Sunday, May 09, 1999
Tradition comes to Northern Ky.
Blessing of fleet honors rescue crews
BY KRISTINA GOETZ
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT — The blessing of the fleet is a tradition that is centuries old, but on Saturday, it was a first for Northern Kentucky.
The tradition came to the United States in the colonial days to honor the beginning of each year's fishing season, but this event honored the fire and rescue units that protect boaters on the Ohio River.
“The fishermen would gather to have their boats blessed by a priest or a minister,” said Vice Capt. Keith Stuart of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. “A service would be conducted either before or after this was done to pray for the men who were going out to sea and the men that had been lost at sea over the preceding years.”
On Saturday, men and women from several fire, police and rescue squads in Ohio and Northern Kentucky stepped on a BB Riverboat in full dress and watched as other boats bobbed in the water and waited for the blessing.
“Grant your blessing to all who sail on these waters,” said Lawrence Strittmatter, a Catholic priest from Kettering, Ohio, and a retired Navy chaplain. “Bless all of our departed loved ones.”
Then pink and red rose petals were thrown by handfuls into the river to honor four local men who died in the line of duty.
“We live under the umbrella of their bravery and their selflessness,” said Jack Hern, a public affairs officer for the Coast Guard Auxiliary.
The honored were Cincinnati police officers Ronald Jeter and Daniel Pope, who were shot to death in De cember 1997, and Covington police officer Michael Partin, who fell off the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge while chasing a suspect in January 1998.
The group also honored Marine Corps Col. William Higgins, a Kentucky native who was killed by the Hezbollah in Lebanon in 1988.
A Navy destroyer was recently named after him.
“We honored him this year because the destroyer was named after him and I don't think a lot of people know he is from this area,” Capt. Stuart said.
After the blessing, the group stood quietly as a bagpiper played “Amazing Grace” at the end of the dock.
George Groene, operations officer for the Coast Guard Auxiliary, said the group hopes the blessing of the fleet will become a growing annual event for the area.
“For a first-time event, I think it went pretty well,” he said.
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