Throughout the history of the United States, the U.S. government has enlisted people to serve as soldiers and sailors. These people are required to defend our country and in doing so, many have died. In general, Americans often feel that a sailor’s death is a part of their duty. However, until they experience the fear that someone they know may have been in danger, Americans will usually not give recognition to those who deserve it. It was the same for me until the U.S.S. Stark was attacked, which has made me more aware of world affairs. I think that everyone should care about these people regardless if they are your loved ones or not.
The U.S.S. Stark was on a six month cruise through the Mediterranean Sea to the Middle East. While in the Persian Gulf, the ship was to protect U.S. shipping, provide United States presence in the Gulf, and hopefully stabilize influence in this area of the world. They saw the war around them; tankers being sunk, planes firing at one another, and even being chased by an Iranian ship. The Iranian ship instructed the Stark to shut down its engines or they would shoot an American helicopter out of the sky. But they never carried out their threats. The crew never thought they had to worry about an attack on the ship especially from the Iraqi’s.
On May 17th, just ten days after hump day, “The thought of the day was Peace — ‘The soldier and sailor, above all other people, pray for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war’”. However, the day did not end up being peaceful as, an Iraqi Mirage F-1fighter bomber attacked the Stark.
The ship was sailing at condition 3, which means that all weapons and systems were supposed to be fully manned and operational. When their radar picked up an unidentified object flying close to the ship, Brindel, the Skipper of the ship, ordered a radio operator to flash a message asking the unknown aircraft to identify itself. There was no response. The aircraft was getting close to the ship. Then the ship sent another more demanding message 36 seconds after the first, but there was still no answer. The ship expected the plane to pull away. The ship’s monitors gave no indication that the pilot had locked his radar on the ship.
Then the AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) spotted the Iraqi jet flying over the Stark, releasing one of its French Exocet missiles, and then another one right after that. After the ship was hit, the AWACS sent an urgent plea to two Saudi pilots to chase the Mirage and force it to land. The Saudi pilots wanted to, but their ground controller did not have authority to permit such an operation. By the time they received the authority to chase the Mirage; the fighter was in safe territory.
The first missile hit the sleeping quarters and the explosion caused the ship to burst into flames. The explosion killed 37 men. Many of them, who were still in their bunks, had burned to death. The second missile hit soon after, but luckily did not explode.
They had to fight fires for three days before they could enter the area where the bomb had exploded. Many of the men explained the attack as a few minutes of terror followed by hours of hard work putting out the fires. Even after the fire was out, they still had to have fire watches because on several occasions the wound would reignite. Every man worked their hardest to save the ship, but only about 20 of them received medals for their hard work and bravery. Many of them felt that the whole crew deserved medals, not just certain individuals.
Meanwhile, in the United States, 200 families were waiting for word to see if the sons, husbands and fathers were alive. There was a toll—free number available for people to call and find out if their loved one was okay. This number was usually busy and when the person got through they had no information for them. One family waited for thirty—six hours before the navy officials gave them notice that their son had died. A woman and her son went to Bahrain to visit her husband to join him on his liberty to discover it would be their final reunion with the sailor. Another wife of a sailor, who died, gave birth to a little girl at about the time the Stark was hit. It was very stressful for everyone who was waiting for word about their sailor.
On May 22, 1987 President Regan held a memorial service for the families of the victims. They held it in a helicopter hanger to hold the 1,500 people in attendance. He spoke for half an hour never mentioning the attack, but saying that they were heroes and “they were ordinary men, who did extraordinary things”. After his speech, President and Mrs. Regan spent forty—five minutes embracing, shaking hands and offering words of condolence to the family members.
After enough repairs were made for the Stark to be able to sail, she started her journey home. It took about a month and a half before it pulled into the Mayport, naval base, where two thousand people were cheering for the sailors. Even people, who were not allowed on the base, went to a nearby park to watch the ship come in.
