Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 20, 1990 TAG: 9004200229
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium
The memorial service to mark the April 19, 1989, explosion was private.
"Dear families of the 47, we appreciate your support most of all, for it helped . . . get us through the jobs we knew had to be done," Capt. Fred P. Moosally, commander of the Iowa, said in a speech to the 305 family members. "You have helped the memory of your sons, husbands and fathers live in us."
A text of the speech was released by the Navy after the ceremony.
"The ceremony was very special for us because we had to live the tragedy," said Lt. Cmdr. Brad Goforth, a spokesman for the Iowa. "We had to put out the fire. And we had to go in after the fire was out."
During the ceremony, some of the 1,500-man crew lined the rails. Others stood in formation along the pier as family members who requested it were given a tour of the No. 2 gun turret where the explosion occurred.
After speeches by Moosally and Vice Adm. Jerome Johnson, commander of the 2nd Fleet who was aboard the warship at the time of the explosion, a plaque dedicated to the 47 victims was dedicated. The plaque was attached to the No. 2 turret.
Navy officials said a strong bond has developed over the past year between the crew and the victims' families. During the Iowa's deployment to the Mediterranean seven weeks after the explosion, many of the families wrote to the crew.
Robert Jones of Newport News, whose son Brian died in the explosion, remembered four Iowa sailors who drove all night from Norfolk to be at his son's burial in Kennesaw, Ga.
"Today, the loss of my son hangs deep within me, just as I know it does in the hearts of the 46 other families who lost their sons," Jones said. "But when I am feeling low, I think of those four Iowa sailors, my son's shipmates, and what they did for us on that sad day almost a year ago.
"It is a memory that will remain with me forever," he said.
On Wednesday night, more than 120 of the family members jammed a motel conference room to discuss plans for the future and offer support to each other.
"We're here to pay tribute to those we lost and to thank the people who survived and brought our boys back home," said Nancy Lewis of Northville, Mich., whose son Richard died in the explosion.
The families discussed forming an organization to ask the Navy to donate the Iowa to them so the warship could be used as a museum. The Iowa is expected to be retired later this year.
Last April 19, the Iowa was taking part in training exercises off the coast of Puerto Rico. Seconds before the No. 2 turret was to fire a salvo from its three 16-inch guns, an explosion sent a fireball down the turret's six decks. Death was nearly instantaneous, according to a Navy investigation.
After five months of probing the blast, the Navy concluded the most likely cause was sabotage by Gunner's Mate Clayton Hartwig, who died in the explosion.
The Navy said Hartwig was suicidal and disgruntled over his treatment by the service. Hartwig slipped a homemade chemical detonator between bags of gunpowder used to fire the gun, the Navy said, and the detonator triggered the blast when the bags were rammed into the gun's breech.
That conclusion was challenged by the Hartwig family, and questions about the Navy's investigation led to probes by congressional subcommittees. Earlier this year, a subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee concluded the Navy's findings were not supported by the facts.
Among those attending the ceremony Thursday was Kathy Kubicina, Hartwig's sister. She is leading a drive to reopen the investigation.
by CNB