Recently your Yeoman was reading some of our 'On-Site Memorials' and came upon one entered by Kelley Long. I wrote her what a moving memorial she made to her Grandfather, a sailor who lost his life while serving in the Asiatic Fleet, off of Java in WWII, and received an E-Mail back from her, announcing to me the recent Presidential Proclamation which I am including on this site. I believe knowledge of this, heretofore little-known Fleet be made public and it behooves me, your Yeoman, to make some space for this acknowledgement. Please read Kelley's return Email, and the subsequent History regarding the Asiatic Fleet, and then, the Presidential Proclamation, making March 1, 2002 as "Asiatic Fleet Memorial Day... follow these links; they are very important to all of us...
"Hi Jake,
Thank you for your kind words. I have been truly blessed to have pursued this path and made the discoveries. As up until then, we only knew my grandfather was MIA. We had NO idea the wealth of information that was eventually brought to us. And I think this has helped my mom immensely as she was one month short of being two years old. Her older sister and brother knew their father, but she would never be held by him or hear his voice. She had a hard time mourning someone she never knew, yet was so much a part of her. By divine intervention, I have become acquainted with a number of Asiatic Fleet veterans and invited to the USS Trinity's reunion in San Diego earlier this month. The connection with the Trinity was that the Edsall helped to escort the oiler 1/20/42 off Darwin, Australia when they came under enemy submarine attack. The crew of the Trinity held fond memories of the Edsall and treated my mother so sweetly. Anyway, I have attached quite a bit of information, and you can share it with everyone you know. These brave men did so much for our country, I felt the need to help them get the word out.
On behalf of the veterans of the Asiatic Fleet from WWII, I would like to share this message* with you and anyone else you can share this with. I have attached President Bush's Proclamation, and included in the text below the requested announcement - a letter that one of our surviving Asiatic Fleet veterans had written hoping the government would honor their request to be acknowledged, and the history behind getting the Proclamation. Many people do not even know about the Asiatic Fleet so I hope the attachment and the enclosed letter will help enlighten you on what these brave individuals accomplished for our country.
Sincerely,
Kelley Long (Geary)
(....note by poster (Kelly's grandfather's destroyer the USS Edsall was lost without a trace to Japanese gunfire in early March 1942.)
Mission Viejo, CA"
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