The escort ship Stephen W. Graves came in to the port first. The people cheered them on just like it was the Stark. Then an hour later the Stark came into sight for the people. The sailors stood at attention in their dress whites, but as soon as they saw someone they knew they broke rank. They jumped up and down waving at their family. The crew was taking pictures of the crowd and the crowd was taking pictures of the crew. The whole city was celebrating the return of the ship. There were yellow ribbons around trees and signs, and many people wore yellow ribbons to welcome them home. A radio station in Jacksonville held a contest for the best decorated house with the “Welcome Home Stark motif”. Many people participated in this contest. One person used 4,000 feet of yellow ribbon to decorate his house. Another retired navy man had the children of his neighborhood help him decorate his house. They made his house look like the Stark and built a mock cemetery with one tombstone for each sailor that had died in the attack in his front yard. He stated that if he wins he will take the children on an outing. In addition to the recognition given to the living sailors, there was a memorial plague created for 37 young men who had died. Someone had placed a withered yellow rose on the top of the memorial. Senior Chief, Gary Clinefetti placed a yellow ribbon next to his sons name, Bryon who was a 19 year— old boatswain mate. The day was mixed with joy, relief and sorrow for the sailors and the families.
On May 18th, I was in my room getting ready for school. On the radio I heard that the Stark was attacked by an Iraqi fighter and that some of the sailors were dead. The number and names were not available. I ran downstairs to tell my family that Mark’s (my stepbrother) ship was hit. They asked me if I was sure that it was his ship, but I was positive. From that point on, I was worried and prayed that he was okay.
I went to school and told my friends what had happened. A lot of people did not know that it happened, or it seemed like they did not care. This really bothered me. I could not understand why they did not care, but then I realized that since they did not know someone on the ship the attack was not very important to them.
That night after supper, we went to Mark’s father’s house to console him, but he was not there. We discovered that he went to his cottage to be alone, which I can understand. Seeing as my father and Mark’s mother was vacationing in Florida, Mark’s dad was our only contact to find out if Mark was alive. Finally we got in touch with him and found out that Mark was alive. I was so happy and relieved to hear the good news.
Later that week, we had career day at school. I~ was talking to the Navy recruiter asking him all types of questions including, whether he ever gets scared while on duty and why he went into the navy. He knew that something was bothering me, so he asked me what was wrong. I told him that my stepbrother had been on the Stark. He found this interesting and told the other recruiter, who was the one that assigned Mark to the Stark. He asked me if Mark was alive and if I had heard from him. We talked about him for the rest of the period. It made me feel better that some one who was not in my family was concerned about Mark.
I remember watching the memorial service with my Mom. I was crying and feeling sympathetic for the sailor’s families. At the end of the ceremony, the names of the sailors who had died were shown on the screen. Although I knew he was alive, I could not help but look for his name among those on the screen. I felt the same when my Mom commented that it was a relief not to see his name listed.
In his letters he wrote that he wanted to come home. I also wanted him to come home, finally he did. When I saw him and was able to hug him and be teased by him, I was finally reassured that he lived through this tragedy.
Bibliography
Democrat & Chronicle, Rochester, NY
5—18—87
5—21—87
5—22—87
5—26—87
5—28—87
The Florida Times—Union, Jacksonville, Florida August 6, 1987.
Family Gram for Stark, Mayport, Naval base, Florida March 1, 1987
April 18, 1987
The Mirror, Mayport, Florida June 26, 1987
Time, New York, NY June 1, 1987
Other Sources:
Personal letters to myself and his mother
The Stark is now decommissioned but not forgot. Here is some interesting information I have from the the day the USS STARK was struck by the two Exocet missiles.
Dan Weldon, as I remember him but I believe his given name was Terrance Weldon. He was among the several to die that day. Dan worked in the Combat System Department. I worked in the Engineering Department. We didn't see much of each other during the "normal" work day but enjoyed each other's company outside of Navy life. You could say we were dart buddies if such a term exists..jpg)
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