Pearl Harbor Day at the Navy Memorial - 2009
(12/7/09) The Navy Memorial held a wreathlaying ceremony outside in memoriam of the attacks presided over by Rear Admirals Edward K. “Ted” Walker, Jr. (Ret.) and Patrick Lorge, Commander John Budzik (Ret.) and Mr. John Carl Mindte.
Commander John Budzik, USNR (Ret), joined the Navy in 1939, serving for two years on the USS Ash (YN-2), placing and maintaining anti-submarine and anti-torpedo nets in harbors around the Hawaiian, Midway and New Caledonia islands. Awakened by the first wave of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Budzik quickly went to his ship and was onboard when the second wave of the attack hit. He served throughout the Second World War, commanding the net layer USS Abele (AN-58) during the Iwo Jima
and Okinawa invasions. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his service as commander of Abele during the Okinawa campaign. He retired from the Naval Reserve as a commander with 28 years of service and currently resides at Vinson Hall Retirement Community in McLean, Va.
Mr. John Carl Mindte, son of deceased Pearl Harbor survivor Cdr. Richard Wagoner Mindte, USN (Ret.), is a retired printer who lives in the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, area. He now gives regular bus tours of the Gettysburg battle site. His father, Commander Mindte, was a communications officer aboard USS Phoenix (CL-46) during the Pearl Harbor attack. He was off duty at the time, playing cribbage. The Navy was the second of four careers for Commander Mindte, who also spent time as a sheepherder in Idaho, a tuna fisherman in Baja, California, and a hand bookbinder who restored antique books and documents for the Library of Congress, the National Museum of the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Naval Academy.
Rear Admiral Edward K. “Ted” Walker Jr., SC, USN (Ret), is President and CEO of the United States Navy Memorial. As a nine-year old boy, the son of a naval officer stationed at Pearl Harbor, Walker witnessed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
[click the SLIDESHOW bar on the right for a full screen presentation]
For the 2010 Pearl Harbor commemoration click http://www.maletphoto.com/Military/Navy-Memorial/Pearl-Harbor-Day-Navy-Mem-2010/15003437_d9sbd#1120807942_CCqBD
Read MoreCommander John Budzik, USNR (Ret), joined the Navy in 1939, serving for two years on the USS Ash (YN-2), placing and maintaining anti-submarine and anti-torpedo nets in harbors around the Hawaiian, Midway and New Caledonia islands. Awakened by the first wave of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Budzik quickly went to his ship and was onboard when the second wave of the attack hit. He served throughout the Second World War, commanding the net layer USS Abele (AN-58) during the Iwo Jima
and Okinawa invasions. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his service as commander of Abele during the Okinawa campaign. He retired from the Naval Reserve as a commander with 28 years of service and currently resides at Vinson Hall Retirement Community in McLean, Va.
Mr. John Carl Mindte, son of deceased Pearl Harbor survivor Cdr. Richard Wagoner Mindte, USN (Ret.), is a retired printer who lives in the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, area. He now gives regular bus tours of the Gettysburg battle site. His father, Commander Mindte, was a communications officer aboard USS Phoenix (CL-46) during the Pearl Harbor attack. He was off duty at the time, playing cribbage. The Navy was the second of four careers for Commander Mindte, who also spent time as a sheepherder in Idaho, a tuna fisherman in Baja, California, and a hand bookbinder who restored antique books and documents for the Library of Congress, the National Museum of the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Naval Academy.
Rear Admiral Edward K. “Ted” Walker Jr., SC, USN (Ret), is President and CEO of the United States Navy Memorial. As a nine-year old boy, the son of a naval officer stationed at Pearl Harbor, Walker witnessed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
[click the SLIDESHOW bar on the right for a full screen presentation]
For the 2010 Pearl Harbor commemoration click http://www.maletphoto.com/Military/Navy-Memorial/Pearl-Harbor-Day-Navy-Mem-2010/15003437_d9sbd#1120807942_CCqBD