Ship's young crew clear on mission

Several local men serve on Iwo Jima

October 25, 2006

Michael Smerconish

I MET THE MAN they call "the Sheriff" 7,500 miles from home. To the civilian world, he is Michael A. Walley, one of three children born to Robert and Marie Walley of Reading, Pa. But to the men of the USS Iwo Jima, his call sign is the Sheriff, and he is their commanding officer.

The Sheriff is one of the many impressive men and women I met overseas last week as part of a military immersion program the Pentagon calls the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference. One week ago today, I took a helicopter to his vessel in the Persian Gulf about 50 miles off Kuwait.

It was a long way from Philadelphia, and yet, I met several guys local to our area. The Sheriff's second in command, or EX, is Mark Sakaguchi, from Cinnaminson, N.J. Walking to the bridge, I met Daniel Keys, a deck seaman from Harrisburg. And down below, I found Ray Ford, a chief petty officer craft master from Olney, who went to Cardinal Dougherty and Bishop McDevitt and now drives a 2,000-pound hovercraft 8 feet off the ground at a speed equivalent to 50 m.p.h.

The Sheriff attended Wilson High School before entering the Naval Academy. He later got his call sign for the role he played in a record drug bust in El Paso, Texas. Patches on his left breast and right shoulder bear that moniker. This man with the graying hair and fit build moves through the enormous vessel with a quiet confidence and sense of pride about the ship he commands.

He is outwardly proud to be aboard the Iwo Jima, named for the epic World War II battle fought in February and March of 1945 - now the subject of a Clint Eastwood movie called "Flags of Our Fathers" - that was the first invasion on Japanese soil in 4,000 years.

A stunning 27 Medals of Honor were awarded for conduct at Iwo Jima, and the Sheriff has created a fitting memorial inside the ship so that the story of that battle is not lost on his young crew. The 2.2-acre flight deck is known onboard as the Jack Lucas Airfield, a tribute to an amazing American.

Lucas joined the Marines under false pretenses at age 14. He lied and said he was 17. Five days after he actually did turn 17, Lucas hit the beach at Iwo Jima and threw himself onto a pair of grenades, saving the lives of two companions - and miraculously survived. He became the youngest Marine in history to receive the Medal of Honor. After 22 operations to restore his health, he kept a promise he'd made to his mother by returning to school - in the ninth grade!

I heard the story from the Sheriff, whose eyes welled as he spoke, over the roar of jet engines, standing on the deck in 105-degree heat under a sign that now bears Lucas' name.

I asked the Sheriff about the current mission of the Iwo Jima as it sailed close to some of the fiercest fighting in the world. He answered by first telling me about its humanitarian past:

Such as the ship having recently evacuated 14,000 Americans from Jordan to safety. Or the relief effort in which it played a role after sailing up the Mississippi River to New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Or the rendering of aid to war-torn Liberia. The ship has an enormous hospital capability, and has been relied upon for life-saving around the globe.

But make no mistake: The Sheriff is now immersed in the role he plays in the war on terror. For the Sheriff, the subject cuts close to home. He was in the Pentagon on 9/11 and lost his boss.

The men aboard the Iwo Jima share his sense of mission. I met more than a few of them touring the ship, and they impressed me with their shared sense of purpose.

There is something else about the crew of the Navy's finest amphibious assault ship. Among the 1,100 crew members, the average age is just 21. Think about that. It means that those doing the heavy lifting in the war on terror were in junior high or high school on 9/11. They were sitting in class in second or third period when it all began, and by their enlistment are carrying on the rich tradition of those who served in the battle for which their ship was named.