Preserving the Memory: Pearl Harbor Day, ‘Greatest Generation’ — Rear Adm. Rick Williams, commander of the Navy Region Hawaii and Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific, talks about the importance of remembering the service and sacrifices made by “Greatest Generation.”
73rd Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Attack — Dec. 7, 1941 is a day that America will never forget. Claiming more than 2,400 American lives, 21 ships sunk or damaged, and more than 300 aircraft lost, the attack on Pearl Harbor goes down as one of the worst attacks on American soil. This year marks the 73rd anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. In honor of Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, many commemoration events are being held across the fleet in various locations, including Pearl Harbor, San Diego, and Norfolk, Virginia.
NASA’s New Orion Spacecraft Completes First Spaceflight Test — NASA marked a major milestone Friday on its journey to Mars as the Orion spacecraft completed its first voyage to space, traveling farther than any spacecraft designed for astronauts has been in more than 40 years. Orion blazed into the morning sky at 7:05 a.m. EST, lifting off from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket. The Orion crew module splashed down approximately 4.5 hours later in the Pacific Ocean, 600 miles southwest of San Diego. A team of NASA, U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin personnel aboard the USS Anchorage are in the process of recovering Orion and will return it to U.S. Naval Base San Diego in the coming days.
Navy Achieves Audit Milestone — The Navy took its first big step toward achieving a congressional mandate Dec. 4 when a contract was signed commencing its first financial statement audit on its Schedule of Budgetary Activity (SBA). This significant milestone is the culmination of several years of diligent, focused work by the Navy's business professionals. Being "ready for audit" means that Navy business operations ensure accountability for Navy dollars spent on goods and services supporting its warfighters.
Office of Naval Research Earns DoD Manufacturing Award For F-35 — The Office of Naval Research (ONR) received one of the nation's top manufacturing awards for an innovative, cost-saving method for making advanced cockpit enclosures, or canopies, for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter program Dec. 2. Officials from ONR's Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) program accepted the Department of Defense's Joint Defense Manufacturing Technology Achievement Award at the Defense Manufacturing Conference in San Antonio.
Gettysburg Receives Navy's Top Community Service Award — The chief of naval operations named guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64) as the recipient of the Navy's highest award for community service, Nov. 24. Gettysburg received the 2014 Navy-wide Project Good Neighbor Community Service Award in the medium sea command category and is joined by awardees in various other sea, shore and overseas categories. The Project Good Neighbor Award, a Navy Community Service Program award, recognizes the best year-round, volunteer-supported program or special project that promotes outreach activities to establish and restore hope to the community.
USS Arizona Survivors Return to Hawaii — Four Sailors who were serving on the USS Arizona during the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor returned and visited the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickham (JBPHH) Dec. 2. Upon arrival, survivors John Anderson, Louis Conter, Donald Stratton and Lauren Bruner were piped aboard and saluted by an honor guard of service members from several branches of the armed services while the Pacific Fleet Band played patriotic music.
Anchorage Departs on NASA's Orion Mission — San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Anchorage (LPD 23) departed from Naval Base San Diego to retrieve NASA equipment in the Pacific Ocean, Dec. 1. Anchorage will use its amphibious capabilities to conduct an at-sea recovery of the Orion space capsule. NASA operatives will launch Orion into Earth's orbit and wait for it to splash down into the Pacific Ocean for recovery. Once launched, the capsule will take four hours to orbit the earth twice before it is recovered.
CNO to Present 2014 Admiral Stockdale Award — The Chief of Naval Operations will present the Vice Adm. James B. Stockdale Leadership Award during a ceremony at the Pentagon Hall of Heroes Dec. 4 at 10 a.m. The award is presented annually to two commissioned officers on active duty in the grade of commander or below who are serving in command of a single unit and who serve as examples of excellence in leadership and conspicuous contribution to the improvement of leadership in the Navy.
Donald Stratton: USS Arizona Survivor — Donald Stratton, one of the last remaining survivors of Pearl Harbor’s USS Arizona (BB-39) bombing, recounts his up close and personal experience of Dec. 7, 1941 with All Hands Magazine.
These stories originally published by Navy News Service during Dec. 1-5, 2014. For more Navy news, go to: www.navy.mil/.