Submarine Memorial
Chapel Dedication Speech
Principal Speaker: RADM Al
KonetznI Jr.
Pearl Harbor - December, 1999
I wanted to thank each of you for attending
today on what I think is a long overdue but nonetheless significant event.
I realize one key regard we picked a poor time to do this - the afternoon
of our first day of the christmas stand down. So those of you that are
out here are really committed, or should I say you should be committed!
Seriously, I genuinely appreciate your presence here today, and I hope
you take full advantage of the stand down immediately following this ceremony
and for the rest of the period.
I would like to especially point out
some of our heroes, some of whom may have actually helped in construction
of this chapel - including our submarine veterans of World War Two - in
fact all of our submarine veterans here today. A warm aloha to each of
you.
I know I say it every time i’m in your
company - but I think it’s because it’s worth saying. Especially to those
who may or may not have heard it before. It’s because of your legacy of
success and sacrifice that we spend significant amounts of time recognizing
history. And it’s not just to recognize your contributions to peace, a
peace we have enjoyed for so long. Equally as important is the notion of
having today’s younger sailors - many of who have served in the post-Cold
War era, to understand our heritage.
It’s through your personal understanding
and insight that we might grasp what service is about. And to help us recognize
that, without vigilance, we too may be called to action. By holding your
service up as the yardstick against which we measure our service, it’s
my hope we can learn a thing or two.
I’m not sure there is a building that
better embodies the spirit of World War Two submariners than the one in
which we are gathered. The foundation of this very structure is the stuff
of urban legend. Not unlike the fabric of submarine heroes who have joined
us today.
This historic submarine memorial chapel
had its beginnings with the very first chaplain assigned to the submarine
base, LCDR Thomas H. Reilly. Arriving in November 1943, LCDR Reilly, a
Catholic Chaplain, reported for duty to the Naval Submarine Base in Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii.
At that time the submarine base did
not have a chapel. Chaplain Reilly was forced to conduct daily mass at
the base library - Bldg 654, which is the horseshoe-shaped barracks. At
that time we used it for housing single E-5s and E-6s submariners. And
sunday mass was held at Sharkey Theatre, which was an open air theatre
at the time.
Of course - Sharkey Theater doubled
for the very popular boxing smokers - but that’s another story all together.
Chaplain Reilly noticed that the base
library space was very cramped for daily mass and therefore was an insufficient
place to worship. He then requested to the then-base commander, Captain
Aldrich, the critical need for a bigger building for worship. What Chaplain
Reilly had in mind for a place of worship at the time was a quonset hut.
Afterwards, Captain Aldrich took the request for a quonset hut to the war
logistics board where it was disapproved.
Disappointed but not defeated, Chaplain
Reilly started making his own plans - and I might add without authorization
- to construct a chapel for the submarine base. Finding the suitable site
where it stands today, Chaplain Reilly quickly drew up a rough sketch of
the chapel’s floor plan. Needing someone to draw blueprints to construct
the chapel and a capable sailor to take charge of the construction, Chaplain
Reilly discovered a sailor on base named Vern Davis, who was a chief carpenter.
From then on, Chief Vern Davis was dubbed "chief of construction"
and the construction project was underway.
When I start to read this inspiring
story, I feel motivated to do the same thing, but only with submarines.
We need them desperately, but no one wants to dedicate the resources, they
disapprove every request and every prudent idea. I think i’ll just grab
a few good chiefs and we’ll take over one of the dry-docks over here at
the shipyard and just start building our own! Why not? They’re cutting
up Bates and Hawkbill shortly, we can probably take parts from them, throw
in a reactor and voila! The hardest part will be naming the thing. Knowing
my engineering skills we’d have to call it the USS Frankenstein.
But I digress! Chaplain Reilly then
began to recruit volunteers to build the chapel and searched the island
for building materials. While Chaplain Reilly combed the island for materials,
he begged and borrowed - and in some cases some might argue even stole
- to obtain his building supplies since there was no government funding
involved. Keep in mind - legend has it people from all over the island
of Oahu contributed in some way - if not in material then by donating time.
The majority of supplies that Chaplain Reilly acquired came from the naval
supply yards nearby and from numerous construction sites around the island.
Giulio Douhet once wrote that: "any
distinction between belligerents and non-belligerents is no longer admissible
today either in fact or theory - when nations are at war, everyone takes
part in it: the solider carrying his gun, the woman loading shells at the
factory, the farmer growing wheat, the scientist experimenting in his laboratory:
it begins to look now as if the safest place may be the trenches."
