The annual memorial ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the tragic 1987 attack of the USS Stark will be held at 10 a.m. May 17 at Beaches Veterans Memorial Park.
The park is at 1 W. First St. in Atlantic Beach, just off Atlantic Boulevard and Mayport Road.
Thirty-seven U.S. Navy personnel were killed or died later as a result of the attack of the Naval Station Mayport-based Stark, and 21 were injured. The guided missile frigate was struck by two Iraqi missiles in the Arabian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq War. Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein apologized for the attack, saying it had been mistaken for an Iranian tanker.
The Stark was repaired and remained in service until being decommissioned in 1999.