Jason M. Arcudi
A Lancaster County native is stationed aboard the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier on which Osama bin Laden's corpse was washed under traditional Islamic procedure and then lowered into the sea for burial.
Jason M. Arcudi, a 25-year-old Manheim Township High School graduate, serves as a machinist mate in the nuclear division of the USS Carl Vinson, which is based in San Diego and is on deployment in the North Arabian Sea.
News that the 30-year-old carrier played a role in such a momentous chapter in the decade-long pursuit of the world's most wanted terrorist was thrilling news to members of Arcudi's family, who live on Petersburg Road near Neffsville.
"I didn't even know anything about it, and then I get home and I see all these message in my email, and I finally see it on the news that the Carl Vinson was involved in the disposal of bin Laden. I was like, 'Oh, my gosh!' " said Arcudi's mother, Paula Arcudi.
"I just want to put signs up all over the place: 'My son is on the Carl Vinson!' "
Arcudi, who graduated from Manheim Township in 2004, studied Internet programming and development at the Lancaster County Career & Technology Center's Brownstown campus.
He has been stationed on the USS Carl Vinson for nearly four years.
Reached via email on Wednesday, he said he was unable to speak about this week's events.
"Unfortunately I cannot comment nor speculate on the events that happened onboard here. I can tell you though that I am very proud and honored to be a part of such a historic event and to be working with the people I work with," he wrote.
Published reports have suggested that it is unlikely those on the aircraft carrier knew bin Laden's remains were aboard, and that they may have learned about his killing when President Barack Obama addressed the nation late Sunday night.
Regardless, said Anthony Arcudi, Jason Arcudi's father, they were part of something historic. "I thought, that's really something, being in the service and being part of those operations," he said.
Paula Arcudi, in an interview, said she was in contact with her son last week, and he suggested something major was about to happen.
"He did tell me something was going to happen, and it's going to be big, a few days before," she said. "I guess they knew something was going on, but I guess they couldn't say too much."
Arcudi had been involved in another high-profile mission aboard the USS Carl Vinson. In 2010, the carrier was dispatched to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, for humanitarian assistance following the massive earthquake that rocked the nation.
Arcudi, who completed basic training in 2007 at Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Ill., comes from a long line of family members who served in the military.
His brother, Brian, was a cavalry scout in the Army and was on the second Bradley tank to enter Iraq from the south during the attack that led to Saddam Hussein's capture in December of 2003.
His grandfather, the late Norman W. "Stormin' Norman" King of Landisville, served with the U.S. Army's Radar Signal Corps during World War II.
Bin Laden was killed by Navy SEALs during a 40-minute raid at the terrorist's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. His remains were flown first to Afghanistan, according to The New York Times. His body was then flown to the USS Carl Vinson, where it was washed and placed in a white sheet, according to news reports.
It was then placed in a weighted bag, and a military officer read prepared religious remarks that were translated into Arabic by a native speaker. The body was then placed on a "prepared flat board, tipped up, whereupon the deceased's body eased into the sea," a senior Pentagon official told The Associated Press.
Bin Laden was buried at sea because no country would accept his remains, a senior defense official said.
Since bin Laden's death made news, friends and relatives of Arcudi have used the social network Facebook to congratulate him and his fellow shipmates on being a witness to history. "Give everyone on the ship a BIG thank you from the 717!" wrote his sister.
Wrote a friend: "Give the guys on the ship a HUGE thank you for everything!"
