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The Shea Memorial Grove And The Shea Field Naval Aviation Historical Museum |
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The Shea Memorial Grove And The Shea Field Naval Aviation Historical Museum |
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The Shea Memorial Grove |
The Association of Naval Aviation, Patriot Squadron is the custodian of the Shea Field Memorial Grove and the Shea Field Naval Aviation Historical Museum located at the Southfield development on former NAS South Weymouth.
The Grove, which was dedicated on Veteran's Day in 1997, was created to remember Commander John J. "Jack" Shea, USNR, the two Naval Air Stations that were dedicated to his memory; and the dedicated military personnel from the local area who gave so much to their country and earned the Congressional Medal of Honor. The Grove, a living history classroom, consists of 32 trees dedicated to Medal of Honor recipients from Norfolk and Plymouth counties.
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The Present Shea Field Naval Aviation Historical Museum |
The Shea Field Naval Aviation Historical Museum is presently located in the former U.S. Navy Shea Fitness Center building at the Southfield development. The museum contains a large collection of photographs, documents, and other historical artifacts associated with NAS Squantum and NAS South Weymouth. At the present time, the museum is open by appointment only. However, this will change at some point in the future when the museum moves to permanent quarters on the SouthField development. Please contact us to make an appointment to visit the Shea Field Naval Aviation Historical Museum.
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The Future Home of the Shea Field Naval Aviation Historical Museum |
In 1940 CDR Jack Shea was ordered to report to the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Wasp as Assistant Air Operations Officer. The Wasp was sunk on Sept. 15, 1942 off the Soloman Islands. Commander Shea was reported missing in action. He was last seen "...fighting the fire on the flight deck, displaying great courage and devotion to duty, disregarding the danger of exploding ammunition and debris filling the air and rapidly spreading the fire."
