Remain standing through the invocation. Advance the colors. [national anthem. Retire the colors the chaplain will now offer the invocation. Would you bow with me in prayer . Eternal god, we gather here on this sacred ground to pause, reflect, and remember the 129 crewmembers of the United States ship thresher. They served their country in the height of the cold war and were fully prepared to do whatever called upon to defend our nation, be it above or below the seas. The tragic loss felt on that april day of 1963 still stings our hearts, but we are also thankful that out of this tragedy much good has come. Through the establishment of the sub is a program, our nation has the safest submarine force in history. This assurance of safety has been secured by those who had given their lives while on board the thresher. We thank you for those who have gathered here today who worked tirelessly to ensure those that made the sacrifice to our nation are never forgotten. Continue to bless their efforts. For the family members, friends, and loved ones of the crew of the thresher, we pray your continued hand of mercy to steady and support them as the hurt of loss still lingers. Bless this gathering this afternoon and all those that witness this program. Continue to instill in each of us the duty we have to serve you, o nationur, our nation, and our fellow man. In your holy name, i pray. Amen. Please, be seated. Thank you to the United States navy band for their wonderful rendition of our national anthem. [applause] i was given the opportunity today to be your master of ceremonies and introduce the speakers. Speakers. If you look at your extensive program, your speakers biographies are listed, so i will keep my introductions short. Reasonst speaker is the we are here today, meaning the reason that the idea of a monument to thresher at Arlington Cemetery came to fruition. Been working months,ly not for to make this day possible. He recruited a board, including me. He recruited a treasurer to assist, because he couldnt be both treasurer and president. But through his efforts, we are here. I had to give a percentage when filling out the tax forms of what percentage of the effort was made by each one of the individuals on the board. Put 90 for kevin, because i couldnt get any higher. [applause] but you didnt come here to listen to me, so we will get on with our speakers. I would like to introduce you the president of the uss memorialanc foundation. [applause] thank you all. Please be seated. , john wiley, good afternoon and welcome to all here today. Can everybody hear me . Youre thresher crew, prayers and your dreams have been answered. Haveyour support, we achieved our mission of erecting a memorial to honor the 129 men lost aboard the uss thresher in the hollowed grounds of Arlington National cemetery. This memorial is unique relative to other memorials at anc. Not only does it perpetuate the memories of the 129 men lost, but also their legacy. Prior to the loss of thresher, we lost an average of once a marine every three years due to noncombat related incidents. Since thresher, we have lost no sub safe certified submarine. Those responsible for the sub safe inception and for those that continue its implementation, they have and continue to protect the lives of the men and women who serve on our nations submarines. On behalf of of the uss thresher families and former cramp, i challenge former crew, i challenge all those attending to perpetuate threshers sub safe legacy to future generations in order to prevent a similar country from occurring. The location of the memorial could not be better. Erected a long the roosevelt walkway, over 1. 5 million visitors will view this memorial and learn the story of uss thresher, to honor, remember, and explore. Id like to ask the following anc committee members, please stand, so that the crowd and project supporters may recognize you. Please hold your applies your applies until i request it. A consummate professional. The anc members working group. Exploreremember and subcommittee. The anc advisory committee. The deputy superintendent for cemetery administration. Superintendent anc. And executive director, arlington military cemeteries. These are the gatekeepers at anc responsible for recommending approval to the secretary to the army. Would you please give them a round of applause . [applause] mr. Galeaz to the uss thresher family members, thank you for allowing us to serve you and your loved ones with the direction of this memorial erection of this memorial. May god bless america. [applause] our next speaker in your program is tom wiley. If you read his biography, you see a wonderful life of service to this nation as a member of our secret service. But i know tom from a different role. Was abrother, john wiley, member of thresher. He has been there with kevin and i at many meetings, representing the families and expressing rationale and reason why the thresher memorial is rightfully here at Arlington Cemetery. So tom, representing the families, welcome to the podium. [applause] thank you, admiral. Senator shaheen, vice admiral, distinguished guests, thresher families, friends, thank you all for coming. On behalf of my family and other thresher families, i would like to thank kevin, president of the anc Thresher Memorial Foundation for his dedication, sacrifices, and persistence in arriving to this special day. The placement of the thresher moreno in Arlington National cemetery is a momentous achievement. Thank you, kevin. [applause] my name is tom wiley. Im very humbled and privileged to stand here before you as as thresher family member. Wiley,her, john joseph graduated with distinction from the United StatesNaval Academy in 1951, and was on the thresher. He was my older brother, my role model, and my hero. 1963, there was a national disaster. The United States navy lost a lead ship of the worlds most advanced class of Nuclear Powered submarines, attack submarines, and its highly trained crew. Portsmouth Naval Shipyard lost highly skilled friends. Company also most highly skilled