It’s been more than a year, and finally, Kevin Reardon has full use of his garage back.
For all that time, a scale model of the U.S. Navy’s USS Arlington has been safely stored away in the garage, awaiting its installation in the main level of the Arlington County government’s headquarters building.
On April 12, the ship received pride of place during a dedication ceremony held as part of a day’s worth of activities celebrating the building’s renovation.
Having the model, and a montage of photos adjacent to it, “will remind visitors why the ship bears its name and what it represents,” said Reardon, a retired Arlington police captain and president of the USS Arlington Community Alliance.
The USS Arlington, commissioned a decade ago, is a landing platform dock (LPD) designed to speed U.S. Marines to world hot spots and on humanitarian mission. The third ship in modern Navy history to carry the name “Arlington,” it is one of a family of three LPDs named to honor the communities most impacted by the 2001 terrorist attacks and to commemorate the work of first-responders in Arlington, New York City and Somerset, Pa.
On hand at the April 12 event were county officials, members of the Arlington Historical Society (which helped fund the project), U.S. Navy personnel and survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon.
There also were family members of some of the 184 killed in the building that day.
“I know this means a lot to them,” said Reardon, who for two weeks after the terrorist attack was deployed at the Pentagon during operations to stabilize the building after a jetliner was deliberately crashed into it.
U.S. Navy Capt. Eric Kellum, who has commanded the USS Arlington for two years, said the passage of time has not dulled the emotional impact of the terrorist attacks, and that crews serving on the USS Arlington through the years have been well aware of the work of Arlington County personnel in helping to save lives at the Pentagon.
“We never forget,” Kellum said. “I’ve got sailors that weren’t even alive when 9/11 happened, but they know.”
The USS Arlington last year completed a 40,000-nautical-mile deployment across the globe. “I have an awful lot of awesome sailors,” its commanding officer said.
Both Reardon and County Board Vice Chairman Libby Garvey acknowledged that there was one thing missing from the commemorative event: the presence of Jim Pebley, a retired U.S. Navy aviator and civic activist who through the years was instrumental in forging a relationship between the county and the ship. Pebley died in 2020 after an 18-month battle with cancer.
“He loved the ship, he loved its crew,” Garvey said.
U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-8th) noted that Arlington rescue personnel were on the scene just three minutes after the attack on the Pentagon. He said the ship that bears its name has a mission to “preserve the freedom and liberty and open up opportunity” around the globe.
The renovated Arlington government headquarters, leased from JBG Smith and located at 2100 Clarendon Blvd., is named in honor of Ellen Bozman, whose 24-year tenure (1974-97) was the longest in County Board history. Bozman died in 2009 at the age of 84.
A smaller model of the ship is on display at the Arlington Historical Museum, operated by the Arlington Historical Society.
