THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 13, 1994 TAG: 9410130520
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
A submarine quartermaster who volunteers as a firefighter, auxiliary police officer and rescue diver in Virginia Beach has been named Military Citizen of the Year.
Petty Officer 1st Class Joseph Steven Sayas, assigned to the Submarine Training Facility in Norfolk, was honored Wednesday by the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce at its 16th annual Military Appreciation Luncheon with the 1994 Samuel T. Northern Award.
The award honors those in the military who distinguish themselves in the civilian community.
Sayas, a native of Nebraska, entered the Navy in 1981 and completed submarine training in Groton, Conn., before reporting to the submarine Bonefish, then based in San Diego.
He later served aboard the submarines Baltimore, Sculpin and Hyman G. Rickover.
In January 1993 he joined the Virginia Beach Underwater Rescue and Recovery Unit as a volunteer and continues as its training officer. He also became a member of the Ocean Park Volunteer Rescue Squad and serves as a Virginia Beach auxiliary police officer.
Earlier this year Sayas graduated from the Submarine Training Facility's Firefighting School in Norfolk and has since been certified by Virginia authorities as a level I, II and III firefighter. He is a member of the London Bridge Fire Company 3.
Sayas is married to the former Cynthia Ann Eisold of Milwaukee. They have one child, Joseph, 8. ILLUSTRATION: MOTOYA NAKAMURA/Staff
Petty Officer 1st Class Joseph Steven Sayas is hugged by his wife,
Cynthia Ann, Wednesday after he was honored by the Hampton Roads
Chamber of Commerce at its 16th annual Military Appreciation
Luncheon.
by CNB