By JOY CRIST
Chock it up to spending too much time at the office and not enough time on the beach, but it slipped my mind that it was the start of Memorial Day weekend until I ventured out onto N.C. Highway 12. The steady line of southbound cars is already pouring into the island, the number of American flags flying over beach houses has gone up, and the familiar hallmarks of the holiday ? like the annual Friends of Felines Yard Sale in Avon ? can be spotted throughout the villages. Yes, the main reason why Memorial Day is such a busy time on the islands ? and is the unofficial kick-off to summer ? is because of the beach. For most folks, it marks the first weekend of the year where we brave the ocean waters sans wetsuits, and when we can load up our coolers, our fishing racks, and our trucks, and head out to the sand for a well-deserved day off. But if you think about it, outside of the enticing and always-calling local beaches, Hatteras and Ocracoke islands are actually the ideal place for this holiday, which was created to honor the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. After all, our region has surprisingly deep ties to major American wars and conflicts throughout the centuries, and has been the breeding ground of heroes for generations.
And 2017 in particular has added significance, as it marks the observance of milestone years for several landmark events that took place in our hometown (or rather, home-islands.)
So with that in mind, let?s take a short break from fishing our bathing suits out of the deep recesses of our closets, or purchasing sunscreen because we?re all still pale from the winter months, and consider some of the essential ways that our islands have had a key and essential role in our military history.
The 75th Anniversary of Honoring our British Allies Since the early years of World War II, two cemeteries on the Outer Banks ? one near the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and the other in Ocracoke Village ? have been a place of eternal rest for British soldiers who sacrificed their lives while defending our American shores. During WWII, the Eastern Seaboard was an essential shipping lane for various nations, and our American Navy did not have the resources to protect our coastline from the German submarines who lurked just a few miles offshore, and who targeted and sank roughly 400 unarmed and unescorted merchant vessels. Enter the British allies. 24 British Royal Navy ships came to our aid, and patrolled these sensitive areas along the coast where U-Boats were a threat ? including and especially the Outer Banks. But this was a deadly mission to be sure, and among the many causalities during the WWII years, the deceased sailors from two British vessels that were destroyed off the coast of North Carolina would wash ashore on the islands, and would lead to the formation of the British Cemeteries in Buxton and Ocracoke village. The Buxton cemetery honors the sailors who lost their lives in April 1942, when the British armed tanker San Delfino was sunk by the German U-203 just off of Pea Island. Two of the men from this attack are buried at the British cemetery in Buxton ? 4th Engineer Officer Michael Cairns and an unknown sailor. The British cemetery in Ocracoke Village honors the sailors from the HMS Bedfordshire, one of the vessels in the Royal Navy Patrol Service that was destroyed in May 1942 by German submarine U-558 near Ocracoke. Four bodies from the Bedfordshire were recovered on Ocracoke beaches and from the surrounding waters ? Sub-Lt. Thomas Cunningham and Ordinary Telegraphist 2nd Class Stanley Craig, along with two unknown sailors, according to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum. 2017 marked the 75-year anniversary of these sailors? death, and on Friday, May 12, ceremonies were hosted which were attended by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Coast Guard Auxiliary, the U.S. Navy, the Canadian Navy, the British Royal Navy, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and the National Park Service. Marking a moment in time when our local coastlines were so bleak that stories still persist about the beaches being littered with wreckage, these cemeteries ? and the continued tradition of honoring these heroes ? serve as reminders of how protecting the coastline of our own local islands essentially helped protect the world.
The 100-year Anniversary of the Beginning of Legendary Billy Mitchell 100 years ago on April 24, Lt. Col. Billy Mitchell became the first U.S. Army officer to fly over the German lines in World War I, just three weeks after the United States declared war on Germany on April 6. After this initial feat, he quickly earned a reputation as a daring and tireless leader, and after rising through the ranks, Mitchell orchestrated one of the first coordinated air-ground offensives in history at the 1918 Battle of Saint-Mihiel. His WWI actions were legendary, no doubt about it, but from a local perspective, Billy Mitchell is renowned as the father of aerial warfare, thanks to his own Hatteras Island experiments. In 1923, two surplus navy battleships were bombed and consequently sunk by aircraft under the command of Billy Mitchell off the coast of Cape Hatteras to demonstrate the effectiveness of air power against these heavy, well-armed ships. Though the success of his efforts were debated for years, Mitchell nevertheless proved with this local experiment that aircraft could be an effective means of attack, with few casualties to our own or allied forces. Mitchell got his start as a legendary historical figure 100 years ago, but it was his time on Hatteras Island that arguably left a lasting mark. This is why the name ?Billy Mitchell? is still honored throughout the island ? from our own local airfield in Frisco, to street signs and historical markers throughout the area.
