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York woman cruises aboard aircraft carrier
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| Courtesy photo JoAnn Kuester (right), of York, stands with family members and crew on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower, in July. |
Permission to board
By Kate Burke
YORK — JoAnn Kuester made a painful farewell to her son, Command Master Chief Petty Officer Jeffrey J. Garber (AW/SW), this summer.
CMC Garber died unexpectedly, of natural causes, while deployed with Carrier Air Wing Seven (CVW-7) aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Before he died, however, he had made arrangements for his mother and other family members to participate in a July “tiger cruise,” an opportunity for relatives of the ship’s officers and crew members to experience what it’s like to work and live on a naval vessel.
JoAnn and her Iowa granddaughter, Rebecca Garber, along with Jeff’s wife, Amy, and children Tayler, Paige and Josh, decided to participate even though they would miss Jeff as their escort.
The Garber family group boarded the Eisenhower at Naval Station Mayport, in Jacksonville, Fla., for three days and two nights during the ship’s cruise to its home port in Norfolk, Va.
Captain Roy Kelley, deputy commander of CVW-7 and a good friend of Jeff’s, took over as the Garber escort. He showed JoAnn and her family areas all around the ship where Jeff had worked.
For JoAnn, one highlight of the tour was watching planes, any of the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets, F/A-18C Hornets, EA-6B Prowlers, E-2C Hawkeyes, and other aircraft deployed on the Eisenhower, take off from and land on the carrier.
They had one vantage point from the flight deck, where there were strict rules about loose objects that might cause problems if they were sucked in by jet engines.
On the morning of their last day of the cruise, JoAnn says a call of “Man overboard!” awakened everyone at 5 a.m. All 1,200 tigers aboard were mustered and accounted for, and no crew members were lost.
JoAnn was moved by their arrival at Norfolk: the ship’s crew, all in dress whites, stood evenly along the rails, or along the edge of the flight deck and superstructure, as the Eisenhower came into port.
She was touched, too, to learn that several pilots in CVW-7, the head of each squadron, had memorials to Jeff painted on their planes. The Garber group were also given matching T-shirts honoring Jeff.
On Thursday, Sept. 10, JoAnn made a return trip to Virginia, for Jeff’s burial at Arlington National Cemetery. The family was honored by the presence of Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the service.
There will be a memorial service for Jeff on Sunday, Nov. 8, at Pleasant View Bible Church, 307 Manor Dr., Aurora, starting at 3:30 p.m.
CMC Garber died unexpectedly, of natural causes, while deployed with Carrier Air Wing Seven (CVW-7) aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Before he died, however, he had made arrangements for his mother and other family members to participate in a July “tiger cruise,” an opportunity for relatives of the ship’s officers and crew members to experience what it’s like to work and live on a naval vessel.
JoAnn and her Iowa granddaughter, Rebecca Garber, along with Jeff’s wife, Amy, and children Tayler, Paige and Josh, decided to participate even though they would miss Jeff as their escort.
The Garber family group boarded the Eisenhower at Naval Station Mayport, in Jacksonville, Fla., for three days and two nights during the ship’s cruise to its home port in Norfolk, Va.
Captain Roy Kelley, deputy commander of CVW-7 and a good friend of Jeff’s, took over as the Garber escort. He showed JoAnn and her family areas all around the ship where Jeff had worked.
For JoAnn, one highlight of the tour was watching planes, any of the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets, F/A-18C Hornets, EA-6B Prowlers, E-2C Hawkeyes, and other aircraft deployed on the Eisenhower, take off from and land on the carrier.
They had one vantage point from the flight deck, where there were strict rules about loose objects that might cause problems if they were sucked in by jet engines.
On the morning of their last day of the cruise, JoAnn says a call of “Man overboard!” awakened everyone at 5 a.m. All 1,200 tigers aboard were mustered and accounted for, and no crew members were lost.
JoAnn was moved by their arrival at Norfolk: the ship’s crew, all in dress whites, stood evenly along the rails, or along the edge of the flight deck and superstructure, as the Eisenhower came into port.
She was touched, too, to learn that several pilots in CVW-7, the head of each squadron, had memorials to Jeff painted on their planes. The Garber group were also given matching T-shirts honoring Jeff.
On Thursday, Sept. 10, JoAnn made a return trip to Virginia, for Jeff’s burial at Arlington National Cemetery. The family was honored by the presence of Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the service.
There will be a memorial service for Jeff on Sunday, Nov. 8, at Pleasant View Bible Church, 307 Manor Dr., Aurora, starting at 3:30 p.m.
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