The anchor from the USS Oklahoma City obtained its formal salute Sunday greater than three months after it arrived at its new residence.
Sunday’s chilly, overcast day was paying homage to the Seattle, Washington, and Puget Sound setting the place Eagle Scout Matthew Aguilar first noticed the USS Oklahoma City, a former U.S. Navy nuclear-powered sub decommissioned in February after greater than 30 years of service. The sub’s anchor and chain, now resting alongside the northeast shore of Lake Helen in Elmer Thomas Park, is the primary part of the decommissioned vessel to be eliminated, and the story behind getting the items from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to Lawton, Oklahoma, is a part of the story of Aguilar’s journey to Eagle Scout.
And, Aguilar’s work was cited by Capt. Timothy Clark of the Program Executive Office, Strategic Submarines, the entity that helped Aguilar in his two-year quest to safe a bit of the submarine and create a monument to naval veterans, a few of whom attended Sunday’s dedication ceremony. Clark, noting the submarine group is a small, tight-knit group, mentioned the monument is a becoming tribute to the 1000’s of sailors who served on the USS Oklahoma City, in addition to others.
“On behalf of sailors in the U.S. Navy, we thank you,” Clark mentioned, calling the anchor a “truly unique monument” that may memorialize the USS Oklahoma City for generations to return.
The wording truly got here from a letter of appreciation Clark gave to Aguilar for his work. He additionally gave the MacArthur High senior (who lately gained appointments to each the U.S. Naval and U.S. Air Force academies) a problem coin, a designation that drew “wow’s” from a number of navy veterans watching from the viewers.
“I intended to honor veterans in this town, and the Navy as a whole,” Aguilar mentioned, as he formally dedicated the monument earlier than a crowd that included Navy personnel, retired veterans, household and pals.
Mayor Stan Booker, welcoming the out-of-towners to Lawton, mentioned the monument illustrates the significance Lawton locations on its navy personnel and its veterans. He mentioned Lawton has the best per capita inhabitants of veterans in Oklahoma, and the sixth largest in the nation.
“We are a community that loves and supports veterans,” he mentioned, including that the city’s residents additionally take pleasure in coaching their youth to understand the navy as effectively.
Curtis Brown, the Inactivations, Recycling and Reactor Compartment Disposal undertaking engineer who labored with Aguilar to safe the anchor, credited the youth’s persistence in seeing the undertaking to its completion. Brown mentioned there’s a course of to receiving what had been a bit of a navy vessel, explaining such artifacts can’t be owned by a person; they should be dedicated to a non-profit or governmental entity.
The piece was dedicated to the City of Lawton, and Parks and Recreation Director Christine James mentioned the piece is considered one of a number of military-related memorials that can be positioned alongside the shores of Lake Helen in what she known as a passive space that may present a quiet place the place guests can sit in contemplation.
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