Andrea Doria 45th Anniversary Survivor's Reunion
July 26th, 2001 marked the actual anniversary of the sinking of the Andrea Doria after it collided with the Stockholm the night of the 25th. On July 28th, a beautiful sunny day, 22 survivors of the collision and their families gathered together at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy located in Kings Point, New York.
The first stop for the survivors was
the Computer Assisted Operational Research Facility (CAORF) ship-bridge
simulator. This high-tech simulator was specially programmed to re-create the
accident where 51 people died and more than 1,650 were rescued.
It's one of a handful of such simulators in the United States, and the
only one with the Andrea Doria crash programmed into it. Survivors stood on a
recreated ship's bridge as the sounds of a simulated diesel engine hummed in
loudspeakers and squinted at the fog and ocean on a screen projected in
front of them. It was only 30 seconds before they saw the dim lights of the
Andrea Doria coming toward them.
The simulation is used by the academy as an object lesson on the importance of
using radar correctly, for it was a mistake by Third Officer Carstens-Johannsen
who was manning the radar on the Stockholm that led to the fateful collision.
"This is about as real as it can get," said Capt. Robert Meurn, the instructor at the academy who teaches the simulation to students.
The Andrea Doria that appears suddenly in the fog, as the Stockholm is in the midst of a turn, is an accurate depiction, complete with sound, a wrenching noise of twisting metal that lasts for several moments. "The sound was just like how it was," said survivor Joseph Bellomo, 51, of Boston, who was 6 at the time. He watched the simulation yesterday with his sister, Maria (Bellomo) Leone, who was also aboard the night of the crash.
The simulation was repeated as survivors and their families gathered in the de-briefing room to meet. Some were meeting for the first time, others had attended previous reunions and were getting reacquainted. As the cocktail hour approached, the survivors went to the Academy's Officer's Club, Melville Hall, for cocktails and dinner.
The cocktail hour was outdoors with Long Island Sound and the Throgs Neck bridge as a backdrop. Survivors mingled and each survivor was given a ribbon to indicate the were a survivor. Survivor Jerome Reinert, presented each survivor with a pin of a ship depicting the Andrea Doria.
Click on picture to enlarge it.
At 8 p.m. dinner bells sounded and Capt. Meurn made some opening remarks and introduced the members of the reunion committee, Christine Meurn, David Bright and Anthony Grillo. Anthony thanked the other members of reunion committee on behalf of the survivors for planning and executing the annual reunion dinners. David Bright introduced each of the survivors that were present:
Dolores (Sedja) Aversa 
Antonio DeGirolamo
Mario DeGirolamo
Nicola DeGirolamo
Gino DeGirolamo
Anthony Grillo
David Hollyer
Louise Hollyer
Maria (Bellomo) Leone
Joseph Bellomo
Patricia (Tosi) Mahoney
Pat Mastrincola
Julianne McLean
Alda Raimengia
Lucy Raimengia
Jerome Reinert
Annabel Santana
Isa Santana
Corrado Sigona
Alicia (Sovik) Sochia
Maria Tenaglia
Eleanor (Caluori) Venables
The survivors posed for the following group photo:
Left to Right
Back Row: Pat Mastrincola, Alicia Sovik, David Hollyer, Pat Tosi, Nick,
Antonio, Mario & Gino DeGirolamo, Joseph Leone, Anthony Grillo, Jerome
Reinert, Corrado Sigona, Annabel Santana
Front Row: Louise Hollyer, Julianne McLean, Dolores Sedja, Maria Bellomo,
Eleanor Caluori, Lucy & Alda Ramengia , Maria Tenaglia, Isa Santana
After the Invocation by the Chaplain, a wonderful meal was served that was prepared by the staff of Melville Hall under the direction of Richard Stancati. During dinner music was provided by a DJ and the survivors began to mingle once again. Alicia Socia brought her newspaper scrap book and life jacket that she saved and survivors took some photos with the life jacket. Antonio DeGirolamo brought his poster with his many pictures of the collision and a 6 minute video of a documentary that will be released in the fall named "Caught on Film". The Andrea Doria Web Site was also available for the survivors to browse.
Survivor
Julianne D. McLean, a concert pianist, played a piano commemoration piece for
the survivors called "Dedication" by the composer Schumann.
Concluding remarks followed and the evening concluded by the Tolling of the Bell - Prayer - Silent Meditation for those who perished at sea and to those that have since passed away.
We are looking forward to seeing these and many more survivors for the 46th Anniversary Reunion in 2002.