USS New Jersey Celebrates!
It was May 23, 1943 when the USS New Jersey was commissioned into the United States Navy, and that event was celebrated 80 years later with the same pomp and circumstance that honored its entry into service in the first of all the wars in which the ship has been involved. The ship is now decommissioned and served as a Museum and Memorial on the Delaware River waterfront in Camden.
Nor did the USS New Jersey Battleship Museum and Memorial forget all those who manned the ship and fought the wars through those eight decades.
At the ceremonies celebrating eight decades of the USS New Jersey, one sailor from each one of those decades spoke and told of some of his experiences while sailing aboard the largest battleship ever built, and the only one which has served in every war since…. World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Lebanon Crisis and the Persian Gulf War. She earned 19stars during those wars and is the most decorated ship in the United States Navy.
As a guest of Joseph Azzolina, Jr., a member of the USS New Jersey Battleship Museum’s Board of Trustees, I was on the fantail of the battleship for the celebrations last week and was both inspired and entertained by the memories and feelings of each of the speakers from former enlisted sailors to Admirals.
At 99 years of age, FC2 Bill Ryan, spoke to the crowd on the fantail of the ship, telling of his experiences during World War II when he enlisted in the Navy before being drafted, and served from 1943 through 1945. He was 18 when he first went aboard, he said, and still deems it an honor to have been among the crew.
Capt. Louis A. Ivey, MD graduated from Penn State in 1954 and served aboard BB62 during the 1950s. A cardiac surgeon, Capt. Ivey is retired from the Navy and was the first black officer to serve aboard the ship. He spoke about the friends he made during his military service and the memories they share on a regular basis.
Historian Paul Stillwell was a 1969 veteran of the battleship and a career officer in the Navy. He spoke on the central figures in his life during his years. The retired officer worked for more than 30 years at the U.S. Naval Institute as an oral historian and editor of Naval History magazine. He is the author or editor of thirteen books, including four on battleships and an award-winning volume on the Navy’s first African American officers, The Golden Thirteen.
Vice Admiral Douglas J. Katz was commanding officer of the USS New Jersey from 1987 through 1989 and served 32 years in the Navy. A graduate of the US Naval Academy, Admiral Katz noted last week that while both he and the battleship are more than 80 years old, “she’s younger.”
Capt. Mark E. Eaton is also a retired naval veteran, and served aboard the battleship in the early 1990s and thanked the museum and memorial for all the work they do to keep the ship “looking great.”
Rear ADMIRAL Samuel J. Cox is Director of the Navy History and Heritage Command, the “curator” for the Navy. A graduate of the Naval Academy, he earned the Trident Scholarship and history awards and holds a master’s degree from the US Army Command and General Staff College.
In addition to his duty aboard the USS New Jersey, he also served as Director of Intelligence for the U.S. Cyber Command, was Director of National Maritime Intelligence Center; head of the Multi-national Intelligence Task Force investigating the sinking of South Korea’s warship Cheonan, a senior member of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Hands program, and director of Plans and Policy and Fleet Intelligence for Naval Network Warfare Command. He also served for three years as commander of the U.S. Central Command Joint Intelligence Center.
RADM Cox graduated with honors from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1980, winning the Trident Scholar and History Department Awards. He holds a master’s degree from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He also served on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower off Libya and Lebanon, and on the USS Blue Ridge during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
