ABOARD THE USS WASP, Hudson River, New York — It turned into a tribute to those who served and those who fell, held just a few days early.
Hundreds of sailors and Marines lined the deck of the USS Wasp on May 24 as the warship sailed up the Hudson River to kick off Fleet Week 2023, New York City’s seven-day salute to the sea services. The crew in their starched dress uniforms snapped to attention when the massive vessel slowly passed Freedom Tower, the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in lower Manhattan.
The September 11 terrorist attack 22 years ago altered the city’s skyline, while also initiating a chain of events that resulted in two decades of war in Afghanistan and Iraq and more than 7,000 U.S. deaths. While many of the younger sailors and Marines aboard the Wasp were not born on that grim day in 2001, Memorial Day — the day set aside to commemorate military members killed in combat — was not far from their minds.
“Memorial Day means a lot to me,” said Navy Ensign Juliana Miller, whose grandfather was killed in World War II. “He’s one of the reasons I joined the Navy. All those people came before us and paved the way for me to be here today.”
Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day. It started during the Civil War when people began placing flowers on the graves of soldiers killed in battle. Following the outbreak of World War I, it evolved into a commemoration of the sacrifice of those who had died in all U.S. wars, and its name was changed.
Unlike many of the younger crew on the USS Wasp, Navy Chief Joseph Jedding has multiple tours in Afghanistan under his belt. As a religious program specialist, his job is both to coordinate logistics for military chaplains and to provide them with armed security because of their official status as non-combatants.
PHOTOS: Ship parade kicks off Fleet Week in New York
“Any time we have a fallen comrade, a lot of times I’m the one who has to coordinate the memorial ceremony or potentially the funeral,” Chief Jedding said. “I’ve experienced quite a lot of loss — including people I’ve served with.”
Ensign Kira Sage said she joined the Navy to be part of something bigger than herself and make an impact on the world. Memorial Day is a stark reminder of what that means, she said.
“It reminds me of the higher purpose everybody has when they join the military,” the ensign recalled. “That’s the real goal that we’re all fighting for.”
The Norfolk-based USS Wasp is a multipurpose amphibious assault ship and the lead vessel in her class. Commissioned in 1989, the Wasp-class ships can accommodate the Navy’s fleets of hovercrafts for fast troop movement to the beach and a wide variety of other aircraft, including the tiltrotor MV-22 Osprey and the F-35B Lightning II, a multi-role fighter designed to replace the Harrier “Jump Jet” used by Marines.
Amphibious assault ships like the USS Wasp aren’t as vast as nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and don’t have catapults to fling jet fighters into the sky. But on Wednesday, it was the largest of more than a dozen ships that entered New York Harbor, passing the Statue of Liberty, Fort Hamilton and One World Trade Center as they arrived in Manhattan.
Fleet Week has been held in New York City nearly every year since 1984. It was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The U.S. Navy is excited to be back in New York to showcase how the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard provide us with an advantage at sea,” said Rear Admiral Christopher S. Gray, commander of the Navy’s Mid-Atlantic region. “New York is always an incredible host and we can’t wait for all of the brave men and women serving our country, and those of our allied guests, to get an opportunity to experience all the city offers.”
With the allied campaign to support Ukraine in its war with Russia the Pentagon’s new top concern, a number of NATO allies also took part in the parade up the Hudson River. Canada sent the HMCS Glace Bay, a coastal defense vessel, Italy offered one of its frigates, the ITS Virginio Fasan, while HMS Scott, an ocean surveyor, represented the British Royal Navy.
Airman Aaron Schwarzman works on the flight line of the USS Wasp. His team keeps the helicopters in place after they land by chaining them to the deck and securing the wheels with chock blocks. The enlisted sailors who work on flight operations wear different colored shirts to denote their assignments; crash and salvage teams, for example, wear red, while the purple shirts are reserved for those who fuel the aircraft.
Airman Schwarzman and his shipmates wear blue shirts. When they’re not on the flight line, they can often be found hanging out in the “Blue Hole,” a homey retreat with a couple of broken-down couches, a small refrigerator, and a place to hang up their safety vests — also blue — and the crash helmets they call “cranials.”
Airman Schwarzman is second-generation Navy. His father was a sailor for about 30 years and he says it was natural for him to enlist after he graduated high school in San Diego.
“I wanted to get some experience and travel before I went to college,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “But, waking up early and the long days is really getting to me.”
Role models
The sailors and Marines aboard the Wasp are expected to connect with the local community when they are in New York. For days their leaders drilled it into their heads like a religious mantra: Have fun but be professional. If they go to a baseball game or a restaurant in Little Italy, they will be wearing their dress uniforms.
“You’re always looking like a walking role model. It’s hard to ‘get crazy,’” Airman Schwarzman said.
The USS Wasp has about 1,100 crew members and 2,200 embarked troops. While the ship is based in Norfolk, most of the Marines come from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Corporal Grayson Pridgen is assigned to his unit’s venerable M2 .50 caliber machine gun team. While it has been adapted over the years, today’s M2 — affectionately known as the “Ma Deuce” — is not significantly different from those that arms maker John Browning designed near the end of World War I.
“It is by far the most reliable weapon system that we’ve got,” Corp. Pridgen said.
Alongside the ties to Memorial Day observances, this year’s Fleet Week comes as the Pentagon is confronting a different kind of struggle — the most severe recruiting crisis in decades.
Officials are hoping that sending Marines like Corp. Pridgen into New York might help them snag a recruit or two. He doesn’t come from a military family but decided that if he’s going to join, he might as well go all the way and be a Marine.
“It’s a big, life-changing experience, to say the least. But, it was probably the best thing for me,” the corporal acknowledged.
The reasons people give for enlisting in the military vary widely. For some, it’s a family tradition passed down from father to son and now increasingly, from father or mother to daughter.
Sgt. Judy Justice — sometimes jokingly called “Judge Judy” by her fellow Marines — was the second person in her family to join the Marines, following the example set by her brother. “The Marines had the most disciplined females and the most physically fit,” she said. “We are always doing different field exercises.”
Buffalo, N.Y,. native Corp.l Nicholas DiMatteo — like a lot of people who hail from upstate New York — expresses little interest in exploring the Big Apple, except maybe to grab a slice of the local pizza somewhere. Lance Corp. Jordan Bush, his fellow Marine mortar specialist, is from South Florida and is looking forward to seeing the Statue of Liberty.
“I’ve never been here before,” he said. “But don’t get me wrong. I also want to eat some pizza.”