Sept. 5, 2023 - VOLUME 4 - ISSUE 9
TABLE OF CONTENTS
From Captain Lena Kaman
If you knew Thomas "TJ" Maury, Jr, then you have been blessed in the greatest sense of the word to have known a selfless, humble man.
He was the NAS JRB New Orleans Fire and Emergency Services Fire Chief. He was our Fire Chief.
TJ was laid to rest Aug. 28, 2023, following a valiant battle against cancer.
If you did not know him—or know him well—I hope to shed a little light on who we are missing, whose life lifted so many, personally and professionally. TJ was a person who lit up the room—any room—with his given ability to always see the lighter side of his life and ours. He constantly raised our spirits no matter how dire the straits.
TJ’s path of saving lives began when he got a job as an apprentice firefighter at the Bridge City Volunteer Fire Company. According to TJ, it was a community-run fire department, meaning, if you were on duty, you would take the fire truck and hope some people would show up to help you.
In 2007, TJ entered federal civil fire service with the United States Navy. He rose through the ranks to eventually serve as Fire Chief at Naval Construction Battalion Center Fire and Emergency Services in Gulfport, and then here at NAS JRB New Orleans.
Along the way, TJ touched many lives. Once, while running the 2015 Crescent City Classic 10K dressed as Batman in New Orleans, he revived a fellow runner who collapsed during the race.
During a family tubing outing, when a man fell out of his tube while suffering from a heart attack, TJ pulled the man to the nearest shore and began immediate first aid measures.
Another moment of TJ’s heroics was on a cruise with his family. At the beach, a man began suffering from what would have likely been a fatal heart attack. During CPR, TJ was able to bring the man back to consciousness while his internal defibrillator began to defibrillate him.
He was featured on an episode of Mike Rowe’s Returning the Favor, an episode dedicated to bringing awareness to the fact that firefighters are 14 percent more likely to die from cancer than the general U.S. population.
TJ demonstrated incredible strength and resilience throughout his bout with cancer. He received his diagnosis on the same day he was set to receive the Civilian Fire Officer of the Year Award from the U.S. Navy in Washington, D.C. He was chosen for the honor from more than 4,000 firefighters and emergency services personnel who are assigned to the 71 Navy installations around the world.
TJ was a devoted father, husband, son, friend, firefighter, and Shipmate. To simply say he will be missed in each facet of his life does not fill the void he left behind. His spirit, his laughter, his bravery, his sense of duty were unmatched. My hope is we can all hold fast to the best impressions TJ made on each of our lives and in time we will smile more and hurt less.
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September notes
September is Suicide Prevention Month. NAS JRB New Orleans is holding a Suicide Prevention Walk Sept. 8, at the Sports Complex from 10:30 a.m. - noon. Participants are encouraged to wear a blue shirt. If you need more information, contact LSC Shane Mitchell at the Chapel (504) 678-3525.
We can all help prevent suicide. Did you know that the national 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is now active? Dial 9-8-8 to get 24/7 support from a network of over 160 crisis centers. Service members and veterans can press 1 after dialing the 9-8-8 three-digit code to reach a VA responder. Service members and veterans can also text 838255 if they prefer texting to calling.
It's important to know that military members and their families are more vulnerable to suicidal feelings, thoughts, or actions during certain situations. These can include times leading up to or coming back from a deployment, times of personal upheaval and uncertainty, and situations where major life changes are occurring.
The approach to suicidal feelings in these cases may include counseling, other talk-based therapies, and/or medical treatment depending on the cause of the problems and the severity of the condition. The Fleet and Family Support Center at 504-678-7569 is a great place to call to set up a counseling appointment, to learn about additional resources, and be connected with mental health advocates. Chaplains are also trained to provide mental health counseling. You can reach a base chaplain by calling 504-678-3525. You are encouraged to reach out for help if you or a shipmate or loved one struggles in any way with suicidal feelings.
NAS JRB New Orleans will hold its annual Bells Across America service Sept. 21 from 10-11 am at the Naval Reserve Center Drill Hall in Bldg, 492. For more information call 504 678-7569.
Finally, the 2023 Greater New Orleans Navy Ball is Oct. 13 at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel. Our Navy Ball committee has worked diligently to plan this event and raise funds so we can offer very affordable tickets to all hands, regardless of their rank. For tickets and more information, contact your department’s Navy Ball Representative.
Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base (NAS JRB) New Orleans Fire and Emergency Services Department Chief Thomas Julius “TJ” Maury Jr., from Kenner, Louisiana, passed away August 22, 2023.
Maury, who had been battling cancer for over five years, was 39 years old at the time of his passing. He was a beloved member of the NAS JRB New Orleans community and had dedicated almost 25 years of his life as a first responder.
His career in public service started as an apprentice firefighter at the Bridge City Volunteer Fire Company in Bridge City, Louisiana, a station that only employed one full-time firefighter and one part-time volunteer. He mentioned in a previous interview that this was a “community-driven” fire department. Essentially, that meant if a call came in, an on-duty firefighter would bring the fire truck and hope some members of the community would come to assist in fighting the blaze.
As time went on, Maury moved up the ladder. He was working in Bridge City on August 29, 2005, when Hurricane Katrina made an everlasting mark on the southeast portion of Louisiana. After the storm had passed and life in the region had returned to a somewhat normal state, Maury took a job at NAS JRB New Orleans.
During his time at NAS JRB New Orleans, he went through paramedic school. This training was crucial to his climb up the ranks; he was promoted to the NAS JRB New Orleans Fire Department’s training officer, and then later to fire chief.
“To say TJ will be missed is an vast understatement. I have known him and his family for a little more than a year," said Capt. Lena Kaman, the commanding officer of NAS JRB New Orleans. "What an impactful person he was, not only in his capacity as a firefighter and a paramedic, but more so as a person who brought joy and heart to each day. We will miss his professional expertise, his giving spirit, and the joyfulness he lived every moment, every day."
Not only was Maury known to many as the fire chief of the base’s fire department, he was known to some as a real-life superhero.
While participating in the 2015 Crescent City Classic 10K in New Orleans and dressed as Batman, he saw a crowd of people circled around a person who had collapsed during the event. He jumped into action without hesitation, providing life-saving CPR until a paramedic team who was working at the race was able to come to the man’s aid.
According to a previous interview with the Gazebo Gazette, an emergency room doctor on-scene was given a report on the incident by the caped crusader, to which the flabbergasted doctor asked, “Who are you?” Maury responded, “I’m Batman.”
During his career, Maury was awarded the 2017 Civilian Fire Officer of the Year award for the U.S. Navy, as well as the 2019 Fire Instructor of the Year award for Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport, Mississippi.
Funeral services for Maury were held at Our Lady of Divine Providence in Metairie, Louisiana, on August 28.
A memorial service for Maury will be held at the NAS JRB New Orleans Chapel on Sept. 7 at 9 a.m.
To send condolences or to share a memory of TJ with his family, visit https://www.muhleisen.com/obituaries/Thomas-Tj-Maury/#!/TributeWall
Click here to view a 2018 video piece about Maury from WDSU.
U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, from Louisiana, visited Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base (NAS JRB) New Orleans, Aug. 28.
Cassidy was met by Capt. Lena Kaman, the commanding officer of NAS JRB New Orleans, and Rear Adm. Bradley D. Dunham, Commander, Naval Air Forces Reserve, as well as senior leadership from Fighter Squadron Composite (VFC) 204, Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VR) 54, 377th Theater Sustainment Command, U.S. Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans, and the Louisiana Air National Guard.
“The face-to-face discussions allow a more concrete exchange of information and gives us the opportunity to show the Senator our many successes, our ongoing projects, and a firsthand view of our vision for the future," Kaman said. "I am especially pleased he was able to hear from leadership not only from my staff, but also from other major commands.”
"The men and women here prepare to defend America in wartime, and help victims of natural disasters in peacetime,” Cassidy said. “They deserve the best we can provide in health care, education, and security, as well as support for their missions. This will remain one of my priorities in [Washington].”
Few fighter pilots ever find themselves engaging in ground combat. Even fewer are put in the position of leading ground combat.
Maj. Henry “Hammerin’ Hank” Elrod was one of those few. The Georgia native enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1927, then was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1931 and by 1935, he was officially a Marine aviator.
Like most in peacetime years, he and his wife Elizabeth bounced around different duty stations from Quantico to San Diego, before his orders in early 1941 to Marine Fighting Squadron (VMF) 211 in Hawaii, where he served as the soon-to-be-famed squadron’s executive officer.
