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The Old Coast Guard Station sincerely thanks our Community Partners for their support.
Altmeyer Funeral Home 1801 Baltic Avenue, Virginia Beach, VA 23451 ~ 428-1112
Flowers- Wayne Jones 329 Laskin Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23451 ~ 428-2901
Sandbridge Seaside Market 209 Sandbridge Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23456 ~ 426-6594
Our deepest gratitude to everyone who has help make this memorial service possible.
LCDR Ed Bass, USCG CAPT John Little, USCG Dan Boe, USCG MCPO (Ret)
Rev. Jack Davis
OSC Matt Doscher, USCG
Whitney Frazier
MSTC Chip Hamilton, USCG
CAPT Lonnie Harrison, USCG William Hazel
Ann Henley
Barbara Henley June Klag
Jim LaBarre, USCG MCPO (Ret)
Adam Lawson
LCDR Ronaydee Marquez, USCG
LT Scott McBride, USCG Darcy Nelson
Susan Perry
Kerri-Ann Pontifice-Lawson
ISCS James G. Price, USCG lSC Michae l Reed, USCG
lSC Robe1t L. Richardson, USCG
Mayor William D, Sessoms, Jr.
Dr. William H. Thiesen, USCG
CAPT Paul Thomas, USCG
Charlie Wiseman
The Old Coast Guard Station is a private, non-profit 50l(c)(3) museum
operating without state or federal funding. ln addition to grants and
income from programs and gift shop sales, we rely on the generosity of individuals, companies, foundations , and the community to be able to
fulfill our mission. Donations are tax deductible within the limits
prescribed by law. Donations made be mailed to PO Box 1035, Virginia
Beach, VA 23451 or made online at www.oldcoastguardstation .com.
Surfmen Memorial Service Wednesday, January 8, 2014
10 am
Tabernacle United Methodist Church
& Willowood Cemetery
Capt. Abel Belanga
James E. Belanga
John Land
Joseph Spratley
George Stone
Presented by The Old Coast Guard Station Museum
Surfmen Memorial Service Tabernacle IJnitcd Methodist Church
Welcome
Kathryn Fisher, Executive Director, Old Coast Guard Station
Presentation of Colors
United States Coast Guard Color Guard
Invocation
LCDR Ed Bass, Chaplain, Fi fth Coast Guard District
History
Kathryn Fisher, Executive Director, Old Coast Guard Station
Comments
William D, Sessoms, Jr. , Mayor of Virginia Beach
Remarks
LCDR Ronaydee Marquez, Atlantic Area Prevention Staff
Reading of Names
CA PT Paul Thomas, Chief of Sta ff, Fifth Coast Guard Distr ict
Bell Ringing
L T Scott McBride, External Affa irs Offi cer, Fifth Coast Guard District
Coast Guard Hymn
Charlie Wiseman, Music Director, Tabernacle United Methodist Church
Benediction
Rev. Jack Davis, Pastor, Tabernacle United Methodist Church
Wreath Laying Invocation
Willowood Cemetery
Rev. Jack Davis, Pastor, Tabernacle United Methodist Church
Wreath Laying
CAPT John Lillie, Commander, Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads
CAPT Lonnie Harrison, Chief of Prevention, Fifth Coast Guard District
Benediction
LCDR Ed Bass, Chaplain, Fifth Coast Guard DistTict
Reception Church Social Hall
All are invired ro join us for light reji-eshmenrs in the Church Social Hall (red brick
building) .following the service.
The Old Coast Guard Station honors and preserves the history of Virginia's coastal
communities and mari time heritage. The scope o f the Station's exhibits begins with the
Virginia Beach Community and extends to subjects re lated to Virginia's oceanfi·ont,
coastal and water related heritage. The museum's two galleries depict the history of the
Uni ted States Life-Saving and Coast Guard Services and shipwrecks on the Virginia
Coast.
The Old Coast Guard Station is housed in the most important arti fact in the museum's
collection: the 1903 Life-Saving Station. It houses a collection of I ,!WO artifac ts and over
I ,000 photographic images of the United States Life-Saving and Coast Guard Services,
and the resort communi ty of Virginia Beach. There is also an on-site research library
containing books, papers and oral histories. The museum overl ooks the Atlantic Ocean
along the Boardwalk at 24th Street with in the popular resort city of Virginia Beach,
Virginia. This historic Life-Sav ing/Coast Guard Station is a Virginia Historic Landmark
also on the National Register of Historic Places.
