Bullet
10-Year Member
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2008
- Messages
- 986
Haven't seen anything posted on this yet. Sad that a story of courage and sacrifice on this level has less of a chance of making the front page news than the latest gossip about a celebrity break-up.
God speed Lt Zilberman. A true hero, who willing gave his last true measure of devotion for his crew.
We raise a glass in your honor, and toast the passing of a true American hero.
Bullet
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Subject: Memorial Service aboard IKE for E2C pilot L Zilberman
100407-N-4236E-076 NORTH ARABIAN SEA (April 07, 2010) - Shipmates
come together aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) to pay tribute to Lt.
Steven Zilberman of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 121.
Zilberman's E-2C Hawkeye crashed in the North Arabian Sea March 31.
Eisenhower is on a six-month deployment as a part of the on-going rotation
of forward-deployed forces to support maritime security operations and
operating in international waters around the globe, working with other
coalition maritime forces. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist
3rd Class Chad R. Erdmann/Released)
The memorial ceremony on the ship was this morning in the
hangar bay... an absolutely amazing ceremony to pay tribute to a true hero.
The ship was floating on the site the aircraft impacted the water last week,
a very nice touch. Hangar bay 2 was literally filled with over 2,000 people
for the ceremony. The final speaker (LT Arnot) was the co-pilot of the
aircraft and the roommate to LT Zilberman, the pilot we lost. He spoke at
the ceremony and his words were powerful... coming from the guy who owes his
life to LT Zilberman.
Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
April 9, 2010
Downed Navy Pilot Honored In Norfolk For Sacrifice
By Kate Wiltrout, The Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK--Had a lesser pilot been at the controls of Bluetail
601 last Wednesday, there might have been four memorial services this week
instead of one.
But Lt. Miroslav "Steve" Zilberman was one of two pilots in
the cockpit of the E-2C Hawkeye as it returned from a mission over
Afghanistan , heading toward the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower in
the North Arabian Sea.
The Ukrainian-born junior officer had distinguished himself
during three years with Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 121. He knew
the plane - and its training manual - inside and out. So after one engine
lost oil pressure and then failed completely; after one propeller couldn't
be adjusted to balance the plane; after it was clear that there was no way
to safely land, Zilberman ordered his crew to bail out.He manually kept the
Hawkeye stable as it plummeted toward the water, which allowed the three
other men to escape.Time ran out before he could follow.
Zilberman, 31, was declared dead three days later. On
Thursday, more than 250 sailors, officers, aviators and friends gathered to
pay tribute to Zilberman at the Norfolk Naval Station chapel.
His widow, Katrina, was presented the Distinguished Flying
Cross that her husband was awarded posthumously."Without his courageous
actions, the entire crew would have perished," read the citation, signed by
Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations.
Zilberman followed an unlikely path to a Navy cockpit.
Born in Kiev, Ukraine, he was in sixth grade when his parents
emigrated to the United States. He enlisted in the Navy out of high school,
telling a friend, "I didn't want my parents to pay for college. I wanted to
do it all on my own. "Two years later, after serving as an electronics
technician, Zilberman was selected for the Navy's "Seaman to Admiral"
program. He was commissioned in 2003 after graduating from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute with a degree in computer science. Just as much of an
accomplishment, said Lt. Adam Horn, one of his closest friends, was marrying
Katrina, whom he first wooed in high school.
"Fortunately for Steve," Horn joked during his eulogy, "one of his
great qualities was persistence. "Cmdr. Dave Mundy, executive officer of
VAW-121, said that during downtime on the Ike, Zilberman sometimes read
books to his kids on video. Much to others' amusement, he even danced for
the camera - exuberantly, if clumsily - when one story required it.
He could walk into a room and the stress level would decrease, Mundy
said. "It just changed the atmosphere. He was always happy. Nothing ever
brought him down." Zilberman was one of the best pilots Mundy has ever flown
with, but he said the lieutenant had higher aspirations: He hoped to go to
medical school and become a Navy doctor.
The day before the crash, Mundy flew a mission to
Afghanistan with Zilberman. To allay boredom on the flight, which lasted
more than five hours, Zilberman and another crew member quizzed each other
about organic chemistry. He'd brought some textbooks along on the deployment
and was beginning to study for medical school entrance examinations. "He was
always trying to better himself," Mundy said. "He couldn't just sit back and
relax."Rabbi Michael Panitz explained that Zilberman's call sign - Abrek -
has multiple meanings, although the buddies who bestowed it on him were
certainly invoking the name of a Soviet space monkey sent into orbit before
manned spaceflight.In Russian, the name means "hero," or "valiant man,"
Panitz said. It also has meaning in Hebrew. In that language, Panitz said,
Abrek means "noble one."
