Navy League’s Newest Council
Honors Naval History, Adm. Nimitz
By PETER ATKINSON, Deputy Editor
Celebrating U.S. naval history is
the impetus for, and will be the
focus of, the Navy League’s newest
council. The Fleet Admiral Nimitz
Council, named in honor of the
commander of Allied Naval Forces
in the Pacific during World War II,
was chartered during an Aug. 28 ceremony in Fredericksburg, Texas, the
admiral’s birthplace.
Located in the Texas Hill Country,
Fredericksburg also is the home of
the Admiral Nimitz Foundation and
the National Museum of the Pacific
War, formerly known as the Admiral
Nimitz Museum. The museum is
part of the Admiral Nimitz State
Historic Site, a complex that includes
the George Bush Gallery, Japanese
Garden of Peace, Pacific Combat
Zone, Plaza of the Presidents, Surface
Warfare Plaza, Memorial Wall,
Veterans Walk of Honor and Center
for Pacific War Studies. The chartering ceremony was held at the museum’s Events Center.
A synergistic relationship of
support with the Nimitz Foundation and National Museum of
the Pacific War was one premise of
the council’s formation, according
to R. Glenn Looney, Greater
Central Texas Area president. He
worked with founder Samuel A.
Sorenson, a national director emeritus and retired lieutenant commander who was a member of Nimitz’s staff and also served with
Adm. William F. “Bull” Halsey during World War II, to bring the
council to fruition.
“The focus of our support of the
sea services here will be to partner
with the National Museum of the
Pacific War and assist them,” said
Looney. “We really want this to be
a first-class council, and we want
to have the community involved.”
He said the museum is always in
need of volunteers as guides, catalogers and to take oral histories
from veterans to add to its
archives, which is something the
council will assist with and
encourage.
The Nimitz Council also will provide support for the Fredericksburg
High School Navy Junior Reserve
Officers Training Corps (NJROTC)
unit and intends to form a U.S. Naval
Sea Cadet Corps unit in the area in
the future, according to Looney.
The council’s first meeting was
to be held Sept. 25. It was a
Distinguished Speaker Dinner featuring retired Vice Adm. Albert H.
Konetzni, former deputy commander, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, and
commander, Submarine Forces,
U.S. Pacific Fleet.
“We’re getting off to a fast start,”
said Looney. “We wanted to have a
regular meeting as soon as we could
so people could see that this is an
active council.”
The formation of the Nimitz
Council itself was a whirlwind
affair. The 92-year-old Sorenson
moved to Fredericksburg less than
two years ago from Utah, where he
had long been a member of the Salt
Lake City Council, ostensibly to
write about naval history.
He and Looney, who had been
traveling from Austin to Fredericksburg for youth medal presentations and other events with
the NJROTC unit there, had each
laid some initial groundwork for a
council in the area. They got
together last April, and once they
pooled their resources and formed
ALBERT BEIN
Fleet Adm. Nimitz Council founder
Samuel L. Sorenson, right, introduces
Navy League National President J.
Michael McGrath during the council’s
chartering ceremony Aug. 28 at the
National Museum of the Pacific War in
Fredericksburg, Texas. At the rear is
Greater Central Texas Area President
R. Glenn Looney, who worked with Sorenson to bring the council to fruition.
a Founder’s Committee, the effort
took off, according to Looney.
“This is a small community of
about 14,000, but people want to be
part of this council because it is
unique and because of the sense of
history about it,” he said. “Sam
Sorenson is the hero in this effort.
Sam did 95 percent of the recruiting,
and what he did was phenomenal.”
In less than six months, more
than 130 people from across the
country joined the Nimitz Council
or transferred their memberships
from other councils, including five
national directors and several retired
admirals. Applications were coming
in right up to the chartering ceremony, according to Sorenson, so the
final number of charter members is
still being tallied.
According to Navy League
requirements, 25 members are
