Members of Fleet Reserve Association, Branch 18, in Mountlake Terrace have brought meaningful music to Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent.
Thanks to the group, an $82,000 carillon plays bells heard throughout the cemetery.
Robbie Robertson had the idea for a carillon tower before the cemetery was built, but it took cash in the pockets of the Mountlake Terrace group to pave the way.
Tahoma opened in 1997. It’s known for its view of Mount Rainier and is for veterans from all branches of the military and their immediate families.
Air Force veteran Mark Daigneault, a lead cemetery representative, said the carillon sounds like bells, but bells on the 35-foot high tower don’t actually ring. Hidden speakers play bell-chiming music that is programmed in the cemetery office.
“It’s on a timer,” Daigneault said. “They program it for different times during the weekdays and weekends.”
The cemetery has a walkway with 28 memorials commemorating soldiers. It was donated by various service organizations. At the northeast corner of the walkway flies a POW-MIA flag.
A Veterans Service Organization Honor Guard Association provides honors to most of the veterans who are interred. The association includes members of service groups such as the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans and Elks Clubs.
Robertson helped form a Tahoma National Cemetery Support Group before the cemetery opened.
“I was the treasurer, but we had no money,” Robertson said. “A group offered to pay 50 percent for a carillon. I pushed for fundraisers to get the other 50 percent, but we were never able to get enough money.”
Robertson joined the Navy in 1943 at age 17 in Pittsburgh, Pa. He served on the USS Tirante (SS-420) submarine in World War II as an electrician.
“It was a very successful submarine,” he said. “We sunk 24 Japanese ships.”
The commander, George Street, received a Medal of Honor.
“He was a very aggressive skipper,” Robertson said. “He’d walk through the ship and shake hands, even with the mess cooks.”
Robertson, who served for more than 30 years, worked for Adm. Hyman G. Rickover for five years.
“I consider that being a survivor,” he said, laughing.
Robertson left the Navy in Bremerton as a full naval commander, he said, and settled in Seattle. He joined many veterans groups, including the Fleet Reserve Association in Lake City that bought a building in Mountlake Terrace.
Fleet Reserve Associations include current and former enlisted members of the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.
The association was founded by Navy Chief Yeoman George L. Carlin, and chartered in 1924 in Philadelphia. In 2000, according to its website, the association led a successful campaign to authorize pay increases for mid-career enlisted personnel. Since then it’s been successful in other compensation reforms and securing health and survivor benefits.
Two or three years ago, Robertson said, the Mountlake Terrace group received $300,000 from an inheritance.
“We decided to do the carillon ourselves,” he said. “That’s how it came about.”
Robertson said he’s heard nothing but pleasant remarks about the carillon. Visitors at the cemetery can hear the bells.
“It’s not meant to be played at services,” Mark Daigneault said. “It’s more something soothing, if you are visiting a loved one, you hear the chimes.”
Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451, oharran@heraldnet.com.
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