The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Kathy Dunderdale, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador:

Premier Honours the Life and Mourns the Loss of Lanier W. Phillips

Mr. Speaker, I rise with sadness today to acknowledge the passing of Mr. Lanier W. Phillips and to offer condolences to his loved ones and to the many he formed lasting friendships with here in our province.

In the darkness of the morning of February 18, 1942, as the USS Truxtun and the USS Pollux were being battered by heavy seas in a blinding snow storm, little did the people of St. Lawrence and Lawn know that they would be called upon to respond to one of the worst sea disasters in U.S naval history. They answered that call with courage and unflinching resolve. While approximately 200 men were lost that day, 186 survived due to their heroic actions.

One of those survivors was a young man who was just shy of his 19th birthday. Lanier Phillips, as he has so eloquently expressed, was overwhelmingly impacted by the way he was welcomed and cared for following the disaster. Many of the women of St. Lawrence were involved in the care of the sailors as they recuperated. It was Mrs. Violet Pike who undertook to take Mr. Phillips, the only black man to survive, into her home to provide the care and nourishment that he needed. I often think of Mrs. Pike and the women of St. Lawrence, who by their simple yet profound gestures, revealed to Mr. Phillips the existence of equality and human kindness, regardless of skin color. They changed his life and ours. His ability to become all that he could be in the years that followed was rooted firmly in the community and in the people of St. Lawrence. Our own lives changed because of Violet Pike and Lanier Phillips. We all have a deeper and richer understanding of the impact and importance of simple acts of kindness and respect for our fellow human beings.

I had the honour of meeting Mr. Phillips when he was inducted into the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador last fall. Lanier Phillips embodied the true spirit of the Order through his eloquence in promoting Newfoundlanders and Labradorians as compassionate, generous and brave. He holds an important place in the history of this province and on behalf of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, I offer my deepest sympathies to his loved ones.

I’ll close with the words of A.L. Bristol, Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy at the time of the disaster who expressed in his letter of gratitude to the people of St. Lawrence, “Memories of such acts can never die, and the total of almost two hundred men and officers saved on this occasion will stand as a monument to the people of St. Lawrence and all Newfoundland, in the hearts and minds of all who know the story.”

2012 03 13             2:05 p.m.