on May 26, 2021
Shipmates,
This Memorial Day weekend signifies more than just the end of the school year, the start of summer, or a long weekend to spend with family or friends. After more than a year of the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, it is easy to forget how special and important the upcoming weekend is.
This weekend, we pay tribute to those who’ve sacrificed in service to our nation. We offer support to the families they’ve left behind. Above all, we pause to remember – not just those close to us we’ve lost, but the generations of Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen and Marines who made the ultimate sacrifice.
We also pause and remember our fallen Naval Photography brethren, such as MC1 Robert McRill, who gave his life while serving in Iraq in 2007. His loss and every loss is felt by their family, friends, brothers and sisters in uniform, and by a nation that vows to never forget.
Also, in addition to Memorial Day as a whole, the National Moment of Remembrance Act, adopted by Congress in December of 2000, is an opportunity to commemorate collectively at exactly 3:00 p.m. Please take a minute of pause to honor our flag, salute in silence, resolve to be better and remember our fallen heroes. If you’re traveling on the road, you can also join in with Amtrak engineers nationwide who sound their horns in unison at precisely 3:00 p.m.
Even with the safety protocols that are in place, I encourage everyone to spend time honoring our fallen service members by taking a trip to visit a gravesite or memorial, or by having a drink with shipmates sharing stories of a lost Sailor, Soldier, Airman or Marine.
I look forward to seeing you all at our next NANP reunion set for November 4-7, 2021, in Pensacola Beach, Florida.
On behalf of the Officers and Board of Directors, we hope everyone who considers themselves a Navy Photographer (past & present) or has been associated with Naval Photography in any way attends as 2021 is the 100th Anniversary of Photographer becoming an officially established Navy rating.
Very respectfully,
Sammy, Wes, and the entire NANP Board of Directors
Never a day goes by that I fail to remember my 134 Shipmates who perished aboard USS Forrestal (CVA-59) in Tonkin Gulf off the coast of North Vietnam on 29 July 1967. The memory is even stronger every Memorial Day. Their average age was 23 years and I can’t help but think of all the things I have experienced since then that they have missed . . . especially the growth of their children. One of them, VF-74’s AMH1 William Frank Thompson of Walhalla, SC is buried near me and I made sure to place a new flag on his grave today.
Brad Jones
RVAH-11