Mission Restoration: Daughter of Pearl Harbor veteran works to restore memorial at JEB Little Creek

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — The daughter of a Hampton Roads Pearl Harbor survivor is working to help his legacy live on.

Ellen Burns says she grew up hearing stories about her dad’s time in the Navy. Her father, Frank Chebetar, was the ship’s cook aboard the USS Phelps destroyer when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

Chebetar enlisted in the Navy in 1940. He often spoke to students here in Hampton Roads and participated in parades, dedicating his life to keeping the memory of Pearl Harbor alive.

“Every year they would look forward to doing that and it would be a group of maybe eight of them going out and the students never wanted them to leave,” said Chebetar’s daughter, Ellen Burns.

Frank founded the Pearl Harbor survivors group in Virginia Beach in the early 70s and also played a significant role in building the Pearl Harbor Memorial on JEB Little Creek.

The base supports the memorial, but upkeep is funded through private organizations.

In the past it was funded by the survivors group, but the group disbanded and the memorial is starting to fall apart.

“There was a tree planted for all of the survivors out there, they have name stakes and right now we need to replace those stakes and the name plaques for the survivors out there,” Burns said. “There’s also cement benches that have now, after many, many years of holding people who could sit there and reflect. They are either falling apart and/or not there any longer.”

Ellen says she hopes soon to be able to go out to the base and say ‘dad, it’s back to the way you wanted it to be.'”

“My goal is to try to get those flags flying again,” Burns said. “There was a flag for every branch of service that flew at all of the different services that we would have out there. Also, to be able to make it comfortable and just beautiful once again where people can come out there, the trees are so gorgeous at the changing of the seasons.”

Burns is working to raise money through a GoFundMe page to help with upkeep.

“They have the benches where people can come and sit and and look at the names, the thousand-pound plaque that was and is still there needs to be cleaned and needs to be kept where the names are still readable,” Burns said.

Burns says when it was brought to her attention last week that these certain things needed to be done, a quote her dad used to say came to mind: “if you cannot give 110%, don’t do it at all.”

“I can remember when this group had no money and they would say, All right, what are we going to do about it? And next thing I know, it happened. So there, you know, back in the 70s, 80s, 90s, these guys were retiring,” Burns said. “They didn’t have that income coming in like they used to, but I will tell you, they made sure that there was money somewhere along the line and they worked together as a group and that’s what I would like to see done here.”

She hopes people will come together to honor the Greatest Generation and preserve the history they fought so hard to write.

“I think it’s important to keep it in the eyes of the community,” Burns said. “Let’s not let it slip away because it is a very important part of this history and with the military being so, you know, prompt in our in our area. I think that’s what it’s all about.”

There will be a remembrance ceremony this Thursday at JEB Little Creek at 12:55 p.m.

If you’d like to help with restoration costs, click here.

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