A day after celebrating her 23rd wedding anniversary, Lt. Cmdr. Carol McKenzie received a fond farewell from family and friends aboard Chattanooga’s Delta Queen.
Lt. Cmdr. McKenzie was recognized Saturday in a ceremony for being promoted to commander of the Naval ship USS Harpers Ferry, an amphibious assault ship based in Sasebo, Japan. She will be one of 10 female Navy officers to command a ship in the fleet.
“Women are just now getting the seniority they need to be commanders, but there will be more in the future,” she said. “We have to get the youth to see those visions.”
The Delta Queen was the perfect place for the occasion, Lt. Cmdr. McKenzie said, because it has a history as a Navy vessel. She took a tour of the ship on July 4 and remembered learning that it was used to transport troops during World War II.
Commanding a ship has been a dream of Lt. Cmdr. McKenzie’s since she was at least 16, said her father, Joseph Gebis. And though there were times when she felt like quitting, Lt. Cmdr. McKenzie said every time she got to that point, she realized there was something left she could do to help people. “It took a little reeling in from me at times,” Mr. Gebis said.
Mr. Gebis said he hopes his daughter’s determination can be an inspiration to young people.
“There’s thousands of people doing what these people do every day,” Mr. Gebis said. “And nobody pays attention. We are able to live and do all that we do because of these folks.”
Navy Capt. John Schultz officiated the ceremony, and said the event could be summed up as a way to bid Lt. Cmdr. McKenzie “fair winds and following seas.”