View the Navy Year in Pictures 2008

Monday, January 01, 2007 For Immediate Release:

Contact: Frank Shafroth 703-228-3116(voice), 703-228-4743 (TTY)
Navy ship commemorates heroes and victims of the 9/11 Pentagon attack

The Arlington County Board today made appointments to the Commissioning Committee for the USS Arlington, a new U.S. Navy ship (San Antonio Class) currently under construction. The USS Arlington is scheduled to be commissioned in 2011, and is being built to honor the heroes and victims of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon in 2001.

“Our community will never forget the tragic events of September 11^th,” said Paul Ferguson, Chairman of the Arlington County Board. “The USS Arlington will stand as a living tribute to those brave men and women who risked their lives to save others and we are grateful to the Commissioning Committee for their leadership.”

The Committee will be responsible for fundraising and maintenance of a long-term relationship between the ship, its crew, and Arlington County and will also address a timeline, fundraising issues, and a recommended process for the commissioning of the USS Arlington, including an assessment of the financial implications for the County.

As part of its charge, the committee shall make its final recommendations to the Board by no later than December 1, 2007.

The USS Arlington Commissioning Committee
The Arlington County Board appointed the following members to the Commissioning Committee:

• Rosemary Dillard, whose husband was killed in the Pentagon on 9/11
• Pat Hymel Lipinski, whose former husband was killed in the Pentagon on 9/11 and former principal at Hoffman-Boston Elementary School
• Lisa Dolan, whose husband, Navy Captain Bob Dolan, was killed at the Pentagon on 9/11
• Rodney White – Arlington County Fire Department firefighter/paramedic
• Wilbur R. Gray – Arlington County Fire Department Battalion Chief
• Admiral Stansfield Turner, former Director of Central Intelligence Agency
• Nancy Gorell – President of the No. Va. Council of Navy League
• Admiral John Foley – Vice President, Business Development/Strategic Planning, Northrup Grumman

Additional members will be appointed at a later time.

Background:
In September 2005, the Navy held a ceremony at the Pentagon to name the USS Arlington and the USS Somerset in honor of the heroes and victims of the Pentagon attack and the flight downed in Pennsylvania. The ceremony also honored the sacrifices of those who provided critical assistance both during and after the attack of 9/11, including the emergency, fire, and rescue personnel of Arlington County.

The Arlington and Somerset are the latest additions to the San Antonio Class of amphibious transport dock ships–the first to be designed from the keel up. This class is set to replace 27 amphibious ships from the three classes of amphibious ships now in service. An earlier ship of the same class, the USS New York, was named for the World Trade Center victims in New York. With an overall length of 684 feet, the San Antonio Class ships are designed to accommodate 1,200 sailors and Marines and their equipment.

BY KAREN ROUSE NorthJersey.com STAFF WRITER

NEW YORK – More than 100 “Good Samaritan” mariners who rescued the passengers and crew of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 were praised today by Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Sen. Frank Lautenberg during a ceremony at the New York Waterway Terminal.

They were “in many instances risking their own safety to rescue” the stranded victims, Napolitano said of the group of professional civilian mariners, which included North Jersey residents employed by N.Y. Waterway.

There were two miracles that day, she said – the successful landing of the aircraft, and the rescue that followed. The incident could have been one of tragedy “had this rescue not been carried out with speed, agility and courage,” said Napolitano.

The U. S. Coast Guard, which hosted the ceremony, presented five companies with a Certificate of Merit. Those included Staten Island Ferry and NY Water Taxi.

In addition, Scott Koen of Rutherford was presented with a Coast Guard Meritorious Public Service Award, while the Coast guard Distinguished Public Service Award was presented to NY Waterway founder Arthur E. Imperatore.

Imperatore lavished praise on his employees, including Vincent Lombardi of Fairfield, captain of the Thomas Jefferson, and Capt. Britanny Catanzara, who rescued 26 people on the Thomas Kean vessel. “This is a day of honor for our people,” he said.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/newyorkmetro/goodsamaritans021809.html