employees lost highly skilled employees and friends. The Shipbuilding Community was in shock. Former thresher crewmembers lost submariners in a boat on which they proudly served. The nation lost 129 men, defending our country during the cold war challenges with the soviet union. Lovede 129 families lost ones. Know, noer families family, no individual is ever prepared for the shock of the tragic news like the thresher disaster. No one is prepared to grieve or comfort or console family members and friends. It was very difficult for the families. They had hoped and prayed their butd ones would be saved, there were no bodies, no caskets, no real closure, just memorial services. And this book, silent strength, the author has a chapter titled one disaster, 129 stories. Has theirch family own personal story on how they cope with their loss. Memories of our loved ones are all that really for remain for our thresher families. Every thresher family has their own story on how they learned of the thresher disaster on that terrible day. These were the days before social media. There was no texting, no facebook, no cell phones. Instant, people instead, people were told in person, or called by relatives or friends, or heard the news over tv. Siblings knew something was wrong when they saw their mom crying. It was not any different from my family. My brother johns wife, patty, was in connecticut, looking for housing. She heard the terrible news from the famous anchor Walter Cronkite on the television. My mom learned about my brother john from her own brother as she was walking home from church with my brothers younger siblings. N engineer on the pennsylvania railroad, was working in the mountains of western pennsylvania, moving coal trains. He was told the bad news and sent home. My sister saw the news on the television. Me, i was a freshman at purdue university. I had received a transistor radio from my parents as a christmas gift, december 1962. Took it back to college, and it worked for a few months, then it quit. New batteries didnt fix the problem, so it sat on the windows and, edge, not working. Into my dormi came room, and the radio was working. Aasked my roommate, also freshman football player, how they got the radio to work. He said he just got the urge to turn it on. We sat there in the room, tossing a football back and forth, talking about how our first spring football practice in the big ten was going. Then the news about the thresher can only. I ran down to the tv to see the news. Ton to my room, and i ran my room, and the radio was lost. I asked my roommate why he turned it off. Itsaid he didnt, he said stopped working the moment i was out the door. The radio never worked again. Withhresher crew, along the other Navy Personnel on board, remembers a group of elite submariners. They had completed advanced training in nuclear power. The threshern that was manned by the best and brightest of the cold war generation. My brother john stated he considered it an honor and privilege to serve as a member of the thresher elite crew. They were young, with promising futures. The civilians on board were the best of their profession. All 129 million were brilliant. Men were brilliant. They were described as men of genius and adventure, but more importantly they were great americans. They had backgrounds in a variety of interests. Many had been to scouting. They were students on a variety of winning teams. They were scholars. They were involved in student governments or student yearbook production. They were members of the church ps. High School Choral grou many were veterans. There was a linguist and a translator. They were all strong individuals. Thresher families lost husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, grandsons. Parents lost their oldest or their youngest son. Some lost their only son. One family lost two sons, because their brothers wanted to serve together. Some mothers never recovered from their loss. Strong fathers wept openly. Older siblings helped their parents cover the younger ones. Big brothers, baby brothers, best friends were lost, heroes to their families. Children must fathers, wives lost fathers, wives lost husbands. Wives, despite their own grief, found the faith, courage, and strength to carry on. Wives of children had to take on a new role as head of household. They had to comfort and explain the loss of a father. They helped the children to grieve and to heal. They were not responsible for now responsible for raising the children to be strong, successful, and educated adults. Even though it was hard, they succeeded. Heroesesher wives were too. They were strong. [applause] they were the personification of the threshers motto of silent strength. Memories are all that we have of our loved ones. We will always remember them through mementos such as old photos, old letters, a news article, and most importantly, family stories. They are remembered for that contagious smile, that deep laughter, a deep thinker. They are remembered for raising tropical fish, cultivating roses, they are remembered as musicians,boaters, known for playing the violin or the piano. Doing woodwork, being members of Church Choral groups, or being an amateur radio operator. They were remembered for being active in their church and communities, the 4h club, being a stock car racer, a photographer, a golfer, a volunteer fireman, members of the masons or the knights of columbus. A coach, a teacher. Ofhas been said that the men the uss thresher were assigned stations while defending. To ensure the challenges that the thresher encounter would not have been again, new and better protocols were established for a program calleda sub safe. Although the lives of our loved ones were lost, they were not lost in vain. Memories. Now Arlington National cemetery has a new memorial, and thresher families have a lasting memory of our loved ones. President kennedy said of our loved ones that the future of our country will always be sure when there are men such as these, that give their lives to preserve it. A memorial in the nations for most