Sailors aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Stockdale (DDG 106) laid to rest 25 military veterans and five military family members during a burial at sea on the ship’s flight deck, Nov. 10.

The ceremony was conducted under the direction of Stockdale’s executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Evan Wright.

“Through this ceremony today, we honor our veterans and their service to our country, as well as the families that supported our service members at home,” said Wright. “Though each one came from a different background, heritage or nationality, they all answered to the same call to serve.  They labored for a cause greater than themselves.”

Sailors from each department played a role in the ceremony by volunteering to individually carry the cremains of a fallen service member or military family member.

“In the true spirit of shipmates, it is both our duty and our privilege to provide with reverence a final resting place for these honored dead,” said Wright.

For some Stockdale Sailors, it was their first time witnessing and participating in this sacred naval tradition. 

 “Being in the ceremony gave me a sense of pride knowing that a family member entrusted a person they did not know to carry out and lay their family member to their final resting place,” said Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class Michael Garcia, from El Paso, Texas.

Stockdale is underway conducting routine operations as part of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 3 in the U.S. Pacific Fleet area of operations.

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