Wesley College president to keynote Dec. 7 Pearl Harbor Memorial dedication 

Wesley College President and retired Navy Capt. Robert E. Clark II will serve as keynote speaker at the dedication of a Pearl Harbor Memorial at noon, Friday, Dec. 7, at Smyrna’s Lake Como. 

Clark became the 17th president of Wesley College in July 2015, after 32 years of distinguished service in the U.S. Navy’s Submarine Force, including service as the 84th commandant of midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he served from April 2010 until May 2013, becoming the longest-standing commandant in the Naval Academy’s history.

During a distinguished Navy career, Clark held command at all levels of the Submarine Force during the Cold War, including commanding officer of the USS Connecticut (SSN 22) and commodore of Submarine Squadron Four.

"I've had the privilege of leading and learning from the finest sailors in the world, and look forward to being with some of them again on this dedication," Clark said. The memorial is a joint effort of the Viet Nam Vets Legacy Vets Motorcycle Club, the Town of Smyrna, state officials and local contractors. Ground was broken Aug. 10 for the memorial that will commemorate the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

The contribution of a 3,000-lb. anchor from a 1942 U.S. Navy destroyer will become part of the memorial with a traditional stone marker depicting an image of the attack on battleship row in 1941.

The Delaware Military Academy in Wilmington, an accredited Navy Junior ROTC High School founded in 2003, will provide a color guard for the event. DMA school co-founder and retired Navy Command Master Chief Charles Baldwin, who procured the anchor from the Military Sealift Command, will also participate in the program.

President Roosevelt’s words, “A date that will live in infamy,” will be inscribed at the top, with VVA’s national logo, “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another,” at the bottom

The dedication is open to the public.