Wake Island was a tiny yet strategically important base serving as a refueling stop between Hawaii, Guam, and the rest of the South Pacific for both the U.S. military and civilian aircraft. By December of 1941, the atoll was populated by approximately 450 Marines of the 1st Marine Defense Battalion, 68 U.S. Navy personnel, and around 1,200 civilians working for a civil engineering company and Pan American Airways.
In a stroke of fate, Elrod and 11 other VMF-211 pilots took off in their F4F-3 Wildcats for Wake Island on Dec. 4. If you’re doing the math, you’ll note this is mere days before the Japanese launched their attack on Pearl Harbor. While Elrod and his peers were flying west to Wake Island, the Imperial Japanese Navy was sailing east to Hawaii.
The Dec. 7 attack on Pearl Harbor was actually a multi-pronged assault. While the bulk of the Japanese forces attacked Hawaii, a squadron of bombers flew from the Marshall Islands to annihilate the American forces at Wake.
Due to being across the International Dateline, the simultaneous attack commenced on Dec. 8 for the Wake defenders. Although they got word of the Pearl Harbor attack, without air defense radar they had no idea they were about to face the same pummeling.
The only four Wildcraft fighters to survive the initial bombing were the four patrolling above the island. Out of 55 Marine aviation personnel, 23 were killed and 11 wounded.
With only four aircraft and minimal air defense guns on the ground, Elrod and his Marines wasted no time. On day two, they managed to shoot down two Japanese bombers, and provide defense while the Pan Am employees and passengers evacuated. The Japanese maintained their aerial assault in the subsequent raids, keeping the Marine ground defenses on the run, desperate to protect their few anti-air guns.
The air raids were intended to soften the island as the Imperial Japanese Navy sent a small fleet of light cruisers, destroyers, patrol boats, and landing craft.
On Dec. 12, Elrod took to the air and due to the timing, he found himself alone against 22 enemy planes. He shot down two. Not done with his miraculous feats, Elrod kept on flying. With cover from his three wingmen, he began dropping bombs on the destroyer Kisaragi. According to his Medal of Honor citation, he “executed repeated bombing and strafing runs at extremely low altitude and close range, succeeded in inflicting deadly damage upon a large Japanese vessel, thereby sinking the first major warship to be destroyed by small caliber bombs delivered from a fighter-type aircraft.”
His luck had to run out eventually, and by the end of the day, he was forced into a hard landing. All four surviving aircraft were destroyed, and the ground defense forces were battered. Whatever the Japanese accomplished that day came at a steep cost: they recorded 407 casualties in their failed attempt to invade Wake on Dec. 12.
The U.S. Navy attempted to resupply the beleaguered atoll, but were unable to circumvent the Japanese blockage of Wake. The surviving Marines, Sailors, and civilians were on their own.
Shocked by the tenacity of the Wake defenders, the Japanese dispatched another 14 ships and 1,500 Japanese Marines to strengthen their next assault.
Elrod took command of one flank of the ground defense and, according to his Medal of Honor citation, “conduct[ed] a brilliant defense, enabl[ing] his men to hold their positions and repulse determined Japanese attacks…”
His men included brave unarmed civilians running ammunition back and forth to the Marines and Sailors. Elrod took it upon himself to provide covering fire, running with them through a hail of enemy gunfire and bombs. He rushed a Japanese soldier and captured the man’s automatic weapon, after which he gave his own weapon to another man so they could both be armed.
He continued fighting and protecting the civilian ammunition runners until the enemy finally brought him down. His unparalleled flying and leadership on the ground are credited with bolstering the desperate last stand of American forces on Wake Island.
For his gallantry and selfless devotion to duty, he was posthumously promoted to major and awarded the Medal of Honor.
His widow, Marine Corps Women’s Reserve Capt. Elizabeth J. Elrod, accepted the medal on her husband’s behalf.
“Maj. Elrod’s deeds at Wake Island stood out even in a fight where every man was a hero—a hopeless battle that will be retold as long as American valor is remembered,” according to The Evening Star, Nov. 9, 1946.
When VMF-211 eventually redeployed to the Pacific theater, they named themselves the Wake Avengers. They have kept that name to this day.
Engineers with the Louisiana National Guard’s 225th Engineer Brigade were activated to assist the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry in fighting wildfires.
