 Below is the story of a sailor that we list over three years after his passing. There are few details about him and he is listed on very few memorial web sites. The reason being - he didn't fall in the Middle East Theater of Operations. He should be included as he was not yet home, his war was not over.
When a soldier falls on the field of battle, they earn the right to live forever. We will do everything we can to make sure this happens.
CNN -- Monday, May 26, 2003 Posted: 0648 GMT ( 2:48 PM HKT)
ABOARD THE USS NASSAU (CNN) -- The crew of the U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship USS Nassau searched Sunday for a missing sailor, a Navy official said. It's the second time a crewman has been reported missing in the past three days.
The sailor, identified as Hospitalman 1st Class Shaun Dale of Newport News, Virginia, did not report for a 10 a.m. routine muster, where a head count of the ship's company is taken, said Capt. Terry O'Brien, commander of the Nassau's amphibious readiness group. Dale has been in the Navy for 18 years, O'Brien said.
An exhaustive search of the ship and the water where he could have gone overboard began at about 11:30 a.m. EDT, but has not turned up the sailor.
O'Brien said it was unclear whether the man fell overboard. He said Dale might be hiding, stuck in a crevice and unable to call for help, or in a corner of the ship where he cannot hear the loudspeaker calling for him.
The air search was called off at 8 p.m. EDT, but the search of the Nassau was continuing, O'Brien said.
On Friday, Dwayne Williams, a 23-year old petty officer third class from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was chasing a football when he tripped and fell over the side of the ship, plunging 70 feet into the Atlantic, said Capt. Russell Tjepkema, the ship's skipper.
"Dwayne Williams was an absolutely fine sailor," Tjepkema said. "Everybody knew him on the ship. I knew him personally. He was cheerful, good humored, and he talked about his wife and mom and grandma a lot."
The Nassau, returning from a nine-month deployment to the Persian Gulf, was about 900 miles [1,440 kilometers] off the Virginia coast, traveling about 18 knots [20.7 mph]. The ship is carrying the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit back to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Tjepkema called Friday "the worst day in the ship's life."
"We'd steamed 52,000 miles, been deployed for nine months, launched aircraft in support of [Operation] Iraqi Freedom," Tjepkema said.
It is with extreme sadness we inform you that Suzanne McGrath Dale, Lifetime Member, Convener and former Brieve for The Clan Morrison Society of North America, died suddenly on October 25, 2003, in Sacred Heart Hospital, Cumberland, Maryland. This was after her only son Hospitalman First Class Shaun Lachlan Dale, U.S. Navy, was lost at sea in May 2003 while returning from the Persian Gulf.
Shaun Dale was the second sailor who went missing (lost at sea) as the U.S.S. Nassau returned to port in S.E. Virginia from its duty in the Middle East. The Navy had declared him officially missing on June 3rd, and the family held a service for him in 29 Palms, California.
Suzanne is survived by her husband, Roger Dale, former Treasurer for the Society and her daughter-in-law, Alma Dale.
Suzanne and Roger were active in Clan members in the western end of the panhandle and in the Arlington/Alexandria region for Clans Morrison and MacLaughlin. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her.
Please remember Roger Dale in your prayers as he passes through this very difficult time.
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We should have never left you out, your story should have been followed. Your memory will go on, Hero's live in the hearts of those who remember.
R.I.P.
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When a soldier falls on the field of battle, they earn the right to live forever.