Memorial Day was a time to remember the sacrifices of the men and women in uniform from wars long past.
From the Revolutionary War to the Gulf War, Americans remember the sacrifices laid down for today’s freedom. This past Memorial Day was marked by a special remembrance of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which is located two miles west of Honolulu, Hawaii.
The event plunged the United States into World War II and all the sweeping emotions it arouses, was the centerpiece of many Memorial Day observances and television programs. A mega-scale motion picture also premiered recently, nearly 60 years after the attack.
Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Joseph W. Chiaffino and his fellow sailors on board the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CV 74) pulled into Pearl Harbor on May 15 after a six-day trip from San Diego. Since the 102,000-ton ship was already scheduled for underway training in May, the Navy decided to take advantage of the public information opportunity offered by the movie’s premiere by involving a Navy ship capable of supporting the event.
This premiere provided the U.S. military an opportunity to inform a wide international audience about America’s military and the people who serve in it.
Chiaffino, the 26-year-old son of Abe and Gayle Ispas of Sweet Home, is a master-at-arms who supervises the ship’s brig facility, which is a confinement unit on board the ship. He understands the importance of Navy-sponsored events like this.
“Events like this better publicize the Navy and the great ships that are in the fleets,” said Chiaffino, a 1993 Sweet Home High School graduate.
The Pearl Harbor movie premiere hosted 2,000 guests, including more than 500 news media from around the world. The film’s stars who attended the premiere included Ben Affleck, Alec Baldwin, Cuba Gooding Jr., Dan Aykroyd, Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale. Along with former Defense Secretary William Cohen, virtually every military commander in Hawaii attended.
But the biggest stars of the event were the members of the Pearl Harbor Survivor’s Association. As they made their way to the carrier along a pier covered with red carpet, they stopped to shake hands and pose for pictures with young sailors and marines.
The guests were entertained with a flyby of WWII and Korean War aircraft and Army Blackhawk helicopters. Bands from all the military services performed on the Stennis’ flight deck. The flight deck also showcased one WWII Flying Tiger and a B-25 Mitchell bomber.
The hosting of this movie premiere by Stennis’ sailors left a lasting impression on many.
“For me, it made the hairs on my neck stand up and I was overwhelmed with the excitement. I don’t think they could have picked a better place or ship,” said Chiaffino, a seven-year navy veteran.
Having the Stennis anchored in Pearl Harbor was a fitting location for the movie premiere. The Stennis was moored a few hundred feet from the USS Arizona Memorial, a historical tribute to the 1,177 crewmen who went down with the battleship in the first 30 minutes of the surprise attack. The bombing of Pearl Harbor precipitated America’s involvement in WWII, and it remains today an important historic event in U.S. history.
For Chiaffino and his fellow sailors, hosting this event meant not only catering to their guests but also provided a unique experience.
“The most enjoyable part about hosting the movie premiere was meeting the actors and actresses in the movie,” Chiaffino said.