JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It was 38 years ago this week that 37 brave sailors aboard the USS Stark (FFG 31) gave their lives during a catastrophic missile attack in the Persian Gulf.
Another 21 sailors were wounded. Signalman 2nd class Gil Berrios was among the survivors.
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He said it was just another day at sea, and he was watching a film in the lounge after getting off duty, when the ship was thrown into chaos.
“The lights went out, and we just heard (an explosion). We didn’t know if an engine blew up, we hit a mine, nobody knew what happened,” Berrios recalled. “We just knew that the lights went out and our berthing was on fire.”
He described the dramatic, panicked scramble of the crew when, on May 17, 1987, two Iraqi missiles struck the USS Stark while it was on routine patrol in the Persian Gulf.
Berrios said he was about 20 yards from where the first missile struck.
“The only reason I’m here is because it didn’t explode,” Berrios said. “If it exploded, there would have been a lot more deaths.”
The damage to the ship was catastrophic, but the crew’s extraordinary courage and quick thinking prevented further disaster, ultimately saving the ship from sinking.
Berrios said his daughter, who was 7 months old when he left on that deployment, still has the jewelry box he bought her in Pakistan for her first birthday.
“That survived the missile attack,” he said. “She still has that to this day.”
Berrios said Friday was the first time he attended the annual gathering of family and former crew members to honor the sacrifice of his USS Stark shipmates.
He acknowledged that the event brought back some traumatic memories but said he hopes it will help him heal.
“That’s why I’m here. Just to heal,” Berrios said. “Whether you’re a shipmate or a family member ... it is part of the healing process.”
The annual tribute has kept the legacy of the USS Stark sailors alive for decades. Each year, a bell is rung 37 times, once for each of the fallen sailors.
“This is a busy naval station. There’s tons of movements within the base and the airfield right now, but all of that came to a stop,” said Capt. Brian Binder, commanding officer of Naval Station Mayport. “It’s such an honor and a testament to our Stark families.”
State Rep. Kiyan Michael, R-Jacksonville, makes it her goal to attend the ceremony every single year to witness the emotion and powerful words as the USS Stark crew is honored.
“The families are what touches my heart,” Michael said. “My husband is a 20-year veteran, and this is just something that you never want to have to attend (as a loved one), and you never want to happen. It’s my honor to be here. It’s my honor to support our military base.”
A few days after the attack, on May 22, 1987, then-President Ronald Reagan visited Jacksonville and delivered a eulogy in front of emotional family members, loved ones and the entire nation.
“Young Americans of the USS Stark gave up their lives so that the terrible moments of the past would not be repeated, so that wider war and greater conflict could be avoided, so that thousands, and perhaps millions of others might be spared the final sacrifice these men so willingly made,” Reagan said.
The USS Stark was commissioned on Oct. 23, 1982, less than five years before the attack. It was decommissioned in Mayport in 1999.
