Ceremony honors those lost during attack on USS Stark
PARKERSBURG — Flashback to May 17, 1987.
It is Sunday. The Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate USS Stark (FFG-31) is struck by two Iraqi Exocet missiles at 9:12 p.m. while on patrols during the Iran-Iraq War.
Initially, reports will state 37 crew members die from the attack by an Iraqi Dassault Mirage F1 pilot who mistakes the United States Navy frigate for an Iranian tanker.
Later reports state the missiles were fired by a Dassault Falcon 50 modified business jet. The loss is 29 seamen killed in the attack. Eight die later. Reports differ on whether one or two bodies are lost at sea. Twenty-one are wounded.
Flash forward to May 17, 2017, and surviving crewmen, families and relatives of the deceased gather for the annual memorial at the Mayport Naval Station near Jacksonville, Fla., the homeport of the Stark.
Among those in the gathering is MR2 Janna Ryals of Little Hocking, who is the sister of Seaman Earl Patton Ryals, one of the 37 seamen. Earl’s son, Shawn, 34, of Fort Myers, Fla., is in attendance for the first time. Shawn Earl’s brother, Glenn, 59, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., is also attending for the first time.
Among the more than 200 people attending, is family for SN Doran H. Bolduc.
“His brother, I don’t remember his name,” Janna Ryals said, “and his wife were present this time. They traveled from Snohomish, Wash. They came the farthest.”
The numbers attending continue to grow yearly according to Ryals.
She said Shawn and Glenn were visibly moved by the events of the memorial service and both have stated they will return for services in the coming years. That number promising to return grows yearly as well.
The night before, the nameplate dedication happens. During the dedication, 37 small wood-based memorials, each with a small metal cross cut from the ship’s nameplate, sits on a table inside the Stark Classroom. On each, the base features the deceased seaman’s name, rank, the ship — USS Stark FFG-31 — and the date.
It’s part of a package of mementos featuring cards bearing the names of the deceased seamen and a 1 inch horizontally by 2 inches vertically piece of metal cut from the nameplate.
Within the mementos is a poem penned by Janna. It reads:
The cross’s layers are many
As is the memories of our loved one.
The scars of this cross are evident
As is the pain for the loss of our loved one.
The cross shows the U.S.S. Stark still lives
As does our loved one.
Forever in our hearts.
Around the room is history of the Stark. From the framed, glassed-in page of then President Ronald Reagan’s visit to the memorial service to articles from Time and Newsweek magazines, to a wall displaying 37 photos of the deceased seamen.
“The room continues to be a work in progress,” Ryals said. “It will be eventually go from being a classroom to a museum.”
The crosses are distributed to families represented at the meet and greet memorial. Six others will soon be mailed to other families.
“The event is very healing for the families who are there,” she said. “They said they would be back. Families we contacted who had not known about the memorial said they would be here next year.”
The crosses and small portions of the nameplate were crafted at the Kraton plant in Belpre where Ryals works.
“They received those with a card which read ‘In loving memory of the 37 who gave all.'”
Ryals has put in a lot of work on the memorial.
“I had to locate the families and that was about three months of hunting,” she said. “I called funeral homes, churches, realtors. I facebooked friends with anyone in a town with a connection.”
Help came when a shipmate went to findagrave.com “and posted the headstones of the 37,” said Ryals. “With that, I knew what cities they were in and started searching there. I was trying to give the families notice so they could get there (for the memorial). Any time my phone rang, I was grabbing it. You just never knew if it was a Stark family at the other end.”
A sad part of the hunt, according to Ryals, was “many families had no clue about the memorial services. Most thought they had been forgotten. By ‘they’, I mean the sailor or the sailor’s family, had been forgotten. It was a very emotional thing for the families to find out those sailors were still remembered for their sacrifice.”
Those families who could not attend were able to watch the livestream of the 45-minute memorial service through allhandsmagazine.net. All Hands magazine is the official magazine of the United States Navy, which can also be found at navy.mil.
“They organized it,” she said. “The admiral spoke and others rang a bell as the names of the deceased were read.”
The connections made will be more than a yearly handshake, some smiles and tears according to Ryals.
“We’re starting to put together a database of the shipmates and families,” she said. “We’re putting it together so the shipmates can reach out and contact another shipmate when they’re having bad days; and they all have them.”
There are numerous Facebook pages dealing with the USS Stark. A public group, “USS Stark (FFG-31)” has more than 1,000 members with a description of “A place for the family, friends, and former crewmembers of the USS Stark to connect.”
“Lee Stephens had seven siblings and we found a cousin first,” she said. “We asked him to spread the word and within a week there were 20 cousins and a couple of sisters join. They had no idea we were doing this.”
Ryals presented a cap with the words in all capital letters ‘USS STARK’ on the first line and ‘FFG-31’ on the bottom line. Across the back of the cap “Committed to Never Forget.” In the middle of her cap is a small pin with a gold star, surrounded by gold laurel leaves with a purple background.
“We’re a gold pin family,” she said. “It’s the reason why I made the card purple.”
The Gold Star lapel pin is, according to goldstarpins.org “designated for eligible survivors of service members who lose their lives during any armed hostilities in which the United States is engaged, dating back to World War I. This includes service members who lose their lives while deployed in support of military operations against the enemy or during an international terrorist attack.”
“The ship’s motto was ‘Strength for Freedom,'” she said. “In the interior of the ’37’ card is a poem I wrote, words spoken by Ronald Reagan at a memorial service and a vow to never forget them.”
There is still, however, one item which has not been established for the USS Stark incident and it affects all crew members, Ryals said.
“There is not an awarded combat ribbon for the USS Stark,” she said. “If they would declare the USS Stark as being eligible for the ribbon, crew members would be eligible for the Veterans Administration to help with their post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Some have pursued it and some have gotten help,” Ryals said. “But some have been turned away. You have to keep after them or you won’t get it. It’s time for them.”