The Old Coast Guard Station sincerely thanks our Community Partners for their support.

Altmeyer Funeral Home 1801 Baltic Avenue, Virginia Beach, VA 23451 ~ 428-1112

Flowers- Wayne Jones 329 Laskin Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23451 ~ 428-2901

Sandbridge Seaside Market 209 Sandbridge Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23456 ~ 426-6594

Our deepest gratitude to everyone who has help make this memorial service possible.

LCDR Ed Bass, USCG CAPT John Little, USCG Dan Boe, USCG MCPO (Ret)

Rev. Jack Davis

OSC Matt Doscher, USCG

Whitney Frazier

MSTC Chip Hamilton, USCG

CAPT Lonnie Harrison, USCG William Hazel

Ann Henley

Barbara Henley June Klag

Jim LaBarre, USCG MCPO (Ret)

Adam Lawson

LCDR Ronaydee Marquez, USCG

LT Scott McBride, USCG Darcy Nelson

Susan Perry

Kerri-Ann Pontifice-Lawson

ISCS James G. Price, USCG lSC Michae l Reed, USCG

lSC Robe1t L. Richardson, USCG

Mayor William D, Sessoms, Jr.

Dr. William H. Thiesen, USCG

CAPT Paul Thomas, USCG

Charlie Wiseman

The Old Coast Guard Station is a private, non-profit 50l(c)(3) museum

operating without state or federal funding. ln addition to grants and

income from programs and gift shop sales, we rely on the generosity of individuals, companies, foundations , and the community to be able to

fulfill our mission. Donations are tax deductible within the limits

prescribed by law. Donations made be mailed to PO Box 1035, Virginia

Beach, VA 23451 or made online at www.oldcoastguardstation .com.

Surfmen Memorial Service Wednesday, January 8, 2014

10 am

Tabernacle United Methodist Church

& Willowood Cemetery

Capt. Abel Belanga

James E. Belanga

John Land

Joseph Spratley

George Stone

Presented by The Old Coast Guard Station Museum

Surfmen Memorial Service Tabernacle IJnitcd Methodist Church

Welcome

Kathryn Fisher, Executive Director, Old Coast Guard Station

Presentation of Colors

United States Coast Guard Color Guard

Invocation

LCDR Ed Bass, Chaplain, Fi fth Coast Guard District

History

Kathryn Fisher, Executive Director, Old Coast Guard Station

Comments

William D, Sessoms, Jr. , Mayor of Virginia Beach

Remarks

LCDR Ronaydee Marquez, Atlantic Area Prevention Staff

Reading of Names

CA PT Paul Thomas, Chief of Sta ff, Fifth Coast Guard Distr ict

Bell Ringing

L T Scott McBride, External Affa irs Offi cer, Fifth Coast Guard District

Coast Guard Hymn

Charlie Wiseman, Music Director, Tabernacle United Methodist Church

Benediction

Rev. Jack Davis, Pastor, Tabernacle United Methodist Church

Wreath Laying Invocation

Willowood Cemetery

Rev. Jack Davis, Pastor, Tabernacle United Methodist Church

Wreath Laying

CAPT John Lillie, Commander, Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads

CAPT Lonnie Harrison, Chief of Prevention, Fifth Coast Guard District

Benediction

LCDR Ed Bass, Chaplain, Fifth Coast Guard DistTict

Reception Church Social Hall

All are invired ro join us for light reji-eshmenrs in the Church Social Hall (red brick

building) .following the service.

The Old Coast Guard Station honors and preserves the history of Virginia's coastal

communities and mari time heritage. The scope o f the Station's exhibits begins with the

Virginia Beach Community and extends to subjects re lated to Virginia's oceanfi·ont,

coastal and water related heritage. The museum's two galleries depict the history of the

Uni ted States Life-Saving and Coast Guard Services and shipwrecks on the Virginia

Coast.

The Old Coast Guard Station is housed in the most important arti fact in the museum's

collection: the 1903 Life-Saving Station. It houses a collection of I ,!WO artifac ts and over

I ,000 photographic images of the United States Life-Saving and Coast Guard Services,

and the resort communi ty of Virginia Beach. There is also an on-site research library

containing books, papers and oral histories. The museum overl ooks the Atlantic Ocean

along the Boardwalk at 24th Street with in the popular resort city of Virginia Beach,

Virginia. This historic Life-Sav ing/Coast Guard Station is a Virginia Historic Landmark

also on the National Register of Historic Places.

