Event expected to draw thousands

By Jay Meisel

Meisel@hometownnewsol.com

FORT PIERCE - Earlier this year, the lifeboat captured by Somali pilots who held a captain hostage on it was donated to the UDT Navy SEAL Museum.

This weekend, visitors to the museum's annual Muster event will have the opportunity to hear Capt. Richard Phillips speak about that event.

Capt. Phillips and U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Jupiter, will speak at Veteran's Day ceremonies, which are slated to begin 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7.

Navy SEALS rescued Capt. Phillips and fatally shot three pirates after they took him hostage in April.

Mike Howard, director of the museum, said the Muster event, an annual gathering of former SEALS and underwater demolition team members, is expected to draw 6,000 people during the course of the weekend.

Another event during the weekend will be a groundbreaking ceremony at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8, for a memorial to SEALs who died while on duty.

Roy Shifrin, a sculptor from Vermont, has been working on a sculpture depicting SEALS, he said, adding that it's expected to be delivered in April.

Construction on the base of the memorial is expected to start next month and be completed in about eight weeks, he said.

Other major events on Nov. 7:

. A 5K run/walk along the beach at 7 a.m.

. Following the Veteran's Day ceremony, the U.S. Navy parachute team will parachute on the grounds. Following that, the Navy SEALS commandos will demonstrate a helicopter assault, a building takedown and other operations.

. At 2 p.m., Ed Robinson, a tour guide at Normandy, will speak about the SEALs operations there during World War II.

. From 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. two authors, Michael Wood and Sue Ann Dunford, will be on hand to sign books. Ms. Dunford has written a book about UDTs, while Mr. Wood has written about the SEALs stationed in California.

There will be food and art booths during the event.

Attendees also will have the opportunity to tour the museum.

Caption for the above picture by chief photographer Mitch Kloorfain: The remnants of a ‘terrorist facility’ explode during a demonstration of anti-terrorism maneuvers by the United States Navy Mobile Security Detachment during a previous Muster at the Navy UDT-SEAL Museum Fort Pierce.