THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 12, 1996 TAG: 9610120281
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROANOKE ISLAND LENGTH: 110 lines
A century ago when Keeper Richard Etheridge and the six surfmen from the Pea Island Life Saving Station pulled all nine passengers and crew from the hurricane-crippled schooner E.S. Newman, all the rescuers received was the shattered vessel's wooden nameplate.
Then, history forgot the United States Lifesaving Service's only all-African-American crew.
But on Friday, 100 years to the day of the Newman rescue, in the presence of the descendants of the saviors and the saved, history remembered the heroism of the men of Pea Island Station.
A four-hour ceremony at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island marked the anniversary of the wreck of the E.S. Newman, recalling one of the sterling chapters in the 206-year history of the U.S. Coast Guard.
The United States Lifesaving Medal was presented posthumously to Etheridge and his six comrades - Benjamin Bowser, Lewis Wescott, Dorman Pugh, Theodore Meekins, Stanley Wise and William Irving - in Washington, D.C., last spring. The medals were dedicated at the aquarium Friday by Rear Adm. D.H. Teeson.
But for the families of the lifesaving station crew, and of the disabled vessel's passengers, Friday was as much reunion as remembrance.
``If my great-grandfather had been present, he would have been proud,'' said Cheryl Forbes Bond of Chesapeake, the great-granddaughter of Benjamin Bowser. ``I think he would have been overwhelmed by it all.''
Bond met Chris LeDoux for the first time Friday. LeDoux's great-grandfather was Capt. Sylvester Gardiner of the E.S. Newman. The two held hands and gazed into each others eyes like long-lost relatives.
``If your great-grandfather hadn't done what he did, we wouldn't be here,'' LeDoux told Bond. ``And if your great-grandfather had died trying to save my family, you wouldn't be here. It's a blessing for both of us.''
That feeling was shared throughout the crowd of about 200, who gathered near a lifesaving Lyle Gun shot from where Richard Etheridge is buried.
The daring rescue of the Newman inspired generations. William C. Bowser of Norfolk served at Pea Island in the 1930s. As a child growing up on Roanoke Island, he played with the children of the men honored Friday. Later, he would serve with those second-generation lifesavers at the storied station.
``We wanted to be like them,'' said Bowser, a cousin of Benjamin Bowser. ``As boys, we loved to watch them go through the drills flipping those boats over. I'll tell you something about these men: They put duty above everything else - their families, their lives. They loved their wives and children, but they had a job to do. They never knew fear.''
That fearlessness was not lost on Daniel Gardiner, grandson of the captain of the Newman. Gardiner serves as fire chief in Fairfield, Conn.
``I've been involved in rescues all throughout my career as a firefighter, but nothing like this,'' Gardiner said. ``Because of the courage that these men showed, the Gardiner family has survived now up to three generations. As I heard more and more about this, the more emotional I became.
``This is a two-hanky day.''
The day of tears and tribute came as a result of the work from some unlikely heroes. Four strangers from three different places - Little Washington student Kate Burkart, Virginia Commonwealth University graduate students David Wright and David Zoby and Coast Guard Cmdr. Stephen Rochon - all worked to bring the Pea Island saga out of the murky depths of history and into the light.
Burkart, a 15-year-old student at Salem Academy, wrote to Sen. Jesse Helms, President Clinton and other officials to ask why the men of Pea Island had never been honored. Little did she know, Zoby, Wright and Rochon were also trying to gain long overdue recognition for the forgotten samaritans of the sea.
Burkart's essay, written for a school history project and titled ``Forgotten Legacy: African-American Storm Warriors,'' captured a National Award of Merit from the American Association of State and Local Historians in Nashville, Tenn.
``We took a trip to the maritime museum in Beaufort,'' Burkart explained following the ceremony. ``I saw the exhibit on the Lifesaving Service, and this little picture of the crew from Pea Island, and it mentioned the Newman rescue. It was so small compared to all the others, it just stayed with me. Later, my father mentioned it again. I just thought it was an injustice.''
Burkhart's essay helped break down the bureaucratic barriers blocking posthumous recognition for the surfmen. The normal time limit for the medal is three years. A century posed a mighty hurdle, until Burkart's letter reached Washington.
``There were a lot of doors being thrown up,'' said Rochon. ``But when we got word of the Congressional inquiry from Sen. Helms, it's like everything started to flow.''
Friday's ceremony, along with a forthcoming manuscript that Zoby and Wright expect to finish next summer, will preserve the historical record. The Pea Island surfmen battled hurricane-force winds and took turns, making 10 trips swimming back and forth to the Newman to rescue the passengers and crew. The daring rescue became necessary when surging storm waters rendered their equipment useless.
For 91-year-old Bowser, the recognition of the rescuers brings more than a healing of history. Bowser served at Pea Island at a time when Jim Crow laws were in full force in the South.
``I was angry, not at individuals, you understand, but the situation,'' the retired teacher said.
``But the men I served with used to tell me that there was a day coming when there would be camaraderie between black folks and white folks. These were the sons of the men at Pea Island. They weren't Martin Luther King or anything like that. Some of these men weren't well educated. But they believed that day was coming.
``Well, that day is here.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
DREW C. WILSON PHOTOS
The Virginian-Pilot
Capt. Dwight Meekins, left, and Fire Chief Daniel Gardiner are
grandsons of Theodore Meekins, one of the rescuers, and Capt.
Sylvester Gardiner of the E.S. Newman, the ship felled by the
hurricane 100 years ago.
Virginia Commonwealth University graduate student David Wright
helped bring the Pea Island saga to light. by CNB