Officer Candidate School Class Honors Fallen Class Mate

NEWPORT, R.I. (NNS) -- Fifty-nine members of Officer Candidate School Class 03-13, Officer Training Command, Newport (OTCN), gathered to honor fallen class mate Officer Candidate (OC) Stuart Mitkey, Nov. 29, in a special memorial service in Kay Hall at Naval Station Newport.

Mitkey of Cedarburg, Wis. died Oct. 24 on Nimitz Field during physical training.

Class members, along with nearly the entire OTCN staff, members of other commands, family members and the parents and sister of OC Mitkey, gathered to remember their colleague and pay tribute to the positive influence he made on all of them.

The service included the presentation of colors, an invocation by OTCN Chaplain Lt. Mickey Weikel, and scripture readings by two of Mitkey's classmates.

Addressing the Mitkey family, Capt. Vern Kemper, OTCN commanding officer said, "Your son was a young man of great character, his enthusiasm and joy, his humble and effective deeds of leadership were shown here at Officer Candidate School."

Kemper went on to note how Mitkey stood out in the class.

"He was one of the top officer candidates in his company and one of the best in the entire regiment," Kemper said. "He took to heart the unique privilege it is to serve in uniform, and by his words and his deeds, he encouraged others."

The impression Mitkey left on his classmates and the OTCN staff was echoed in high sentiment.

"You showed me how to put the team above the individual and I can never repay you for the times that we shared together," said OC Alexander Dixon in a good bye letter to his shipmate.

OC George Bokinsky remembered how Mitkey was a constant source of inspiration for the company.

"He made you desire to better yourself in every way," Bokinsky said.

"He was a leader and one of the most unselfish people I have ever met," said OC Steven Dyson. "If the meek were to inherit the earth, he would be a forerunner. He had immense pride in his company and we have all been blessed to know him," Dyson said.

Class leaders presented a flag to Mitkey's parents, Richard and Christine Mitkey and their daughter Lena. The flag had been flown at half staff the day Mitkey died and passed along to each member of the company during a physical fitness run the following day.

Following the service, attendees departed Kay Hall and walked across Nimitz Field to the new Nimitz Hall replacement barracks still under construction. There, Class 03-13 gathered around a granite bench dedicated to their class mate.

Prior to starting OCS, Mitkey had a bachelor's in biomedical engineering from Michigan Technical University and a master's in civil engineering from Purdue University. He was pursuing a Navy commission as a civil engineer corps officer at the time of his death.

Class 03-13 graduated Nov. 30 in a ceremony in Kay Hall.