The Tribune

ON Monday, the United States Embassy commemorated Memorial Day with a wreath laying ceremony at Clifton Pier in memory of fallen comrades and military veterans.

The solemn tribute was held at the site of the Memorial to Patrol Squad 23 to commemorate the ten US crew members who lost their lives during a fateful training mission off the coast of Nassau on May 7, 1954.

Among the officials on hand for the ceremony were US Chargé d'Affaires Lisa Johnson, Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling as well as other senior US and Bahamian government and law enforcement officials, members of the diplomatic corps, and family members of the fallen heroes.

The ceremony included a moment of silence, playing of taps and a gun salute to honour the lives of the servicemen. The memorial concluded with release of wreaths by a member of the US Marine Corps Nassau Detachment on board a Royal Bahamas Defence Force vessel and a helicopter fly-by and wreath-laying by the US Coast Guard.

Ms Johnson noted that the solemn occasion serves as an opportunity to honour service members. The VP-23 Squadron members that died in the plane crash included William Martin, Leland Osborn, John Tinney, John Holle, Joseph Kiliszewski, Franz Nelson, Thomas Caylor, Gerald Lepard, Albert Olson and Fred Sparks. The military services of Bahamian Private First Class Norman Darling who died in the Iraq War in 2004 and Sergeant Errol McKinney, US Army, a Bahamian killed in a motorcycle accident in 2013 shortly after to returning to Ft Bliss, Texas following a deployment to Afghanistan were also honoured.