The Tampa Bay Commandery is in the process of becoming the next new Commandery in the Naval Order. Please join us for our Chartering Ceremony Luncheon with guest speakers RADM Larry Chambers, USN (Ret) and Naval Order Commander General CAPT Bob Whitkop, USN (Ret).
$35.00 (payable at the door)
House or Caesar Salad
Marinated London Broil
Seasonal Vegetables
Cheesecake with Strawberry Drizzle
Coffee - Iced Tea
Dress Code: Business Casual - Florida
RADM Larry Chambers will discuss the evacuation of Saigon.
Guest speaker Rear Admiral Lawrence Cleveland Chambers was born in Bedford, Virginia in 1929 and in 1952 was the second African American to graduate from the US Naval Academy.
During his 36-year military career, Chambers logged a variety of “firsts:” First African American to command an attack squadron, first to command an aircraft carrier, and the first African American Naval Academy graduate to attain flag rank.
During the evacuation of Saigon, Chambers was commanding officer of USS Midway. The events leading up to, and involved in, that operation presented substantial logistical and ethical challenges to the ship and to her captain. The story of how Chambers met those challenges has been the subject of various documentaries, a TV series pilot, and many print articles.
After his retirement from the US Navy, Chambers worked for the Unisys Corporation as Director of Navy Marketing and in various program management and marketing positions, many of which involved international operations.
In his third career he worked on a Nunn-Lugar project in Kazakhstan which supported the aims of the US Defense Nuclear Agency to secure nuclear materials left from the disintegration of the old Soviet Union and to add to the security of former Russian satellite states.
Following this project, he worked for Kinnevik AB, a Swedish conglomerate, as President of Innova Systems, Chairman of the Board of American Satellite Systems, and as an international troubleshooter for major corporate projects.
Because of his unique position and experiences, Chambers is in demand as a speaker on the subject of ethics in command, as well as in the area of race relations in the military. Over the past few years he has spoken at the US Naval Academy, the US Naval War College in Newport, RI and the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY, as well as at a variety of Naval and other government, civic, and military organizations and occasions, including Wreath Day at the Sarasota National Cemetery, Sarasota, Florida. He is honored annually in a charity golf tournament in San Diego bearing his name, and In March of 2018 he was awarded the coveted Distinguished Graduate Medal by the US Naval Academy Alumni Association. Along with such notables as Bob Hope, and Senator John McCain, he has also been the recipient of Midway Museum’s American Patriot Award.
Admiral Chambers moved to Freedom Plaza from Chapel Hill, NC in 2011, where he resides with his wife, Sarah Jones-Chambers. He is the Chairman of the Board of the Retired Officers Corporation. In his spare time, Larry, as he prefers to be known, plays golf, duplicate bridge, and studies ball room dancing.
24 May 2022 - Chartering Ceremony Luncheon
1100 Social (cash bar)
1145 Lunch
1215 Speaker - RADM Lawrence Chambers, USN (Ret): “Evacuation of Saigon”
1230 Chartering Event - CAPT Robert Whitkop, USN (Ret), Naval Order Commander General
The Club insists they have an accurate head count - when you reserve your seat through Kris or Jim we must get payment.
Location: The Bayou Club
7979 Bayou Club Boulevard
Largo, FL 33777
RSVP by: 10 MAY 2022
Kris Carlock, Jim Hoey
415-725-2101, 941-323-5184
m.k.carlock@gmail.com jim@jimhoey.com