Nathan Harris holds up the paddle that will accompany the Marines along the 770-mile journey from Navarre to Camp Lejeune, N.C. on March 11. (Photo by Mat Pellegrino | South Santa Rosa News)
For the families who lost loved ones aboard the Blackhawk Helicopter that went down in the sound last year in Navarre, closure may never come.
But one local group is trying to help turn the page for many of those families around and on the anniversary of the crash in March. That group, Remembering Blackhawk 11, is led by several area residents and business leaders who are reaching out to help raise money to bring family members of the fallen to the area on the one-year anniversary of the crash.
Eleven servicemen were aboard a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter during a training exercise back on March 10, 2015 when the pilot lost control of the aircraft and crashed into the sound. All servicemen on the aircraft, including 4 National Guardsmen and 7 Marines perished in the accident. A memorial statue is being planned by Leadership Santa Rosa Class 29, and is expected to be erected sometime after the anniversary of the crash in Navarre Park. But a separate public ceremony is expected to be held on March 10 by Remembering Blackhawk 11 committee members on the sands of Navarre Beach for family members of the fallen. A time for the ceremony has yet to be established.
The committee members of the Remembering Blackhawk 11 group are hoping to be able to raise enough money to bring the several dozen family members of the fallen servicemen to Navarre Beach on March 10 to attend the public ceremony honoring the servicemen. The family members will also have the opportunity to watch (and participate in) a ruck march that will pay tribute to the fallen servicemen.
Following the last call at the public ceremony on Navarre Beach on March 10, the 770-mile ruck march will kick off starting on Navarre Beach. The march will start at roughly 8:21 p.m. that day, the exact time the helicopter went down into the sound. Participants in the march will trek down Navarre Beach Causeway to Navarre Park. The next morning, the group of Marines participating in the trek will march from Navarre Park to Courthouse Bay at Camp Lejeune, N.C. to honor the fallen servicemen. The march is expected to take 10 days or less.
“There are 7 teams in the march. Each team is associated with one of the 7 Marines that was on the helicopter,” said Nathan Harris, the director and organizer of the ruck march.
On their journey, the teams will carry a paddle, which was aboard the helicopter when it went down in the sound. Attached to the paddle, all 11 dog tags of the fallen and a small memorial. The paddle, which was one of the few items recovered from the wreckage is symbolic in the Marine community.
“That paddle is one of the only things from the crash that was recovered intact after the recovery efforts were completed. The history of the paddle draws back to World War II with the Marine Raiders where they were issued a paddle, along with other gear. That wooden paddle was taken with Marines where they were deployed. If they were to pass away, their brothers took the paddle, sanded it down, stained it, put their awards on it and put it on a plaque and gave it to their family,” Harris said.
Presently, Marines aren’t issued a paddle, but instead are given a piece of wood that can be sanded down and stained in memory of a fallen Marine or a member that is leaving the Marines.
“(The one recovered from the wreckage) wasn’t an individual paddle, but the fact that it was a paddle recovered from the wreckage ties in the symbolism. That paddle was one of the most precious paddles that I am aware of. It was donated to us from Marines who were on the team from the men that died.”
That paddle will be delivered to Camp Lejeune and kept there as part of a memorial for the fallen at the end of the ruck march.
One of the committee members, Gerald “Jersey Jerry” Foster, said the biggest need the committee has right now is funding to get the family members of the fallen to Navarre.
“We need funds to help with the expenses of getting the family members down here. We have four families driving from Louisiana and 7 families we need to fly in from the Camp Lejeune area,” Foster said. “We need them here so we can give them closure. Only two of the 11 families have been here to see the site where their loved ones perished.”
Some beach house rentals have been donated, along with roughly $325 on a GoFundMe page. But the group still needs plane tickets, food donations and additional monetary donations to help get the family members here and comfortable during their stay.
The committee is also raising money to help get the Marines who are participating in the ruck march back to their homes following their arrival in North Carolina.
People wishing to donate money can “adopt” a family for $5,000. That money will go to help get the family members here, feed them and provide them a place to stay and a rental car during their stay in Navarre.
On Wednesday at their luncheon, The Navarre Area Board of Realtors (NABOR) donated $1,000 to the Remembering Blackhawk 11 group (See Page 11).
Additionally, Patrick Fitzgerald who coordinates Spring Fling on Navarre Beach has already pledge to donate part of the event’s proceeds to the cause along with a stage for the memorial event on March 10.
Those wishing to donate can do so by going to www.gofundme.com and searching for “Remembering Blackhawk 11”. Any additional funds left over from the campaign will be disbursed to the family members of the fallen.
For more information, or to find out a way you can help, call (850) 396-1362.