Tabernacle has one of the oldest congregations in Methodism in the United States.

The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1784, and Tabernacle began as a small

congregation in 1789. Jt was originally served by two ministers on horseback.

The original structure was demolished by I S30 and the present building erected. In

1970 the present brick church school building was built to serve as a sanctuary due to the

crumbling condition of the old building. Restoration of the old building was started in

July 1978 and completed in December of the same year.

The church prope1ty is preserved and maintained tlu·ough ongoing gifts to the

Heritage Fund, a property Endowment fo r Tabernacl e United Methodist Church.

The Life-Sav ing Service was fo rmally organized in 1878 to save the li ves of

shipwrecked mariners and passengers. It merged with the Revenue Cutter Service to form

the United States Coast Guard in 19 15.

For over two centuries the U.S. Coast Guard has safeguarded our Nation's maritime

interests in the hemtland, in the po1ts, at sea, and around the globe. They protect the

maritime economy and the environment, defend our ma1itime borders, and save those in

peril. This history has forged their character and purpose as America's Maritime

Guardian - Always Reac6' for all hazards and all tl1reats .

Today's U.S. Coast Guard, with nearly 42 ,000 men and women on acti ve duty , is a

unique force that carries out an array or civil and military responsibilities touching almost

every facet or the U.S. maritime environment.

The Coast Guard's mollo is Semper Paratus , meaning "Al ways Ready. "

ln a snowstorm with gale force winds in the early morning of January 8,

1887, the German clipper Elizabeth wrecked midway between the Dam Neck Mills and Little Island Life-Saving Stations. Surfmen from both stations

responded to the wreck. Unable to set up a line for the breeches buoy, Keeper

Abel Belanga chose six surfmen and headed out toward the Elizabeth with a

surlboat. By this time, the ship's crew had taken to their own lifeboat.

Suddenly, a huge wave swamped both boats, turning them over. All but two

were lost. Among the dead were Captain Halberstadt of the Elizabeth and his

21 crewmembers as well as Keeper Belanga, his brother James, his

brother-in-law Joseph Spratley, George Stone and John Land.

A f1.meral service was held for the five surfmen at Tabernacle United

Methodist Church. The Belanga family members were buried across the street

at Willowood Cemetery. Land and Stone are believed to be buried in a family

plot located in a field west of Pungo.

-.::::::::c"'

...........----.. ~-~·I[--

For an account of the wreck, read the digital version of The Annual Report of

the Operations of the US Lile-Saving Service for the Fiscal Year Ending June

3 0, 188 7: http://www.uscg.mil/history/docs/annrpts/USLSSA.nnualReport 1887Google.pdf

(Within Report pages 30-36) (Within Google Books pages 37-43)

For an account of the original funeral service, read the digital version of

From Saddle to City by Buggy, Boat and Railway by D. Gregory Claiborne

Butts, 1922: https://archive.org/details/fromsaddletociOObutt (p. 184-188)

Coast Guard Hymn

Eternal Father, Lord of Hosts

Watch o'er the ones who guard our coasts

Protect them from the raging seas

And give them light and life and peace.

Grant them from thy great throne above

The shield and shelter of thy love.

Lord, guard and guide the ones who fly

Through the great spaces in the sky

Be with them always in the air,

In darken storms or sunlight fair,

Oh, hear us when we lift our prayer,

For those in peril in the air!

Grant to them Your etemal peace, Oh Lord,

For they have followed your commandment,

That No Greater Love has he, who would give up his

life for another.

Amen

The Coast Guard hymn, "Eternal Father, Lord ofHosts," used to

conclude every chapel service at the Academy, was written in 1955 by CWO George H. Jenks, Jr., USCG; and has become the personal prayer of many a Coast Guardsman ever since. Chief' Warrant Officer Jenks was serving as the bandmaster of' the Coast Guard and the originator and director of' cadet musical activities at the Academy at the

time the hymn was written. The hymn, while used throughout the Coast Guard, was not printed in any hymnal until the publication of the Book o( Worship (or United States Forces in 1974. in that hymnal it is

included as stanza 10 of' hymn number 196, "Eternal Father, Strong to Save."