?'" Soler said. "They really went to bat for us."

Along with providing service during the memorial dedication, the cadets were able to see some of the sights around Washington, and spent the morning after the ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery before heading home.

"It was great," said Hurley. "We had a lot of 11-to-13-year-olds with us who had never been to Washington, and we were able to see a lot, so it was definitely a learning experience for all of us."

The trip to Washington served a dual purpose for Soler, a former master chief petty officer, who also attended the latest reunion of the Landsdale, one of the many reunions that were held around the city in concert with the World War II Memorial dedication.

Midway Veterans Honored

One of the more prominent reunions was held the day prior to the World War II Memorial dedication, when veterans of Midway marked the 62nd anniversary of the epic battle in a ceremony at the nearby Navy Memorial that featured Academy Award-nominated actor Tony Curtis, himself a Navy veteran of World War II (See In My Own Words, Page 56).

A group of more than a dozen Midway veterans braved threatening skies to take part in the ceremony - and a handful more were among the audience - that included a wreath laying at the Navy Memorial's Lone Sailor Statue to honor the service and sacrifice of those who fought over and near the tiny U.S. base at Midway Atoll in early June 1942.

"The significance of the Battle of Midway cannot be overstated," Lt. Gen. Michael A. Hough, deputy commandant for aviation at Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, told the gathering.

"It was a battle that changed the course of the nation and arguably the free world," added Guadio, who spoke at the ceremony.

Retired Navy Capt. John W. Crawford was aboard the USS Yorktown for the battle, during which the carrier, which had been hastily repaired after receiving damage in the Battle of the Coral Sea three months earlier, took bomb and torpedo hits. Although the Yorktown was lost - it was sunk two days later by a Japanese submarine - the Japanese Navy, by comparison, had four carriers sunk during the battle. It heralded a strategic turnaround for U.S. naval forces, giving them an offensive posture for the first time and, for that matter, the remainder of the war.