Plankowner
Posts: 9165
Location: Upper lefthand corner of the map. | Subject: Fallen Nebraska Sailor Remembered
Fallen Nebraska Sailor Remembered for Commitment to Work, Shipmates
Kitsap Sun
26 September 2008
By Ed Friedrich http://www.kitsapsun.com/staff/ed-friedrich/
Everything the USS Nebraska does from now on will be in honor of Michael
Gentile, a pastor said Thursday during a memorial service for the sailor
killed Saturday in an accident on the Bangor-based submarine.
Gentile died while the ballistic submarine was conducting operations off
of Oahu, Hawaii. His Blue Crew remains at sea. Their families and the
Gold Crew, which takes turns operating the sub, gathered at Jackson Park
Community Center to remember the young man from Maine.
The 21-year-old machinist mate 3rd class was proud to be a sailor and
submariner, speakers said.
Cmdr. Carl Lahti, Gold Crew commanding officer, read a quote by
Gentile's father, Jay Gentile, from the Morning Sentinel newspaper in
Augusta, Maine.
"Everything on that ship, he fixed," his father said. "The kid had
everything going for him. There was nothing that he wouldn't do or
couldn't do.
"He was doing what he loved to do. He loved the Navy. He just took his
test to re-up."
A cook aboard the sub sent a message remarking on Gentile's commitment
to his work and shipmates.
"I only wish I could have one more chance to sail the open seas with
him," he wrote.
Petty officer Anthony Jordan, who served with Gentile aboard the USS
Alaska, said he couldn't believe how Gentile had changed since then,
from a "scared, unconfident, always-messing-up" kid to a "confident,
knowledgeable, A-ganger (auxiliary division) that everybody seemed to
know and like."
"He was more than just a shipmate to me," Jordan said. "He will always
be a friend."
Gentile attended Lawrence High School in Fairfield, Maine, where he was
an honor student and played football. He joined the Navy soon after his
graduation in 2005.
His mother, Julie Gentile, told the Morning Sentinel that Michael died
from blunt-force trauma and excessive bleeding in his lower body. He was
hit by the ram that operated the submarine's rudder, his father said in
the story.
Besides his parents, he is survived by brothers Dalton Patterson, Jeremy
Gentile and Kevin Easler, and by sisters Tracy Young and Kelley Easler.
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Master and Commander
Posts: 1814
Location: Boydton, Virginia | Subject: RE: Fallen Nebraska Sailor Remembered
Ric, I've been hidden out in mountains of SW Virginia for a spell, haven't heard much news. How in the world did this happen? If he was working on the rudder, why wasn't there a lock out/tag out performed?
Steamboat sends |
Fallen Nebraska Sailor Remembered
