Ship hosts family of Korean war namesake
It was Gibbons's first trip aboard Military Sealift Command ship USNS Mendonca since April 1999, when, as the ship's sponsor, she christened the ship with a bottle of champagne. USNS Mendonca, a large, medium-speed roll-on/roll-off ship, was under construction in the shipyard then.
This July the completed and crewed vessel was in port San Diego, Calif., with her second cargo load-out.
USNS Mendonca is named for Gibbons' brother, Army Sgt. Leroy Mendonca, a Korean War Medal of Honor recipient.
Gibbons' visit is what the Navy refers to as a "sponsor visit" -- a chance for the ship's sponsor and family to see the ship after she is completed.
When the ship received orders to load cargo from an exercise in Korea and off-load at Naval Station North Island, San Diego, Calif., Military Sealift Command contacted Genevieve Gibbons, who lives in Northern California, and invited her and her family to visit the ship in San Diego.
Mendonca's maiden voyage has been an exciting one for the extended Mendonca family as well as the crew, who have taken a particular interest in the heritage of the ship's namesake. Delivered to Military Sealift Command in February of this year, Mendonca's first port of call was Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, home state of the late Leroy Mendonca.
The ship's master, Capt. Bill Dougherty, invited Leroy Mendonca's sister Leslie Mendonca and her family to come aboard for a tour of the ship as well as lunch in the wardroom. "To have Leroy's memory commemorated by a ship is just awesome," says Mendonca of the ship.
USNS Mendonca sailed from Hawaii to Korea to load cargo and just happened to be there on July 4, 2001 -- the 50th anniversary of Sgt. Mendonca's heroic last action on July 4, 1951.
To commemorate the historic occasion, the ship flew her ceremonial American flag.
Arriving in San Diego July 18, USNS Mendonca was off-loading cargo when Genevieve Gibbons and several members of her family arrived as scheduled, accompanied by MSC personnel. Dougherty and Capt. Tim McCully commander, Military Sealift Command Pacific, greeted them. The group toured the ship from cargo deck to bridge, admiring the civilian mariner quarters and high-tech controls.
The tour included a memorable stop in the conference room, where homage to Sgt. Leroy Mendonca is prominently displayed.
Surrounding the conference table are pictures of Sgt. Mendonca, the Medal of Honor citation, a proclamation from the State of Hawaii and art donated by the Army division in which he served. A picture of Genevieve Gibbons, the ship's sponsor, also hangs on the wall.
In front of her own picture, Dougherty presented Gibbons with the ceremonial flag flown in Korea. She beamed, accepting the flag on behalf of the family and marveling at how wonderful it is to have her little brother Leroy honored with a ship named for him. There wasn't a dry eye in the crowd by the time the group exited the conference room.
Completing their tour, the family enjoyed their choice of lunch menu items from the ship's galley and ate in the licensed mess while ship personnel rotated in and greeted them.
Countless rolls of film later, the Mendonca family disembarked the ship and hugged MSC personnel goodbye.
"I'm so grateful I got to see my ship," said Gibbons; "Leroy would be proud."
(FROM MILITARY SEALIFT COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS)
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