thedrifter
03-01-08, 08:22 AM
A FIGHTING 9/11 TRIBUTE
March 1, 2008 -- Say this for the US Navy: It knows how to remember.
Consider USS New York, the Navy's newest amphibious transport dock ship, to be christened this morning during a ceremony at the Northrop Grumman shipyards in New Orleans.
The ship, named in commemoration of the victims of 9/11, was forged in part from 7.5 tons of steel salvaged from the wreckage of the World Trade Center - used, as the Navy puts it, to symbolize "the spirit and resiliency of the people of New York."
Her motto: "Never Forget."
It's hard to think of a better tribute to the heroes of that day than New York, which can transport up to 800 Marines in support of expeditionary warfare missions and special ops - perfect, in other words, for taking the fight back to America's enemies.
And she'll be skippered, upon her commissioning next year, by Cmdr. F. Curtis Jones of upstate Binghamton, at the head of a crew of 360 sailors.
Like we said: wholly fitting (as are two more planned San Antonio-class transports, USS Arlington and USS Somerset - named for the sites of the other 9/11 attacks).
Indeed, for decades to come, the US fleet will sail with a physical manifestation of the plain American courage that makes her sailors the finest in the world - and a firm reminder, as if they needed it, of the stakes of their service.
Anchors aweigh!
Ellie
March 1, 2008 -- Say this for the US Navy: It knows how to remember.
Consider USS New York, the Navy's newest amphibious transport dock ship, to be christened this morning during a ceremony at the Northrop Grumman shipyards in New Orleans.
The ship, named in commemoration of the victims of 9/11, was forged in part from 7.5 tons of steel salvaged from the wreckage of the World Trade Center - used, as the Navy puts it, to symbolize "the spirit and resiliency of the people of New York."
Her motto: "Never Forget."
It's hard to think of a better tribute to the heroes of that day than New York, which can transport up to 800 Marines in support of expeditionary warfare missions and special ops - perfect, in other words, for taking the fight back to America's enemies.
And she'll be skippered, upon her commissioning next year, by Cmdr. F. Curtis Jones of upstate Binghamton, at the head of a crew of 360 sailors.
Like we said: wholly fitting (as are two more planned San Antonio-class transports, USS Arlington and USS Somerset - named for the sites of the other 9/11 attacks).
Indeed, for decades to come, the US fleet will sail with a physical manifestation of the plain American courage that makes her sailors the finest in the world - and a firm reminder, as if they needed it, of the stakes of their service.
Anchors aweigh!
Ellie