USMC Marine Renders Honors and Salutes the Mother of the Fleet of the United States Navy, Verna M. Linzey, and Captain Stanford E. Linzey, Jr. on Wreaths Across America Day

On Saturday, December 16, 2023, the United States Navy ‘Mother of the Fleet,’ the late Verna M. Linzey, D.D., was honored and saluted by PFC Gabriel Pangle, USMC at Wreaths Across America ceremony, hosted by Miramar National Cemetery. He also rendered honors to Verna’s husband, the late Captain Stanford E. Linzey, Jr., CHC, USN (Ret.), who was a World War II hero as a survivor of the sinking of the USS Yorktown in the Battle of Midway.

The mission of Wreaths Across America is to remember the fallen, honor those who serve, and to teach the next generation the value of freedom. On National Wreaths Across America Day, active duty military personnel and volunteers gather in about 3,000 communities across America to place wreaths at the headstones of national heroes to commemorate them and keep the memory of them alive, lest their contributions to national security and efforts to protect American’s freedoms be forgotten.

What Verna Linzey did was build the largest Sunday School in the United States Navy at Naval Air Station Moffett Field, California. Adding to this seemingly impossible task was that she did it in two years from 1968 to 1970. For this incredible feat, Admiral Frederick C. Johnson, USN, awarded Verna Linzey the title “Mother of the Fleet of the United States Navy.” “Fleet” is a metaphor for the student body of 100 students, which included all the grade levels of dependent children and active duty personnel.

How this contributes to national security is by spiritually equipping active duty personnel for war. Also, when their children’s spiritual needs are being met, their active duty fathers and mothers can better focus on deployments and national security.

Organizations that support or partner with Wreaths Across American include American Gold Star Mothers, Civil Air Patrol, Young Marines, Gold Star Wives of America, United We Stand to Win, Daughters of the American Revolution, Military Women’s Memorial and Grove, Patriot Guard Riders, United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration, and Military Bible Association.

Last Saturday about 4,000 military personnel and civilians, including Chaplain (MAJ) James F. Linzey, USA (Ret.), gathered at Miramar National Cemetery just outside MCAS Miramar, San Diego, to remember Verna Linzey and about 16,000 other heroes who have fought for America and contributed in vital ways to America’s national security.

PFC Gabriel Pangle, USMC, who was selected to place the wreaths and render honors to Verna Linzey and Stanford Linzey, is considered to be the most highly distinguished and honored Marine at MCAS Miramar in San Diego, California.

Source: Military Bible Association. Previously published at Christian Newswire.

More about the author: Commander Don Biadog, CHC, USN (Ret.) served with distinction as a former Command Chaplain of MCAS Miramar. His ministry earned him the 2018 Chaplain of the Year Award from Military Bible Association and the 2023 Veterans of Foreign Wars Chaplain of the Year Award. He was the emcee and host chaplain for the 2018 Verna Linzey Commemoration Banquet, which was an official United States Marine Corp event at MCAS Miramar, San Diego, California.

In 1961, a few years before becoming one of the earliest US Naval Reserve Assembly of God chaplains, Dr. Spittler, who blew his students’ away, figuratively speaking, with his humility in bidding them to call him just “Russ,” began attending Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Edward W. Watson, Ph.D., Senior Professor of Biblical Literature and Practical Theology, Graduate School of Theology and Ministry at Oral Roberts University, and Senior New Testament Editor of the Modern English Version, who served on various committees with Russ, said:

Dr. Spittler’s legacy in Pentecostal studies is treasured by all those he has impacted. He not only was an outstanding teacher and author, but he brought legitimacy to the movement through his connections to biblical scholarship. His leadership in the academy will continue to resonate for generations to come.

At Fuller, in addition to all the courses he taught and books he wrote, he held the positions of Liaison Officer for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Senior New Testament Professor, Provost, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Provost Emeritus, and Professor Emeritus of New Testament. He passed away on Friday, January 20, 2023. He attained the rank of Captain as a chaplain in the US Naval Reserves.

One of Russ’s former Vanguard University and Fuller Seminary students, James F. Linzey, D.D., Chief Editor of the Modern English Version, reminisced:

Dr. Spittler mentored me and trained me for a successful military chaplaincy career as well as academic research, writing, and teaching. He was incredibly gifted in mentoring us students and preparing us academically for our respective callings in life. He was an outstanding mentor, personal friend, and friend of my parents.

It could be said that Russ had an impact on the creation of the Modern English Version Bible translation due to his profound impact on numerous scholars, including many not mentioned here, who served on its translation committee.

At his funeral on February 9, 2023, immense respect was shown by others with great character—people whose lives were obviously enriched by him and consumed with memories of his life and the impact his life made on theirs. They saw that his effect on the church and perhaps the world was unfathomable. Dr. Russell P. Spittler was the world’s foremost expert on the letters to the Corinthians by the apostle Paul. He will be remembered as an inspiring professor and a remarkable friend.