Life Chaplain R.M. Butterwick, foreground, is a veteran of WWII and Marine Corps Sgt. Doug Graybill served on The Battleship New Jersey in a different era.
Day offers ‘Keep the Spirit of ’45 Alive’ aboard The Battleship New Jersey docked at The Camden Waterfront
By Albert C. Jones
America, The Diversity Place
THE CAMDEN WATERFRONT, New Jersey — Life Chaplain R.M. Butterwick is the real thing among others who re-enact the roles of men and women from different branches of the armed services here on the Battleship New Jersey, commemorating the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II on August 14, 1945.
Tuskegee Airmen John L. Harrison Jr., Henry L. Moore and Eugene Richardson, members of the Greater Philadelphia Chapter, are also the real thing. They have come across the Delaware River from Philadelphia to The Camden Waterfront with a display of books, memorabilia, and living military histories of America struggling to overcome racial iniquities.
It is 65 years to the day, August 14, 2010, that World War II ended.
Sue Guedes, of Slatington, Pennsylvania, is portraying an ensign Navy nurse who served in the Philippines and stayed to practice medicine in occupied Japan after World War II. The Navy nurse, who retired in 1960 as a commander, is 91 and living in Florida. Guedes does not recall her real name.
Butterwick was a 19-year-old on Mount Suribachi the day, February 23, 1945, that the U.S. Flag was raised over the island of Iwo Jima, Japan. Historians record the U.S. battle to capture Iwo Jima among the fiercest in Pacific Campaign of World War II.
Of that day, most are familiar with the iconic photo, “Frozen History,” taken by Joe Rosenthal. The historic photo shows Marines planting the United States flag over Iwo Jima. The photo remains an enduring symbol of victory for the U.S. during World War II.
“The raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima was one of the greatest moments in American history and I was there,” Butterwick said. “I was not on top of the hill, but I was there the day they raised the flag on top of Mount Suribachi.”
Butterwick was 85 at the time this story was written. He is long since retired from the U.S. Marines — rifleman and Purple Heart recipient. His basic training was at Parris Island, South Carolina. From there, Butterwick and his comrades served in the Pacific from 1944 through six months in 1946. Following military service, Butterwick worked 52 years as a plasterer and paper hanging contractor in Berks County, Pennsylvania.
“I am lucky to be here,” he said. “I should have been killed a dozen times.”
“Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive” was a yearlong national campaign to raise public awareness about the 65th anniversary of World War II and to inspire a renewed commitment to service and national unity in America. Objectives are to “call on Congress to designate the second Sunday in every August a national day of remembrance so that the legacy of our ‘greatest generation’ can educate and inspire future generations of Americans.”
Come aboard, nowadays this is officially the Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial. It is one of the many attractions that make The Camden Waterfront a special place to visit.
The Battleship New Jersey was decommissioned January 4, 1999. It was restored after returning from Bremerton, Washington to its homeport at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. The ship underwent restoration and opened as a museum and memorial in October 2001. It is docked at 62 Battleship Place
along The Camden Waterfront in Camden, New Jersey.
The Battleship New Jersey is 887 feet long and weighs 45,000 tons. The battleship launched from the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on December 7, 1942. Besides World War II, The New Jersey was commissioned for service in Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East.
Today there are all manner of vehicles, military uniforms and people on display. Observance of ‘‘Spirit of ’45 Day’’ on August 14, 2010 had support with a resolution passed the House of Representatives on July 26, 2010 and passed the Senate on August 5, 2010.
The New Jersey legislature funded Spirit of ’45 Day activities, said Command Duty Officer Jack Willard.
The eventful day includes a special WWII Victory Day Dance and BBQ. An Andrews Sisters performance — remember the 1941 hit “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”? — will be given tonight by the Romano Sisters, who are “vocalists for all occasions” from Boyertown, Pennsylvania.
This day also included a re-enactment of the Japanese surrender, which actually took place aboard the USS Missouri. There is a re-enactor for Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who was in charge of the surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945.
Marine Corps Sgt. Doug Graybill, who had tours of duty in Vietnam, Beirut, Lebanon and Grenada, was in the service for six and one-half years of active duty. He was out four years and then rejoined for ten years. Graybill is a reluctant conversationalist, not wanting to distract from the real-time men and women being honored here today.
Graybill was stationed on the Battleship New Jersey the last time it fired its guns in 1983-84.
Stefanie Neikam, of Unionville, Pennsylvania, portrayed a (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services) WAVES Commander and Linda Woodcock, portrays a WAVES captain.
Veterans like Butterwick, the Tuskegee Airmen and others who have come to the Battleship New Jersey, help meet the other objective of collecting “first-hand memories of those who experienced August 14, 1945, so that they can be a permanent reminder of a time when the people of our nation united to face common challenges.”
Harrison, Moore and Richardson are familiar to school children and community groups in the greater Philadelphia area. Their presentation is fourfold and touches on “The History of the Tuskegee Airmen,” “African-Americans in Aviation,” “Civil Rights” and “The Importance of Education for Youth.”
Their display include books, “Lonely Eagles: The Story of America’s Black Air Force in World War II,” and “The Tuskegee Airmen: The Men Who Changed A Nation.”
It’s all hands on deck for “Keep the Spirit of ‘45 Alive” commemoration aboard the Battleship New Jersey docked at The Camden Waterfront.