Zilberman is survived by his wife, Katrina; son, Daniel, 4; and
daughter, Sarah, 2, of Virginia Beach ; and his parents, Boris and Anna
Zilberman of Columbus , Ohio.
God speed Lt Zilberman. A true hero, who willing gave his last true measure of devotion for his crew.
We raise a glass in your honor, and toast the passing of a true American hero.
Bullet
-----------------------
Subject: Memorial Service aboard IKE for E2C pilot L Zilberman
100407-N-4236E-076 NORTH ARABIAN SEA (April 07, 2010) - Shipmates
come together aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) to pay tribute to Lt.
Steven Zilberman of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 121.
Zilberman's E-2C Hawkeye crashed in the North Arabian Sea March 31.
Eisenhower is on a six-month deployment as a part of the on-going rotation
of forward-deployed forces to support maritime security operations and
operating in international waters around the globe, working with other
coalition maritime forces. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist
3rd Class Chad R. Erdmann/Released)
The memorial ceremony on the ship was this morning in the
hangar bay... an absolutely amazing ceremony to pay tribute to a true hero.
The ship was floating on the site the aircraft impacted the water last week,
a very nice touch. Hangar bay 2 was literally filled with over 2,000 people
for the ceremony. The final speaker (LT Arnot) was the co-pilot of the
aircraft and the roommate to LT Zilberman, the pilot we lost. He spoke at
the ceremony and his words were powerful... coming from the guy who owes his
life to LT Zilberman.
Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
April 9, 2010
Downed Navy Pilot Honored In Norfolk For Sacrifice
By Kate Wiltrout, The Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK--Had a lesser pilot been at the controls of Bluetail
601 last Wednesday, there might have been four memorial services this week
instead of one.
But Lt. Miroslav "Steve" Zilberman was one of two pilots in
the cockpit of the E-2C Hawkeye as it returned from a mission over
Afghanistan , heading toward the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower in
the North Arabian Sea.
The Ukrainian-born junior officer had distinguished himself
during three years with Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 121. He knew
the plane - and its training manual - inside and out. So after one engine
lost oil pressure and then failed completely; after one propeller couldn't
be adjusted to balance the plane; after it was clear that there was no way
to safely land, Zilberman ordered his crew to bail out.He manually kept the
Hawkeye stable as it plummeted toward the water, which allowed the three
other men to escape.Time ran out before he could follow.
Zilberman, 31, was declared dead three days later. On
Thursday, more than 250 sailors, officers, aviators and friends gathered to
pay tribute to Zilberman at the Norfolk Naval Station chapel.
His widow, Katrina, was presented the Distinguished Flying
Cross that her husband was awarded posthumously."Without his courageous
actions, the entire crew would have perished," read the citation, signed by
Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations.
Zilberman followed an unlikely path to a Navy cockpit.
Born in Kiev, Ukraine, he was in sixth grade when his parents
emigrated to the United States. He enlisted in the Navy out of high school,
telling a friend, "I didn't want my parents to pay for college. I wanted to
do it all on my own. "Two years later, after serving as an electronics
technician, Zilberman was selected for the Navy's "Seaman to Admiral"
program. He was commissioned in 2003 after graduating from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute with a degree in computer science. Just as much of an
accomplishment, said Lt. Adam Horn, one of his closest friends, was marrying
Katrina, whom he first wooed in high school.
"Fortunately for Steve," Horn joked during his eulogy, "one of his
great qualities was persistence. "Cmdr. Dave Mundy, executive officer of
VAW-121, said that during downtime on the Ike, Zilberman sometimes read
books to his kids on video. Much to others' amusement, he even danced for
the camera - exuberantly, if clumsily - when one story required it.
He could walk into a room and the stress level would decrease, Mundy
said. "It just changed the atmosphere. He was always happy. Nothing ever
brought him down." Zilberman was one of the best pilots Mundy has ever flown
with, but he said the lieutenant had higher aspirations: He hoped to go to
medical school and become a Navy doctor.
The day before the crash, Mundy flew a mission to
Afghanistan with Zilberman. To allay boredom on the flight, which lasted
more than five hours, Zilberman and another crew member quizzed each other
about organic chemistry. He'd brought some textbooks along on the deployment
and was beginning to study for medical school entrance examinations. "He was
always trying to better himself," Mundy said. "He couldn't just sit back and
relax."Rabbi Michael Panitz explained that Zilberman's call sign - Abrek -
has multiple meanings, although the buddies who bestowed it on him were
certainly invoking the name of a Soviet space monkey sent into orbit before
manned spaceflight.In Russian, the name means "hero," or "valiant man,"
Panitz said. It also has meaning in Hebrew. In that language, Panitz said,
Abrek means "noble one."
Zilberman is survived by his wife, Katrina; son, Daniel, 4; and
daughter, Sarah, 2, of Virginia Beach ; and his parents, Boris and Anna
Zilberman of Columbus , Ohio.
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