The Long Legacy of the Life-Saving Service You can?t talk about historic coastal heroes without commenting on the U.S. Life-Saving Stations, and that heroism is arguably best exemplified by the stations on the Outer Banks. Predecessors to the United States Coast Guard, the local life-saving stations clearly had a difficult and long job patrolling the waters of the Graveyard of the Atlantic, but the tales that emerged from their incredible efforts are what lingers more than a century after they?re gone. Our local coastline is the home to the Pea Island Life-Saving Station, which is the first life-saving station in the country to have an all-African American crew and commanding officer, Richard Etheridge, who was appointed as keeper in 1880. This groundbreaking crew would go on to gain national recognition after the heroic rescue of nine people off of a three-masted schooner, the E.S. Newman, which blew offshore during a storm and became stranded two miles south of the station. The Pea Island crew made 10 trips into the deadly storm waters to get every person onboard safely ashore, and just 11 years ago, (on the hundredth anniversary of this rescue), the Pea Island station was posthumously awarded a Gold Lifesaving Medal. Hatteras Island is also home to the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station in Rodanthe, which remains one of the most complete life-saving station sites in the country, and which was considered a flagship and the ?gold standard? of the National Life-Saving Service. Commissioned by the federal government in 1871, the Chicamacomico crew would perform countless daring rescues during its decades of service, earning unprecedented accolades along the way. One of the most famous, the rescue of crew members from the 1918 British Tanker Mirlo which was torpedoed by German U-Boats in WWI, would lead to the Chicamacomico servicemen receiving the Grand Cross of the American Cross of Honor. This medal of valor that was forged in the late 1800s has requirements so high that only 11 people total have ever received it. And six of them were stationed at the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station. Then there?s the Little Kinnakeet Life-Saving station, which is truly one of our islands? best ?hidden treasures.? This station, which is located just a couple miles north of Avon ? (look above the soundside cedars and live oaks on Highway 12 and you?ll spot it) ? was constructed in 1874, and essentially operated for 71 years, creating a new community of more than 20 crew members and their families that would be known as ?Little Kinnakeet.? This small village that was found on the grounds of the station is long gone, but folks who make a trek along the soundside will occasionally stumble upon old bricks, bottles, and secretive gravesites that are safely tucked away just off the waters. Simply put, I could easily keep writing about military heroes on Hatteras and Ocracoke islands until I?ve completed an entire book. (And now that I mention it, there?s lots of great and wonderfully researched local history books available that outline these stories better than I ever could, to be sure.) I haven?t even touched on the island skirmishes during the Civil War, or the sheer number of causalities that were suffered during the aptly named years when the already ominous ?Graveyard of the Atlantic? garnered a new nickname, ?Torpedo Junction.? But the good news is that these stories are out there, and are easy to uncover. Check out the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station, the Frisco Native American Museum, (which is a fascinating trip back in time in its own right), or any of the historical spots where local legends are celebrated. Yes, our modern island Memorial Day revolves around the beach ? and it?s certainly wonderful to cap off the opening of the summer season after a long winter. I know I?ll be out there on the sand, with a full bottle of sunscreen and a thermos of hastily made Sangria. But considering that we have such a deep connection with our national military history, despite our small size and our literal location in the middle of the ocean, I believe that visitors and locals can ? and should ? be proud to celebrate Memorial Day on Hatteras and Ocracoke islands. Happy Memorial Day to you and yours, and enjoy your beach day(s) on one of the most surprisingly historic and relevant destinations on the East Coast!