sacred National Cemetery will recognize the legacy of the uss thresher and its crew as they continue on eternal patrol. The memorial will honor and recognize the sacrifice made by our loved ones for our country. It will emphasize the point that freedom is not free, even in times of peace or armed conflict. The Arlington National cemetery is respected and held in high esteem by our nation and the world. Arlington National Cemetery history, andledge, recognition of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Arlington National Cemetery is our nations sacred and hallowed ground, where our nation honors and never heroes forgets. The loved ones of the thresher families will never be forgotten. Thank you. [applause] opportunity to be the keynote speaker at the 51st annual thresher memorial service, up in the seacoast area. During that time, family members challenged me for today. And i thank you for that. Ar prettyso set the b high for speakers for today, so you didnt need to hear me again. When looking for a navy speaker, i recall a discussion i had at a timesence, recollecting in high school on the seacoast area. Our keynote speaker went to york high school. Some of the students that we familieschool with are in the middle section. Not only is he the recently retired naval chief of operations, but he understands the community from which so many of the thresher sailors came from. Speaker, our next admiral john richardson. [applause] thank you, senator shaheen, fellow flag officers, guests, friends, and most of all, the families of the uss thresher crew and of the Shipyard Workers and private sector experts that still lie on paternal patrol. Eternal patrol. Many of us today have taken an states defend the united against all enemies, foreign and domestic. This oath binds us together. It binds us through time. It binds us throughout the world. Time has shown, over and over, that it is impossible to predict and hard to comprehend what our require of us may on any given day. Began with so much excitement, the excitement of sea trials. Anyone who has been on a sea trial knows this feeling. It is the end of a long road, construction, testing, preparation, training. And it is the beginning of another road, going back to sea. Ares and ships and boats made to go to sea. It is the its the natural state of a ship and its crew. The day started with anticipation and professionalism. 129personnel personnel focused on a challenging program. You can look in your program and anticipation and the pride in the faces of the crew. Who could have known on that day that began with so much hope, that the day would finish with despair . Adness and indeed, that these men and their families would pay the ultimate price for their dedication to our constitution and the nation that it guides. While the loss of any of our people is a great tragedy, the loss of submarine crew brings with it unique aspects, unique challenges. As mr. Wiley said in his magnificent remarks, it is so hard to bring closure. A submarine submerges and disappears beneath the waves. Thats what they do. Then, amongst everybody who knows, there is a sense of anticipation, maybe a slight sense of anxiety, until the end of the mission the end of the mission when we should see the ships surface and return home. We should see the ship tied up seehe prn the crew, sure the ship tie up to the pier and shore. Ew come a april 10,ot happen on 1960. There was no return to report, no crew coming ashore, no , justes, no joy uncertainty and a growing sense of dread. Something had gone wrong. There was some scattered communication about a problem. Over time, it will become clear that the ship had become lost, that they had paid the ultimate price. Best tolenge how honor the dedication and sacrifice of these men and their families. Homage . E best do them how do we best do what we can to bring them closer . Closure . Well, we must come together as we have to recognize and remember each year. Today marks a major step in this effort the dedication of a memorial here at arlington thoseal cemetery to honor who were lost on the uss thresher. A place for all to gather and remember, but most especially, the family and friends of those who lie in eternal rest in the deep. A place to come together to remember, to meditate, and to pray. Ouragain, we must express deep gratitude to the entire team on the Thresher Memorial Foundation that made this day possible. David gunter, the son of quartermaster chief gunter who remains on eternal patrol. The other members of the. Oundation the daughter of Lieutenant Commander john billings on eternal patrol aboard the thresher. You heard the you heard from lieutenant john gg wiley. They have done a remarkable thing here and we are also grateful. Lets recognize them one more time for what they have done, this herculean effort. [applause] the other way that we can honor those brave men and their families is to do everything tosible, everything we can make sure that Something Like this never happens again, that we learn everything we can from this tragedy and put those lessons to work to build our ships stronger, to make our procedures more effective, to train our crews better. This is exactly what we have done. Theaps the most visibly in advent of the sub safe program, an environment of accountability and attention to detail that changed the entire way that we build and operate submarines. The sub save program is the very best of its kind. It has no equal in the world, and it remains in place to this day. The 20 or so submarines that are under way submerged as we speak right now are guided by the Lessons Learned from uss thresher, so it is an honor to be here today. An honor to mark the dedication of this memorial here in our nations resting place as a remembrance to the 129 sailors and Shipyard Workers, those brave souls who lie at peace in the deep, and honor to continue to help bring closure to all those who lost a loved one on that day and an honor to take time and remember all those magnificent people who have paid and are still willing to pay whatever