VADM Robert J. Natter, Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet, joined members of the French military, city officials and World War II veterans marking the American military landing on the island nearly 56 years ago. Many of the people who attended the ceremony still remembered the arrival of U.S. forces in March 1942, and how their arrival saved them from the Japanese. Hundreds of local citizens looked on as military contingents from France and the U.S. stood in ranks next to Australian, New Zealand and French World War II veterans. U.S. and French bands played their respective national anthems and flowers were placed at the foot of the monument. The Mayor of Noumea, Jean Ieques, spoke of his admiration over what the arrival of American forces meant in 1942, and still means today, for New Caledonians.
Blue Ridge is currently on a three-month deployment to the South Pacific and Australia.
The cadets, ages 17 through 23, are students from the Excelsior Springs Job Corps Center, a Missouri technical training school. While embarked aboard Cleveland, cadets were assigned running mates to fully assimilate them into the crew. The ship conducted previously planned exercises off the coast of Southern California giving the cadets a glimpse of life at sea and operations such as anchoring, man overboard recovery and Close- in Weapons System test firing. They also toured the ship from stem to stern. They were extremely attentive and eager to learn.