Class News
Sam Francis ’64 presents his Navy sword to a new officer
September 4, 2022
Sam Francis ’64, a veteran Navy officer, presented his ceremonial sword to a brand-new Navy officer from his hometown Chatham NJ. The local newspapers found this event to be newsworthy.
Longtime Chatham Emergency Squad member gifts own Navy sword to Green Village's Mayes
New Jersey Star-Ledger, September 4, 2022
Chatham Courier, August 18, 2022
Fifty-eight years ago, a young, newly commissioned Navy ensign named Sam Francis purchased his ceremonial sword and set off for duty aboard a destroyer. Recently, the 21-year member of the Chatham Emergency Squad presented that sword to another young, just-commissioned ensign, about to leave for duty and, just like Francis, aboard a destroyer.
The recipient is Gavin Mayes, 23, a six-year member of the Chatham Emergency Squad and, for much of that time, a member of Francis’ Thursday Chatham Emergency Squad crew. Said Francis, age 79, “I watched Gavin’s Navy ROTC journey at Rutgers and admired his devotion to pursuing a Navy career. As a token of my respect, I wanted to pass along my sword.” Francis bought his sword in 1964 when commissioned at Yale University as a Navy ROTC graduate.
“It is an incredible honor,“ said Mayes. “Sam’s sword is a decades-old family heirloom, embedded with a lot of tradition.”
The sword, with a 31-inch steel blade, is used in the Navy for ceremonial occasions. Sam used it as the honor-guard officer aboard his ship, USS BAINBRIDGE (DLGN-25). Swords are also used in Navy weddings where the just-married bride and groom walk through the familiar “Arch of Swords,” held high by fellow Navy officers. The ceremonial sword is a very distant relative of the shorter and lighter Navy cutlass, which centuries ago was used by sailors in hand-to-hand combat when clambering aboard enemy ships.
In May, Vice Admiral John Muston, Chief of Navy Reserve and Commander Navy Reserve Force, commissioned Mayes and other Rutgers-Princeton Navy ROTC graduates. As Mayes’ longtime CES crew chief, Francis attended the ceremony and asked Admiral Muston whether new officers today are required to have ceremonial swords. The Admiral replied: “Not necessarily, but it would be a nice gift to Mayes for formal occasions or to lend to another officer.”
Added Francis, “Gavin was honored to receive the sword, and I was honored to give it.”
Mayes is a lifelong resident of the Green Village section of Chatham Township and a 2018 Chatham High School graduate. At Rutgers he was elected student-body president and also served as an EMT for Rutgers Emergency Services. He was also named Midshipman Battalion Commander to lead the NROTC contingent, a singular honor for a future naval officer. Francis held that position at Yale in 1963-1964.
Mayes joined the Chatham Emergency Squad in 2016 as part of the squad’s high-school cadet program. Mayes is one of a number of Chatham Scout Troop 8 Eagle Scouts who in recent years joined the squad’s cadet program, then studied to become licensed EMTs and worked through the squad’s rigorous training program to become full members of the Chatham Emergency Squad.
Mayes’ interest in the Navy was inspired by his grandfather, a career naval officer, and also by his great-grandfather, who served in the Navy as an enlisted man.
For his five-year Navy service obligation, Mayes elected to join the Navy’s “surface community,” which means serving aboard surface ships. “I was attracted to serving on a ship because it gives me the chance to be leader in a challenging ‘ecosystem,’ with hundreds of folks working in tandem to make the ship’s operation proficient.” Mayes was assigned to USS SPRUANCE (DDG-111), a guided-missile destroyer based in San Diego, assigned to the Navy’s Seventh Fleet..
Recently Mayes traveled to San Diego to begin a seven-month officer-training program, including training on the Tomahawk missile system, a low-altitude missile launched from Navy guided-missile destroyers. Afterward, Mayes will be a watch officer for that system aboard SPRUANCE.
When deployed, SPRUANCE will be part of a Seventh Fleet carrier battle group, consisting of an aircraft carrier supported by a protective escort of other warships including destroyers, sailing in the Pacific, primarily off Southeast Asia.
The Chatham Emergency Squad is an all-volunteer organization funded nearly exclusively by donations and never charges for its services. The Squad responds to 1200 medical emergencies each year, and also provides standby support for community events such as the Chatham Turkey Trot, Fishawack, and school athletic events. The Squad also provides free CPR training to residents, teachers, coaches, school nurses, school crossing guards, and emergency personnel such as fire and police. New members are welcome. To learn more, to donate, or to volunteer, please visit www.chathamemergencysquad.org.