Rogers Reassigned to Shore Duty : Military Honors Vincennes Captain

Capt. Will C. Rogers III was awarded the Legion of Merit, a top military honor, on Saturday as he stepped down from command of the Vincennes.

Rogers was given the award for his performance as commanding officer of the guided-missile cruiser, which became the focus of international controversy last July when it mistakenly shot down an Iranian airliner in the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.

He has been reassigned to shore duty at the Point Loma Tactical Development and Training Group in what Navy officials describe as a routine transfer.

Speaking from the deck of the Vincennes, Rogers paid special tribute to his wife, Sharon, who narrowly escaped death in March when a suspected terrorist bomb destroyed her van as she was driving to her teaching job at an exclusive private school in La Jolla.

“She literally rode the fireball out of the vehicle, sprinted to the curb, combed the shrapnel from her hair and asked a construction worker to call and inform me that she had experienced a minor mechanical difficulty,” Rogers said.

“When I arrived, she was most concerned, as her lesson plans were in flames and she was going to be late for school.”

His wife, who was seated among 500 spectators on the pier next to the ship, drew a standing ovation from the crowd as she accepted a bouquet of red roses from the Navy.

She was fired by administrators of the exclusive La Jolla Country Day School, who feared that her presence posed a security threat to the children. She has since reached a $135,000 financial settlement with the school.

Among the guests were a number of children from the fourth-grade class Sharon Rogers taught at the La Jolla Country Day School. Giggling and smiling, the children gathered around her before the ceremony.

The ceremony took place amid unusually tight security Saturday. Only invited guests were allowed on the base and all had to pass through two security checks and a metal detector. The Rogerses remain under the constant protection of the Naval Investigative Service.

Capt. Rogers was presented with a letter saying that while on duty in the Persian Gulf, his “tactical skills and calm direction enabled his crew to successfully engage seven heavily armed high-speed Iranian surface craft” attacking the Vincennes in “confined and confused waters. As a result, five craft were destroyed and two retreated.”

The letter made no mention of the Iranian airliner, which Rogers ordered shot down that day in the mistaken belief that it was an Iranian fighter plane. Rogers and his crew were cleared of any responsibility for the mistake in a Defense Department investigation last year.