Weeks before the attacks on the World Trade Center, a young boy with flaming red hair visited the U.S. Naval Academy’s memorial rotunda, a monument etched with Academy graduates who paid the greatest price for freedom. At eye level, was his great-grandfather’s name, Joseph Ambrose Flynn, Capt., United States Navy.

Nearly 20 years later, now-Lt. j.g. Paul Everts is standing Officer of the Deck aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG 104), steaming along in the Pacific.

"This Memorial Day, the Dauntless Crew of the USS Sterett remembers all who have given their lives in defense of our nation,” said Cmdr. Andrew Koy, commanding officer. “We honor the heritage of those who have gone before us and commit our service in defense of our hard-fought freedoms.”

Every Memorial Day Everts, the assistant chief engineer on Sterett, reflects on his great-grandfather’s life, legacy and sacrifice in the Navy decades prior. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Flynn commissioned from the U.S. Naval Academy in May 1927, leading a successful career as a junior naval officer, eventually becoming the commanding officer of the University of Minnesota Navy ROTC unit in 1940.

“Reading over what he was like as a midshipman, he was a fiery Irish red-head. His list of demerits at the Academy was about as long as his transcript,” says Everts, an uncanny mirror image of the man who wore the same Surface Warfare pin generations ago. “He was actually getting out of the military and planned on moving into a career in law enforcement, and training to be an FBI agent.”

Then, on December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan.
“Fate or God had him called to report as executive officer aboard the USS Indianapolis, flagship of 5th Fleet and [President Franklin Delano] Roosevelt’s personal choice of transportation,” said Everts.

Everts said that while Flynn was serving aboard the Indianapolis, the ship delivered critical atomic bomb components that significantly enhanced the United States’ war effort. He recalled that later on, his great-grandfather was tasked with carrying out a mission to meet up with the USS Idaho Battle Group. However, Flynn discovered that they were not going to make the rendezvous point in time.

Everts stated that his great-grandfather made maneuvering recommendations to the Captain but the Imperial Japanese Submarine I-58 had the Indianapolis in her sights. The submarine fired two torpedoes, rendering the Portland-class heavy cruiser disabled. Immediately, Flynn hurried up to the bridge to make his assessment determining the crew must abandon ship. With the ship’s doctor, Flynn verified the SOS signal was sent out and immediately dove into a flooding compartment that entrapped dozens of the crew.

Everts recounted the memories of crewmembers who spoke of his great-grandfather’s valor and heroism on that day, recalling they said that, “He looked at his crew as if they were his sons, his boys. His crew very much respected my great-grandfather and looked at him as a father figure. It was basically a father trying to save his sons.”

Realizing the extent of the damage and rate that the ship was sinking, Flynn then turned to the ship’s doctor and ordered him to seal the compartment. Flynn went down with the ship and was awarded the rank of Captain and the Purple Heart, posthumously.

On September 11th, 2001, Everts was getting ready to go to school. He vividly remembers sitting on the hallway floor when the first plane hit. “I was very confused and didn’t know what was going on,” he recalled. “My mother picked me up and we watched the rest of the attack together. I asked her ‘What was going on? Why is this happening?’ She said that ‘There are bad people out there that just want to hurt others. The important thing is that there are good people out there that want to stand up to those bad people, just like your great-grandfather.’”