NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY SOUDA BAY, Greece (May 2, 2024) Naval Support Activity Souda Bay and Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Europe Africa Central (EURAFCENT) service members and personnel held a memorial service for Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 14 at The Anchor on May 2, 2024.
“Our ceremony today is to stop, pause, and honor our Seabees who lost their lives, so we all can live in a country with the freedom we all cherish,” said Utilitiesman 2nd Class Brian Torres, NAVFAC EURAFCENT. “Today, we remember Seabees who lived by our core values of honor, courage, and commitment. We stop for a few moments, so we always remember the enormous price our brothers and their families have paid so we – and all Americans – can enjoy the freedom we have been given.”
The ceremony memorialized seven NMCB-14 Sailors who paid the ultimate sacrifice and 35 who were wounded in 2004 while the battalion was serving in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Throughout Iraq and Afghanistan, Seabees built bridges, conducted convoy operations, and built forward-operating bases alongside Marines, embodying their motto of “We Build, We Fight.”
“There is a difference between being ready and being prepared,” said retired Senior Chief Construction Mechanic Francisco Landrau, event coordinator for the ceremony. “We were ready, but nothing can prepare you for the horrors of war. We coped and made sense of reality by shrugging it all off, and all the other close calls by laughing and commenting to each other, ‘it was just not our time, not our day.’ This was our war, and that was my fight. I retired and no longer wear the uniform. Today our battlefield and the face of our enemy has changed and continues to evolve. We all have our Mission – master yours – and never forget our fallen.”
NMCB-14 made history as the first reserve battalion to assume command from an active-duty battalion since WW2.
“It is important to make time, like today, to step back and remember why we wear this uniform those that have built our legacy, and reflect on what we will do to carry that legacy forward,” said Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Riege, public works officer, NSA Souda Bay. “I have one ask for everyone here today: we figure out what each one of us will do to carry forward the legacy and carry on for these seven Seabees.”
Seabees from the NAVFAC EURAFCENT laid a wreath as the master of ceremonies read the names of the fallen Sailors:
- Hull Maintenance Technician 2nd Class Jason Dwelley, April 30, 2004, Iraq
- Equipment Operator 3rd Class Christopher Dickerson, April 30, 2004, Iraq
- Builder 2nd Class Michael Anderson, May 2, 2004, Iraq
- Steelworker 3rd Class Ronald Ginther, May 2, 2004, Iraq
- Builder 2nd Class Robert Jenkins, May 2, 2004, Iraq
- Construction Mechanic 2nd Class Scott McHugh, May 2, 2004, Iraq
- Equipment Operator 2nd Class Trace Dossett, May 2, 2004, Iraq
“The desert sand has been anointed with the blood of those seven Seabees who volunteered to serve and understood that one day, their service to our nation may cost them their lives,” concluded Landrau. “It should be important to all of us to memorialize our fallen, so that we can assure, that as time passes, their sacrifices will not have been in vain.”