Tabernacle has one of the oldest congregations in Methodism in the United States.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1784, and Tabernacle began as a small
congregation in 1789. Jt was originally served by two ministers on horseback.
The original structure was demolished by I S30 and the present building erected. In
1970 the present brick church school building was built to serve as a sanctuary due to the
crumbling condition of the old building. Restoration of the old building was started in
July 1978 and completed in December of the same year.
The church prope1ty is preserved and maintained tlu·ough ongoing gifts to the
Heritage Fund, a property Endowment fo r Tabernacl e United Methodist Church.
The Life-Sav ing Service was fo rmally organized in 1878 to save the li ves of
shipwrecked mariners and passengers. It merged with the Revenue Cutter Service to form
the United States Coast Guard in 19 15.
For over two centuries the U.S. Coast Guard has safeguarded our Nation's maritime
interests in the hemtland, in the po1ts, at sea, and around the globe. They protect the
maritime economy and the environment, defend our ma1itime borders, and save those in
peril. This history has forged their character and purpose as America's Maritime
Guardian - Always Reac6' for all hazards and all tl1reats .
Today's U.S. Coast Guard, with nearly 42 ,000 men and women on acti ve duty , is a
unique force that carries out an array or civil and military responsibilities touching almost
every facet or the U.S. maritime environment.
The Coast Guard's mollo is Semper Paratus , meaning "Al ways Ready. "
ln a snowstorm with gale force winds in the early morning of January 8,
1887, the German clipper Elizabeth wrecked midway between the Dam Neck Mills and Little Island Life-Saving Stations. Surfmen from both stations
responded to the wreck. Unable to set up a line for the breeches buoy, Keeper
Abel Belanga chose six surfmen and headed out toward the Elizabeth with a
surlboat. By this time, the ship's crew had taken to their own lifeboat.
Suddenly, a huge wave swamped both boats, turning them over. All but two
were lost. Among the dead were Captain Halberstadt of the Elizabeth and his
21 crewmembers as well as Keeper Belanga, his brother James, his
brother-in-law Joseph Spratley, George Stone and John Land.
A f1.meral service was held for the five surfmen at Tabernacle United
Methodist Church. The Belanga family members were buried across the street
at Willowood Cemetery. Land and Stone are believed to be buried in a family
plot located in a field west of Pungo.
-.::::::::c"'
...........----.. ~-~·I[--
For an account of the wreck, read the digital version of The Annual Report of
the Operations of the US Lile-Saving Service for the Fiscal Year Ending June
3 0, 188 7: http://www.uscg.mil/history/docs/annrpts/USLSSA.nnualReport 1887Google.pdf
(Within Report pages 30-36) (Within Google Books pages 37-43)
For an account of the original funeral service, read the digital version of
From Saddle to City by Buggy, Boat and Railway by D. Gregory Claiborne
Butts, 1922: https://archive.org/details/fromsaddletociOObutt (p. 184-188)
Coast Guard Hymn
Eternal Father, Lord of Hosts
Watch o'er the ones who guard our coasts
Protect them from the raging seas
And give them light and life and peace.
Grant them from thy great throne above
The shield and shelter of thy love.
Lord, guard and guide the ones who fly
Through the great spaces in the sky
Be with them always in the air,
In darken storms or sunlight fair,
Oh, hear us when we lift our prayer,
For those in peril in the air!
Grant to them Your etemal peace, Oh Lord,
For they have followed your commandment,
That No Greater Love has he, who would give up his
life for another.
Amen
The Coast Guard hymn, "Eternal Father, Lord ofHosts," used to
conclude every chapel service at the Academy, was written in 1955 by CWO George H. Jenks, Jr., USCG; and has become the personal prayer of many a Coast Guardsman ever since. Chief' Warrant Officer Jenks was serving as the bandmaster of' the Coast Guard and the originator and director of' cadet musical activities at the Academy at the
time the hymn was written. The hymn, while used throughout the Coast Guard, was not printed in any hymnal until the publication of the Book o( Worship (or United States Forces in 1974. in that hymnal it is
included as stanza 10 of' hymn number 196, "Eternal Father, Strong to Save."