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Jakia Cannon |
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Friday, November 25 2005 @ 09:21 PM MST
Contributed by: River97
Views: 1,270
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 www.news.navy.mil -- ABOARD USS ENTERPRISE, At Sea (NNS) -- USS Enterprise's (CVN 65) deployment started on a somber note with the unexpected loss of Fireman Jakia Cannon, who died of natural causes in October. Dec. 14, the Junior Sailors Association (JSA) sponsored a fundraiser in Cannon’s honor.
Cannon had only been aboard for a little more than a month, but in that short time, she quickly got involved in the command, singing in the choir and even participating in the JSA talent show. Her passing was a shock to her shipmates, who also came to consider her a friend.
JSA members began planning a fundraiser for Cannon’s family in early November.
“It was just something good we wanted to do for her and her family,” explained JSA president Dental Technician 2nd Class (SW) Hakim Mathis. “It started out with us trying to get a shadowbox done for her. While we were waiting on different materials to finish it up, we decided to have the fundraiser.”
“The Navy is a big family,” said Big E's Command Master Chief (SW/AW) Mike Oldknow. “We look after each other and take care of one another. Fireman Cannon lost her life while serving her country. Her family is forever a part of the Navy family now, and we owe it to them to take care of them as best as we can.”
Dec. 1, the association started actively planning the event. Big E Sailors paid 25 cents to nominate a fellow shipmate as a candidate to receive a pie in the face.
Engineering department’s Electrical Officer, Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Harrill, receieved the most votes for the fundraiser - 676 votes - for a grand total of $169.
JSA collected a total of $630 in votes alone.
On pie night, the top 10 vote-getters met in the aft mess decks, where JSA members auctioned off pies. While one Sailor bid $100 to smear cheesecake on the Command Master Chief and Big E’s Executive Officer, Capt. Michael Chase, the evening’s top bid of $300 went for Chief Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling) (AW) David Vinal of Air department’s V-3 division.
Oldknow was happy to participate for such a worthwhile cause. “It was the right thing to do,” he said. “When a Sailor’s family is less fortunate, anything we can do to help is a good thing. It just goes to show that we are a family. It’s a Navy tradition, and our heritage is built around the bonds we have as shipmates.”
Deck department's 4th division leading petty officer Boatswain's Mate 1st Class (SW/CC) John Ransom, who was also a nominee, said, “Even though Fireman Cannon is no longer with us, we were able to come together to do something to help her family.” Nominees had the option of buying out their votes to avoid wearing pie, but Ransom had a better idea. "I thought about buying out my votes," he said, "but I figured I could help them raise more money by auctioning off the pies.”
Of the more than $1,500 raised, $900 of it came from auctioning off the pies. JSA plans to send the money to Cannon’s 14-year-old brother Joshua, a freshman in high school, for his future education.
“The Sailors who organized this fundraiser are going to be heroes in that boy’s eyes because of what they did for him,” emphasized Oldknow. “This is just one example of how the Navy takes care of its own. Fireman Cannon had great aspirations for her brother. Her shipmates are carrying on with that by helping her brother become the young man Fireman Cannon wanted him to become.”
Cannon is not the only member of her family to serve in the Navy. Her uncle is an Information Systems Technician 1st Class, and has orders to report to Enterprise in February of 2004. The Enterprise Junior Sailors Association plans to present him with Cannon’s shadowbox when he reports aboard. |
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I would like to say thank you for your service and sacrifice for our Country. And to your family, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.
A grateful citizen