Fort Miles Association, DNREC commemorate V-J Day
Rain moved the V-J Day ceremony at Fort Miles away from the USS Missouri gun barrel that is now on display in the front of Battery 519. But it did not deter from the significance of the event.
The Fort Miles Historical Association and the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Division of State Parks joined Sept. 2 to mark the 72nd anniversary of the day the Japanese surrendered on the famous ship, which now has a historical connection to the fort.
The ceremony also marked the passing of five people with ties to the association.
The event took place inside Battery 519, which is being converted to a World War II museum at the fort in Cape Henlopen State Park, and the gun barrel is the star attraction.
The 66-foot gun barrel arrived in Lewes with much fanfare in April 2012 via a rail barge across the Chesapeake Bay and then on the Delaware Coast Line Railroad to Georgetown and Lewes. Fort Miles had a pair of similar 16-inch guns in bunkers, but both were removed after the war.
As he held up a large photograph of the 1945 ceremony, association President Gary Wray pointed to the Fort Miles Missouri gun barrel.
“The 11-member Japanese delegation boarded the USS Missouri, walked past our big gun, and then stood in front of the Allied delegation to surrender to end World War II,” he said.
Wray said only three of the ship's original mighty 16-inch gun barrels were rescued from scrap piles, and there are only two legitimate places to hold a ceremony like the one at Fort Miles – the other on the USS Missouri itself, anchored in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as a floating museum.
One barrel is in Cape Charles, Va., and another is in Phoenix, Ariz., but neither have been restored to a static display, Wray said.
DNREC Secretary Shawn Garvin said the agency, which has partnered with the association since 2003, will continue to participate in restoration of the fort as the centerpiece of Cape Henlopen State Park.
“We are in your debt,” he said. “Visitors can now see history come alive and actually touch it.”
Cindy Todd, DNREC's director of projects, has worked closely with the association over the past few years. “This is a passionate, driven team,” she said. “And there is so much more to come.”
She said the association's volunteers – including the Bunker Busters – have contributed more than 14,000 hours so far this year, which is equal to about $290,000 or seven full-time employees.
On the drawing board, she said, is a major infrastructure project to build a new entrance road and parking lot for the museum, which should be completed in summer 2018. In addition, the state and the association are working on a project to make another of the World War II towers accessible to the public. Work has started on Tower 3 near Dewey Beach. The tower near Fort Miles is the only accessible tower of 11 in Delaware.
Association volunteers recently completed restoration of a 90-mm anti-aircraft gun to add to the fort's artillery park, which opened Sept. 2, 2016.
Association offers homage
The association took time to honor members who passed away during the past year including Horace Knowles, a founding member who was also stationed at Fort Miles. Knowles, 95, of Lewes passed away Jan. 17.
Wray said the association's logo is based on the crossed-cannons pin from Knowles’ uniform he wore as part of the 261st Coastal Artillery. The last event he attended was the ribbon cutting marking the completion of the restoration and placement of the Missouri barrel at the entrance to the museum.
Friend, former co-worker and fellow Bunker Buster John Roberts said Jack Bolin kept the association's wheels oiled and running. “He was a mechanic who could do the impossible,” Roberts said.
He said Bolin played a key role in getting the association's machine and wood shop fully operational and donated many tools to the group. “There's not much that's been done here he hasn't touched.”
Bolin, 72, of Milton passed away April 4.
Bob Saupee, who lived in Reading, Pa., served on the Missouri and witnessed the surrender ceremony. Saupee, who passed away May 2 at the age of 90, also served on the USS New Jersey during the Korean War.
Association member Mike Dunkes presented members of the Saupee family with framed photographs of last year's artillery park ribbon-cutting ceremony, in which Bob took part. Saupee also spoke about his time aboard the historic ship.
Dunkes said Saupee and shipmate Phil Saggione of Wilmington met for the first time during an event in Lewes. “They had never met, but on that day they hugged each other. That was quite a day,” Dunkes said.
Dan Lyons, an active board member and Bunker Buster, was among the first members who went to see the Missouri gun barrel in Norfolk, Wray said. He said his connections to the Bethany Beach area were invaluable to the association. Lyons, 85, of Bethany Beach passed away Nov. 5, 2016.
Wray also talked about News Journal reporter Molly Murray, 61, of Lewes, who passed away July 17. He said her stories about the association played a key role in public awareness about the group's many projects.
Fort Miles protected Atlantic coast
Fort Miles was the largest East Coast combat-ready post during World War II, with 2,500 personnel trained to protect the coast and the entrance to the Delaware Bay and Delaware River. Fort Miles had 32 of the Army's largest-caliber artillery pieces plus anti-aircraft weapons. It continued to serve in military capacities for another three decades until more than 540 acres of the area were returned to the state of Delaware, forming the heart of Cape Henlopen State Park.
