Friday, July 2, 2010

Never Forget

My post for today honors the USS New York, a warship which was made from 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center. Notice the twin towers ...



The ship is the fifth in a new class of warship designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines, to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.

Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite, Louisiana, to cast the ship's bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept 9, 2003, "Those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence," recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. "It was a spiritual moment for everybody there."

Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the Trade Center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and "The hair on my neck stood up. It had a big meaning to it for all of us," he said. "They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back."

The ship's motto?



Godspeed!

5 comments:

Grace said...

I love it! Thanks for sharing!!

The Quintessential Magpie said...

Oh, wow! What a cool ship!

I love the Navy. My uncle was a LT. on a destroyer during WWII, and I have always loved hearing stories about the Navy and its ships. Thanks for sharing this very, very special one. Long may she float on the seas!

XO,

Sheila :-)

Deb said...

Wonderful post...Happy 4th of July...

Tonja said...

I did not know anything about this. But, what a wonderful thing they did with the metal. Hopefully, every mission it embarks on will bring about destruction of the terrorists!

My Dad was in the Navy and served in the Phillipines.

Have a happy 4th!

Unknown said...

Thanx for sharing this bit of history with us! May you have a wonderful weekend!