Since August 23, 2023, LANG engineers have been activated to use approximately 34 bulldozers to increase the width of existing firebreaks in Beauregard, Vernon and Sabine Parishes to prevent the spread of wildfires, such as the Tiger Island fire.
“For Louisiana, this is a unique mission for our engineers. I have not been involved in this type of response in my 18 years of service, “said Maj. Michael D’Aguiar, executive officer of the 527th Engineer Battalion. “The unpredictability of wildfires and its ability to continuously change, versus a hurricane or tornado response, brings about a very different perspective in which you must look at how we apply our engineering assets to solve this very complex problem.”
The Tiger Island fire is currently the largest wildfire in the State. The wildfire has already burned an estimated 31,000 acres which accounts for more acres of burned land than the state usually has in an entire year.
In addition to the Tiger Island fire, LANG engineers have responded in multiple areas to include Pirates Cove and Cooter’s Bog.
The response in Cooter’s Bog presented a unique opportunity to the engineers by widening and creating firebreaks along pipelines that lead to a natural gas plant.
“Our job is to widen this existing firebreak to prevent the fire east of us from spreading towards the gas plant to the west of us,” said Shreveport, Louisiana, native Staff Sgt. Zachary Attaway with the 1023rd Engineer Vertical Construction Company.
Attaway, who has never responded to wildfires before now, explained the value of experience that his engineers are receiving while working alongside community partners to clear the firebreaks.
“The stakes are higher. You have to be more vigilant and pay more attention because there are fires flaring up as we are operating,” said Attaway. “It helps the operators with their attention to detail and how careful they need to be while working as a team and being able to communicate clearly.”
To date, LANG engineers have established more than 140 miles of firebreaks in Beauregard, Vernon and Sabine Parishes and conducted more than 568 hours of blade time in support of the ongoing effort to combat the wildfires.
“I believe that our support to this response may add a level of comfort to the community. The people have displayed great appreciation and gratitude for our assistance,” said D’Aguiar.
As the state of Louisiana continues to deal with unprecedented wildifres, the Louisiana National Guard men and women continue to display their abilities to respond at a moment’s notice. While the LANG has provided aviation and engineer assets to combat the wildfires across the state, some service members have been assigned to missions to provide assistance as needed in these affected areas.
On August 26, 2023, one such mission occurred in Vernon Parish located in Leesville, Louisiana. As Soldiers were prepositioned around the state, ready to respond to any call for help, the 61st Troop Command, based out of Carville, Louisiana, was tasked with an evacuation request.
Specifically, the 61st TC assisted with the evacuation of the Woodlands Healthcare Center that evening. LANG provided eight Soldiers from the 927th Engineer Company, 61st Troop Command, to assist with the loading of 135 residents from the facility onto charter buses to be relocated across the region. The evacuation was a precaution as the wildfires were spreading into the rural parts of the parish; therefore, getting the citizens to a safer location was paramount for this mission.
In addition to the mission of evacuating the healthcare center, service members also assisted with detecting and controlling a pop-up fire.
On August 30, 2023, Chief Warrant Officer 5s Hugh Junca and Dale Poe, along with Chief Warrant Officer 3 Dusty Bernard, were enroute back to the Pineville area after conducting site visits to the affected areas of Cooter’s Bog and DeRidder in Beauregard Parish. While traveling, they noticed a faint column of smoke bellowing up from the Grayson Marler Road area on Highway 121 near the city of Otis, Louisiana.
The three warrant officers decided to investigate the source of the smoke, and after discussions with several already alerted and concerned residents in the area, determined that the smoke was coming from a location behind residential housing within close proximity.
After contacting first responders, the LANG warrant officers searched behind residential housing and found a growing fire that was approximately 100 yards into the woods.
Upon making this discovery, the service members hurried back to the residences and began to assist with an evacuation plan.
The primary focus became getting the affected citizens to a safer area until the fire could be contained. Once the residents were safe, Junca, Poe, and Bernard offered assistance to the firefighters as they arrived on the scene. Both LANG and the local fire authorities helped alert the neighboring residents and control the blaze.
After the passing of some time, the fire was contained by the firefighters. It was at that point that the service members continued on their journey back to the Pinville area.
LANG Soldiers are helping out wherever it is necessary and doing whatever is needed to keep the citizens of Louisiana safe in a never ending effort to “Protect What Matters.”