Sailors aboard the guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61) commemorated the Battle of Midway with a ceremony on the ship’s mess decks on June 7.
The ceremony completed four days of commemorative events by members of the ship’s First Class Petty Officer Association (FCPOA). From 4-7 June, various First Class Petty Officers took turns reading summaries of key events in the battle over the ship’s 1MC on the day they happened in 1942.
“It was an honor for me to recite one of the main events of the Battle of Midway,” said Yeoman 1st Class James Chaney, a member of the FCPOA. “We wanted to educate the crew on the importance of this battle to victory in the Pacific during World War II.”
The commemoration ceremony started with an introduction and invocation then followed with an oral history from one of the participants. Chaney read “Recollections Of The Battle Of Midway” by Lt. Joseph P. Pollard, MC, USN, a medical officer on board USS Yorktown (CV 5).
During his speech, Capt. Thomas Kiss, the ship’s commanding officer, emphasized how people made the difference in the battle despite the disadvantages of fewer ships and less capable aircraft compared to the Imperial Japanese navy.
Monterey is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility promoting maritime security operations, theater security cooperation efforts and support missions as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
[mappress] Press Release, June 10, 2013