LA Fleet Week kicks off with patriotic celebrations ahead of Memorial Day

The San Pedro waterfront — newly adorned with patriotic garb — is officially open for its weekend-long LA Fleet Week event, held in celebration of the nation’s sea servicemen and women.

This year’s event, which opened Friday, May 27, and runs through Memorial Day, is the first in-person celebration in two years. The coronavirus pandemic forced Fleek Week to be virtual in 2020 and 2021.

But the biggest — and permanent — change this year is the timing: Now, Fleet Week will be held on Memorial Day weekend, rather than Labor Day weekend as it had been in the past. Organizers said that change offers several perks — a major one being better weather.

And they weren’t wrong, at least on the first day: Celebrators gathered in San Pedro under a cloud-free Friday to kick off the free festival centered on the United States’ sea services, including the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

Fleet Week, which will likely see tens of thousands of visitors this weekend, stretches across the entire San Pedro waterfront.

For some, Fleet Week offers a rare glimpse behind the scenes of the military sea operations. I

n a parking lot-turned-expo-center, just off of Harbor Boulevard and Fifth Street, various equipment, ranging from military helicopters to full-blown battleships, are on display — and open for visitors to have a look inside.

Bianka Broski, a mechanic and first-time Fleet Week visitor, said that’s what drew her to this year’s celebration.

“Seeing all of the machinery, and the different kinds of equipment that civilians don’t usually get to see,” Broski said, “I find that really cool.”

Broski’s interest in military operations isn’t just mechanical, though. Her grandfather was in the Navy — and served on the USS Washington, a 35-ton battleship that was active from 1941 to 1947.

Though that ship was decommissioned and sold for scrap in 1961, a similar battleship currently sits in the San Pedro Harbor’s World Cruise Center and is on display: the USS Iowa.

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That nearly 80-year-old battleship, which calls San Pedro home, served in World War II, the Korean War and the Cold War. It was permanently docked in the port town in 2012, and has been open to the public as a maritime museum ever since.

Two other, active Navy ships are also docked in the outer harbor, making their Fleet Week debuts this weekend: the USS Essex, a helicopter carrier; and the USS Portland, an amphibious transport dock ship. They’re accessible by shuttle, and tours of both are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

“My father was on the USS Washington, so I would like to go on the USS Iowa,” said Broski’s mother, Debra. “It’s almost the exact same battleship, and I’ve been wanting to go since they put the Iowa here.”

Both Broskis, though, had one shared goal in common: Learning more about the Navy — and celebrating those who’ve served.

For Jeff Bowdoin, preserving and sharing naval history is what Fleek Week is all about.

Bowdoin serves as the curator branch head of the Naval History and Heritage Command, which has its headquarters in the Washington Navy Yard in the nation’s capital. That organization is responsible for preserving, analyzing and disseminatingf U.S. naval history and heritage.

“That’s like asking a parent to pick their favorite kid,” Bowdoin said when asked about his favorite Navy artifact.

A choice pick of his, though, is the story of the USS Saginaw — and its captain’s gig.

In 1870, the Saginaw and its crew were stranded on Kure Atoll, in the Pacific Ocean, while voyaging back to Hawaii. But rather than succumb to exposure or starvation, five members of the crew enlisted the captain’s gig — essentially a much smaller, less seaworthy vessel — and undertook a 1,500 mile journey back to Hawaii for help.

After a treacherous 28-day journey, thegig made it to the shores of Honolulu — but only one member of the crew survived. All the rest, riddled with malnutrition, exhaustion, and elemental exposure, died before the boat made it ashore.

The last man standing was able to get ashore — and immediately sent reinforcements to rescue the rest of the crew, who had remained stranded on Kure Atoll. All, miraculously, survived.

Among the Naval History and Heritage Command’s vast trove of naval treasures under Bowdoin’s watch, he said, is the USS Saginaw’s captain’s gig.

“The story really embodies what it means to be part of a group,” Bowdoin said, and what it means to be “a sailor, and to sacrifice for your shipmates.”

Several exhibits of naval and U.S. Army history are on display throughout Fleet Week’s expo — all designed to honor the lives of those who lived and died in service of American ideals, a message made more poignant by the event’s Memorial Day weekend placement.

“The Navy puts a lot of time into naming and preserving their heritage,” said Brendan Perry, a nuclear mechanic stationed with the USS New Mexico, currently on shore duty to help share Navy history alongside Bowdoin. “We’re using modern Navy technology to bring history to our sailors and their families.”

Other events at Fleet Week, scheduled through Monday, include:

Tallship Village, with daily sails, including cannon battle sails, sunset sails and an educational sail.
Exhibits and displays, including helicopters and armored vehicles.
STEAM displays, with androids, robotics and emerging technology.
Competitions, including dodgeball among military teams.
Galley Wars, with chefs from the military branches competing.
Aerial demonstrations.
Live entertainment.

Find more information about LA Fleet Week at lafleetweek.com.

Source: Orange County Register

LA Fleet Week kicks off with patriotic celebrations ahead of Memorial Day

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LA Fleet Week kicks off with patriotic celebrations ahead of Memorial Day

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