Sunday, August 05, 2007

Captain Phillip L. Beachy


Asbury Park, NJ, USA. LAKEHURST — For the Navy community here, Friday marked the continuation of an old service tradition, and a bittersweet welcome and sendoff for two of its commanding officers. His successor, Capt. Phillip L. Beachy, strode into a traditional change-of-commander ceremony, to the sound of a bell and bosun's pipe from the age of sail, flanked by sailors in the multicolored work shirts of a nuclear aircraft carrier. And when he spoke, Beachy spoke of what many in the base gymnasium were thinking. "As many of you know, there's someone missing today," said Beachy, whose wife, Angela, died Feb. 16 at the age of 44 after a battle with cancer. The Beachy family is very active in the First Presbyterian Church of Toms River. "I can't tell you how important my faith has been, especially these last couple of years," Beachy said as his daughter, Amanda, looked on. In the close world of families on a naval base, spouses are an important part of the community. Phillip and Angela Beachy had been together for 20 years, from his early days as a helicopter pilot. "I used to tell her she was much more suited to be a C.O.'s (commanding officer's) wife than I was qualified to be a C.O.," Beachy told the audience. "She would have done so well." Click for full story by KIRK MOORE TOMS RIVER BUREAU. Asbury Park Press - Asbury Park, NJ, USA
More details about Capt. Phillip L. Beachy's career and awards.