By PHOEBE DONALD ROBINSON / Community Columnist

May Cresswell Irwin of Calera is the wife of a United States Air Force colonel, the daughter of a Marine general, and the granddaughter and great granddaughter of Navy rear admirals.

Her deep military roots and family’s legacy has been to serve our nation for over 200 years.

“I have learned wherever you hang your pictures is home,” said Irwin. “You learn how to pack, how to make friends fast, and how to say goodbye which leads to some special superficial relationships but also some very deep friendships.”

Irwin’s great-grandfather Rear Admiral George Eugene Belknap graduated in the second class United State Naval Academy in Annapolis in 1851.

He married Frances Georgina Prescott whose ancestors fought in the American Revolution.

He commanded the USS St. Louis and the ironclad Canonicus during the Civil War.

Rear Admiral Reginald Rowan Belknap, Irwin’s grandfather, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1891, married Julia Pomeroy Averill from Massachusetts, and they had six daughters.

Grandfather Belknap served as the Naval Attaché in Berlin before World War I and was the naval aide to President Theodore Roosevelt.

During WWI he commanded Mine Squadron I from 1915-1918 where he directed the laying of 56,500 anti-submarine mines, stretching 230 miles in the North Atlantic Sea and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

Two naval ships have been named for the two Belknaps.

The first BELKNAP, DD-251, was launched in 1919, served in WWII and received a Presidential Unit Citation and three battle stars.

The second U.S.S. BELKNAP (DLG-26) was a guided missile frigate and christened in 1963 by Irwin’s mother, Mrs. Leonard B. Cresswell.

Irwin’s father, Leonard Baker Cresswell, joined the U.S. Marine Corps after graduating from college.

He married Emilia Field Belknap and they had three daughters, May, Emilia and Julia.

General Cresswell served in WWII where he was awarded the Navy Cross for his bravery leading the Marines across the Tenaru River during the battle Guadalcanal.

May Rowan Cresswell married Gerald “Jerry” Lee Irvin, graduate of United States Military Academy at West Point.

Col. Irwin retired from the Air Force awarded with the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star with “V” devise, and two Air Medals during the Vietnam War.