When we visited the U.S.S.
Constitution a few weeks ago for Uncle Jack’s memorial, Commander Kearns
invited us to bring our Jack to the ship today.
Jack was too little to come along when Aunt Kelly, Uncle Rich, and I took
Nick on the July 4, 2010 turnaround cruise.
Today was the last sailing of Old Ironsides until 2018. The Navy is taking her into dry dock for the
next three years with the intention of restoring the ship to what she was like
during the war of 1812. Jack was really excited to sail on the ship. Vivian was too little to come along. Since I got to go before while Bernie stayed
with Jack, this time Bernie went and brought Tyler along too. As it would be the last voyage for some time,
many more invitations were issued than usual, and the ship was packed. Among
the many naval and civilian dignitaries on board were the Governor of Massachusetts,
the band Dropkick Murphys, and the 1981 Celtics NBA Trophy. When Deval Patrick entered and exited the
ship, it was announced “Massachusetts arriving” and “Massachusetts departing.” The
boys initially thought the whole state was going to board the ship.
Jack and Tyler were both
interviewed by Boston News Channel 7 and may or may not be part of the
broadcast.
Jack, assisted by Tyler, raised,
lowered and helped fold his own flag that was flown above the ship today. The
sailor that helped Jack fold his flag told Jack to pretend his feet were nailed
to the ground. Jack took this so literally,
he almost fell over during the process.
As soon as Jack’s flag was
lowered, all of the military on the ship stood at attention and saluted because
the first shots off the ship were being fired.
Today is October 17th and the sailing was in celebration of
the ship’s 217th birthday (which is actually 10/21, and also happens
to be my grandfather’s birthday). The ship
fired a 21 gun salute towards Liberty Island, and because the number 17 was
significant today, Liberty Island shot 17 shots back. When the Constitution sailed
by the Coast Guard fleet, the ship shot an additional 17 gun salute. This brought
the total number of shots today to 55, which is significant to us of course
because Uncle Jack was the 55th Commander of the U.S.S. Constitution.
Bernie thanked Commander Kearns
for the memorial service a few weeks prior and for the opportunity to sail
today. The Commander told Bernie that it
was no trouble at all, and that we are all part of the Navy family. This is a
day that Jack, Tyler and Bernie will not soon forget. As Jack walked off the
ship, he instinctively saluted the officer on duty (the Commander had already
departed), then without any prompting, Jack turned around and saluted the flag
on the ship. It was like Jack was guided
by his many relatives that previously served in the Navy. Bernie believes it was just another acknowledgment
that those people that we lost are very much still with us, in our hearts, in
our thoughts and guiding our actions.
Thank you, Commander Kearns for
your service, for your leadership, and for your hospitality.