Let there be no doubt that everyone
felt honorably and understandably obliged to erect this house of worship.
And I’d say it reflects positively on the constitution of our citizens
and the people of Hawaii. It’s a spirit that I’d like to believe is alive
and well today - just untested.
In any case, after several months the
foundation was finished and the walls and roof began to take shape. The
original pews were made at the base carpentry shop and the altar was constructed
from highly polished native wood by a first class pattern maker - a rate
which hasn’t lasted as long as this wonderful chapel.
The stained glass windows we plan to
dedicate today were actually donated by the president of the Electric Boat
Company, Groton, Connecticut in 1959. Interestingly, these stained glass
windows were fashioned from templates that Chaplain Reilly provided 14
years earlier.
The tradition doesn’t end there. The
chapel’s (ship’s) bell was donated from the crew of the USS Argonaut (SS
166) right before their last wartime patrol when the boat was sunk by Japanese
destroyers off the island of Rabaul in the pacific in 1944. This bell still
hangs in the chapel today and is a tribute and a memorial to all submariners
who gave their lives in WWII. In worship today, every Sunday a boat is
memorialized when the ship’s bell tolls to recognize the date that each
boat went down eternally under the waves.
The submarine memorial chapel was finally
completed in September 1944 after eight months of hard work and sweat -
and some creative accounting. When completed, the chapel was the first
structure in the entire naval district built exclusively for worship. The
dedication ceremony, which was attended by some personal heroes of mine
- RADM Charles Lockwood, Commander Submarine Force Pacific and ADM Chester
Nimitz, CINCPACFLT, was overwhelmingly attended by a few hundred people
who took part in dedicating the chapel in remembrance of all submariners
who died in World War II.
So today we come full circle. We gather
to build on the foundation of dedicated service started some 56 years ago
by Chaplain Reilly.
So often we talk about the ‘can-do’
spirit of navy people. But I think about the mammoth undertaking of building
a church as purely a labor of love. No plans, no authorization, and of
course no money! Don't forget, there was a war raging that started just
across the water. And I’m sure his day-job of tending to the spiritual
needs of the extended submariner family was enough to keep him occupied
full-time.
I think of the sacrifice and at times
uncertainty of the men manning those boats and going out for war patrols.
By the end of the war they compiled an unprecedented record of success,
but at a cost of 52 boats and thousands of lives. I simply can’t image
the perpetual sense of urgency, the pride in country, and the gritty determination
that drove people then to undertake missions large and small in the name
of the war effort in the pacific.
You know for the decade leading up
to the attack on Pearl Harbor, our submarines were trained and indoctrinated
to effectively avoid contact with the enemy’s fleet. Rather, crews were
trained to sneak up, gather information on the opposing fleet’s size and
capability, and then report back to our fleet.
In the wake of Pearl Harbor, there
was no fleet to which they could report. Submariners had one mission: bring
the war to the enemy. In dangerous places, in hazardous waters and in environments
where they were typically - and usually significantly - outnumbered, they
did just that.
What’s more, we asked them to make
it up as they went along. And the force was up for the task. Just like
this church. There was no real blue print. It’s no secret that for years
they lacked the key materials for success - by that I mean of course a
reliable torpedo. Purely their determination, courage and warrior spirit
carried the day.
They only knew one thing: there was
a serious need for their effort and they poured everything they had into
meeting that need. And many paid with their lives. And look at the legacy
of the Pacific Submarine force they built. it’s one against which we measure
ourselves against daily in today’s pacific submarine force.
Whether it was facing a tenacious,
deadly adversary in the waters of the Pacific or in constructing a house
of worship against all odds and without support, it’s the spirit of service
and sacrifice whichIhold in highest regard. And that’s why I think today
is so important.
Today, we formally recognize the service
and sacrifice of those who have gone before us in the submarine force.
We are all part of the enduring heritage of a quiet, honorable community.
And if you didn’t know it before today, you have some huge shoes to fill.
I'd like to note that this recognition
won’t end today. The first Sunday of each month the folks here will commemorate
all submarines lost that month by dedicating a window in their honor. By
december of 2000, including today’s window, all 13 windows in the Subase
Chapel will have been dedicated.
So I encourage you to attend not just
those Sundays - but every Sunday. If you can’t make it on the weekends,
swing by on the weekday! This place really is steeped in rich lore, and
it is a great place to put your service into perspective.
I’d like to thank each of you today
for attending in the midst of our stand down, and I hope you all have a
great, great holiday season. Thanks ever so much again for your service
- and that goes for those of you who served previously and still today.
Now let’s get on with the ceremony!
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