Eleven sailors from the United States Navy mingled with students at Kearsarge Regional High School as they ate their lunch and talked about something they had in common: their name.
The sailors were visiting the namesake of their amphibious assault ship, the USS Kearsarge.
“I’ve been on multiple different ships, but I’ve never been able to go to where a ship was named,” said Shawn Locklear, a senior chief aviation ordnanceman, who handles ammunition on the ship. “The Navy itself was built on history and culture, so actually getting to see where a ship got its name [is cool].”
The USS Kearsarge, mainly based in Norfolk, Va., was launched in 1992 and is the fifth ship to bear the name. The ship’s main mission, Locklear said, is to transport Marines and their gear to destinations across the world. He said when they’re not in port, the over 1,000-member crew could be out to sea anywhere between one week and seven months.
The ship’s name comes from a Civil War-era ship that defeated Confederate raiders. The original vessel was built in the 1860s in the Portsmouth Navy Yard and used wood cut from Mount Kearsarge.
This was the seventh visit crew members of the USS Kearsarge have taken to New Hampshire. In addition to visiting schools, the sailors volunteered at Manchester VA Medical Center and met veterans at a luncheon in Concord.
Taylor Grace, a senior at Kearsarge Regional from New London, said she liked talking to the sailors about their work and she filled out an application of interest they were handing out to students.
“I think it was really awesome that they came to our school,” she said. “I just think that’s a really good method of outreach. I know a lot of my friends are unsure in what they want to do, so that could definitely influence them one way or another, in a positive way.”
Ashley Sayles, a chief electronics technician on board the USS Kearsarge, has been in the Navy for 20 years. She grew up in a small town in Texas, and said showing up in similar communities is important to show the possibilities one can achieve.
“[I look forward to] seeing other people, and them seeing us in areas that you don’t really see us in uniform, and then, seeing that even if you’re from small town nowhere, that you can go do great things,” Sayles said.
Even though the weather was a lot colder than his hometown in North Carolina, Locklear said he appreciated the opportunity to be able to come up and meet groups in the Granite State.
“They were very friendly, very welcoming, very positive individuals. A lot of the people we just spoke to was telling us about their family members in the Navy,” he said. “But this is nice to be here this week, to be where we derive our name from.”
