January 2016
Editor’s note: This article and the accompanying photos were submitted by Chief Steward Shawn Fujiwara on behalf of the Global Sentinel.
On Oct. 9 at 1100, the crew and officers of the cable ship Global Sentinel gathered as a family to give remembrance to our fallen brothers and sisters from the El Faro.
Relief Captain Paul Klippel, an SIU hawsepiper, gathered his crew for a small service to reflect the loss of El Faro and her crew. Thirty-three red roses were gathered in a vase to reflect her crew. A candle was also lit in their memory.
Joining the service was Fran Klippel, wife of Captain Klippel. As she read off the crew list, one by one each crew member stepped up and removed a rose from the vase until the vase was empty….
During the service, President Obama’s official statement was read by a senior officer, and scriptures were read. Chief Steward Fujiwara then read from Psalms….
A moment of silence was then held for our lost brothers and sisters.
Then, on Oct. 13 at 1700 on the Oregon Coast in Florence, Oregon, where the Siuslaw River meets the sea, Fran Klippel, Fujiwara and other friends gathered to give remembrance to these great sailors who gave their lives to the sea.
That afternoon, as we all gathered at the ocean’s edge on the north jetty of the Siuslaw River, to remember these 33 crew members…. Fran read off each crew member’s name as roses were put into the sea. At first the roses where together, then they were gone, swept out to sea….
Psalm 107 was once again read as well as letters. Again a moment of silence was observed, for our 33 lost brothers and sisters who, doing what they loved, paid the heavy price of going to sea.
We the crew of the cable ship Global Sentinel would like to send our deepest heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the crew who lost loved ones on the El Faro. May God comfort them in their loss.
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