NAHANT — Students at the Johnson Elementary School honored their heroes at a surprise ceremony in front of the school’s flagpole Tuesday morning.
“Captain Claudia is the hero of the sea,” said student Carmen Ballantine of Claudia C. Gelzer, U.S. Coast Guard commander of Sector Boston. “She helps everyone. If someone is lost at sea and can’t find their way back, she helps them. If animals are hurt in the sea, she helps them. When bad things happen, she helps.”
Gelzer will retire from her position of commander of Sector Boston later this year. She has held the title since 2015 when she relieved former Commander John C. O’Connor III.
Coast Guard Sector Boston is known as the birthplace of the Coast Guard. The regional operational command is responsible for the safety, security, and environmental protection of the coast from the New Hampshire-Massachusetts border south to Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Sector Boston directs more than 1,500 active duty, reserve, and auxiliary members, according to The Atlantic Area Command Center.
Students at the Johnson School performed a ceremony to thank Gelzer and Master Chief Michael A. Brewer, who is taking a job in Washington, D.C., for their service to the community and for the influence they have had on their lives.
“She’s part of our community,” said fifth grader Brandon Rouleau, who was chosen to recite the Gettysburg Address during the Memorial Day parade last weekend.
The pair has visited the school to give presentations and to have one-on-one conversations with fifth and sixth graders about the scope of their jobs, said Principal Kevin Andrews. They have also visited the school for three Veteran’s Days.
Gelzer said she was overwhelmed and grateful for the show of support.
“I have to tell you how much this community means to me and to the rest of the Coast Guard,” she said. “Every time I come to this school, you’re honoring the military in some way.
“When I watch what you do with your youth, I have so much hope for the future.”
The town is also significant to the Coast Guard because of its rich military history. Most famously, the town is home to the Nahant Life Saving Station, which was used by the Coast Guard from 1915 to 1964.
The station was built more than a century ago after eight people died in the wreck of the three-masted coal schooner Charles Briggs on Short Beach in 1898, according to the Nahant Preservation Trust. Two weeks later, the battleship USS Maine blew up in Havana Harbor and started the Spanish-American War. Today, the property is kept up by the town and includes residential space and a function hall, but many of the structure’s historical elements have been preserved.
Nahant’s East Point was once used for coastal military purposes.
Twelve Coast Guard housing units, which housed soldiers who worked at a nearby bunker, still exist in town. Northeastern University’s Murphy Bunker was once a military bunker, and the school’s Grey Edwards Building served as military barracks, according to documents on the Marine Science Center’s website.
First grader Reagan Duane, 7, who was chosen to be acting principal for the day, did a reading, and acting assistant principal, Jonathan Dam, 6, recited the pledge of allegiance after Brewer and Gelzer raised the flag.
“It is important to honor her because of what she does for the United States,” said Duane.