New Artifacts Added To Rear Admiral Leslie Gehres Memorial Exhibit At Newark High School

New artifacts have been added to the Rear Admiral Leslie Gehres Memorial Exhibit in the library at Newark High School. They include Rear Admiral Gehres’ Navy Cross and his World War II Victory Medal. Gehres’ accomplishments were many, but certainly his greatest _ the one that captured the attention of the world and the national media in 1945 _ was when he served as of the U.S. , the USS Franklin. On March 19, 1945, when the ship was 60 miles off the eastern coast of Japan, it was attacked by Japanese aircraft. More than 1,000 In photo above are from left: Superintendent Matt Cook, Will Snyder, Grace Murphy and her mom, members of the crew of 3,000 were immediately killed or injured and Jamie Murphy. with the ship extensively damaged and in danger of sinking or capsizing, then Captain Gehres refused to abandon it and rescued more than 300 sailors trapped below deck and safely removed the injured to other ships. The direct bomb hit caused the ship to burn for 15 hours and with the number of casualties, it was one of the worst U.S. Naval disasters at sea. Amazingly, Captain Gehres was also able to save the damaged ship and bring it back over 12,000 miles through enemy waters to the with a skeleton crew of 704. His remarkable story was the subject of a NBC television-sponsored documentary entitled “The Ship That Wouldn’t Die,” narrated by actor Gene Kelly and a book entitled, “I Was Chaplain On The Franklin” by Father Joseph T. O’Callahan, S.J. Gehres also was responsible for driving the Japanese out of the Aleutian Islands in World War II. He was promoted to the rank of Commodore for his leadership skill in this campaign _ a rank that had not been given to any Navy officer since the War of 1812 when Commodore Oliver Perry chased the British out of Lake Erie. The other new artifacts are a photograph of Vice Admiral Aubrey W. Fitch presenting the Navy Cross to Gehres in 1945 and a citation explaining why he was receiving the Navy Cross. These latest artifacts were procured by the late Dr. William J. Stewart before his death January 30, 2016. Thanks to the exhaustive efforts by Stewart, his hometown finally honored _with the dedication of a monument outside and the opening of an historical exhibit inside Newark High School September 28, 2002. _ the memory of Gehres who served his country with distinction and valor and who arguably is one of the greatest heroes of World War II. A retired University of Cincinnati College of Education professor emeritus, Stewart, who had lived in Florida with wife, Eleanor _ and who wrote “A Call To Duty” about this extraordinary man _ doggedly determined Gehres would not be forgotten and that he would have the prominent place in local history he deserves. Born in Newark September 23, 1898, Leslie Gehres and his sisters attended Newark schools with Stewarts’ mother for a time before they moved to Rochester in 1912. Gehres left school and enlisted in 1914. The Stewart’s granddaughter, Jamie Murphy, of Clifton Springs and her daughter, Grace, and their grandson, Will Snyder of Geneva, presented these latest artifacts to the Board of Education June 15th. Stewart’s burial service will be held in the East Newark In photo above are from left: Katie Cornish, Will Snyder, Grace Murphy and her mom, Jamie Murphy. Cemetery July 16th at 1 p.m. with the Rev. Tim Johnson officiating.