NAVY LEAGUE NEWS12 cities has been, and still is, a rather monumental
endeavor, according to Kilachand and Deborah Berger,
who is providing marketing support for the voyage.
The Friends of Hermione-Lafayette In America has
been working with a host of sponsors and organiza-
tional partners to do as much outreach as they can to
make the public aware of Hermione’s visit, as well as
raise funds for the voyage.
The New York Council has been a partner of the
Hermione effort for the past year. The council and its
members have provided support with major programs,
such as The Friends of Hermione -
Lafayette in America gala aboard the
Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
last fall and honoring Friends of
Hermione President Miles Young
with a council Leadership Award at
its 112th Anniversary Dinner last
summer, as well as behind the
scenes on matters of protocol, cere-
mony and port rules and regula-
tions, and access to their wealth of
contacts with sea services and mar-
itime officials.
“They [visit planners] were
somewhat naïve about bringing the
ship into various ports, and we got
the protocol and the ceremonial
people with the Navy involved,”
said J. Robert Lunney, past-president
of the New York Council, who first
got onboard the Hermione effort
through his affiliation with the
Naval Order of the United States
and Sons of the Revolution. “Once
we get the template for the first
land fall in Yorktown, they can use
that for pretty much all of their
stops up the East Coast.”
The council, led by President
Ted Mason, has been reaching out
to other organizations and Navy
Leaguers in cities where events
related to the visit, as well as
fundraisers, are being held to get
them involved, according to
Executive Secretary George Simp -
son, along with focusing on the
New York program. The New York
stop will include a parade of ships
when Hermione arrives that the
Navy League and Naval Order of
the United States are inviting boat-
owning members to be a part of.
“I think it’s such a marvelous and outstanding thing,
people want to get involved,” Lunney said. “To com-
memorate the whole essence of the Revolutionary War
and the aid of France and the ship that came over and
Lafayette, it’s a perfect combination, because it’s how we
won the Revolutionary War. It’s a great story. The essen-
tial element of the Navy League is education in regard to
sea services. To me, it was a perfect fit.” For information on Hermione’s “Revisiting History” voyage,
see http://www.hermione2015.com.W W W. S E A P O W E R M A G A Z I N E. O R G S E A P O W E R / A P R I L 2 0 1 5 87