DVs Perform For Mayport Sailors

Miller was aboard Mayport on March 19. She is the most decorated American gymnast in history and has won more Olympic and World Championship medals than any other American Gymnast. Miller was touring the base as part of a Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) tour.

Miller's started by visiting guided missile frigate USS Boone (FFG 28) where the ship's Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Newman Evans III escorted her around, showed her the ship's capabilities and introduced her to the Sailors.

"It was a fantastic opportunity for us to show off Boone and show how proud we are of what our Sailors do everyday," said Evans. "These opportunities to interact with the community and people like Shannon are a great opportunity for us to show the pride we have in our Sailors."

After moving to the area a year ago Miller was pleased to get her first visit to a Naval facility to see what the Navy is all about, meet service members and children and even signed a few autographs.

"I have never been to a Navy ship before and I think what these guys do here is fantastic," said Miller.

Miller was also equally impressed with Airwolves of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron (HSL) 40. Lt. Eli Marshall gave her a tour and showed her a typical day in a training squadron. She tried on some of the survival gear, got an up close and personal look at the helicopters and met a few Sailors along the way.

She completed her tour by visiting the children at the Youth Activities Center were she talked with the kids about how she achieved her goals, answered a few questions and signed autographs for them. She also ran across a few fans whose lives she influenced.

"It's kind of overwhelming because I grew up in the gymnastic world and she has always been a huge influence in my life," said Howard, wife of Electronics Technician 3rd Class Jason Howard assigned to Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64). "I had pictures of her in my locker."

Chief Operations Specialist Jeff Wallace, MWR's finalist for the Nashville Star Competition, brought his daughter to meet her hoping that she would inspire her as well. Wallace grew up near Miller and is still filled with pride because of her achievements.

"It's one of those things that someone from where you are becomes successful on such a grand stand, it kind of gives you a little hope to know that people like us can achieve greatness," said Wallace.

"It's been a blast, meeting the kids was definitely a highlight," said Miller. "The tours have been great and everyone has been really nice. What has been really neat is just to see the base, since I live here now, and kind of get a feel of what it is like to be in the military and meet the service men and women."

Earlier in the week, it was standing room only at Ocean Breeze Conference Center as comedians Michael Winslow and Johnny Mac held a free show to thank the Sailors for their service. Winslow starred in the movies Police Academy, Spaceballs and Gremlins.

On March 20, Sailors were again entertained with a free show by classically trained violinists Kev Marcus and Wil-B, who make up the group Black Violin.Combining classical musical training with a hip-hop attitude has created a sound that has been described as "unrivaled and refreshingly unique". Black Violin has performed with such acts as Nas, Alicia Keyes, Lloyd Banks and Linkin Park. They were preceded by slam poets David Girard and Larry Knight. NS Mayport returned the favor on March 21 by hosting a tour, which included USS Boone.