Posted on 10/23/2014 5:13:43 PM PDT by EternalVigilance
The USS Ranger maintains an important place in the military and cultural history of the United States, as well as in the personal history of the thousands of Navy, Marine, and Air Force personnel who served on board. The ship served the country with distinction in the Vietnam (earning 13 battle stars) and Gulf (flying more combat missions than any other carrier) Wars, as well as in humanitarian missions. Noted entertainers, including Bob Hope, Raquel Welch, Les Brown, Suzanne Somers, Gladys Knight & The Pips and Marie Osmond entertained on the flight deck. Noted visitors to Ranger include astronaut Neil Armstrong, then-VP George H.W. Bush, and Queen Elizabeth II. The ship appeared in both “Top Gun” and “Star Trek IV.” And, this cause is a personal one for my family: One of the shipmates aboard in Vietnam was my father, and I also "served" on board for three days as a baby.
In October 2013, the Navy announced that it was essentially giving away the USS Forrestal, a similar carrier, for scrap. On 18 February 2014, Forrestal arrived at the scrapyard in Texas - making Ranger's situation that much more critical. On 5 May, we got the sad news that USS Saratoga, anohther of Ranger's sister ships, is also headed for scrap, and was also given away. On 13 June NAVSEA awarded a contract for the scrapping of a Bremerton-based carrier - USS Consetllation - this time at a $3M cost to US taxpayers. In fact, all four Forrestal-class carriers are currently designated "Stricken - to be disposed of." Please don't let this happen to the Ranger! Tell the Navy that you care about this important piece of our history and want it to reconsider plans to turn the ship into a museum so that future generations can learn about its history firsthand.
I started this petition because I truly believe that by working together we can make a difference, and that we simply cannot abandon this ship without at least putting up a good fight and making our voices heard.
Please sign and join us! Join us on Twitter @SaveUSSRanger and speak up on social media using #SaveTheRanger #CVA61 #CV61 #SaveTopGun
Thank you!
Posted this thread at the request of Navy Vet:
“Would y’all sign this petition and repost and ask your friends to sign it? I know that it’s not very important in the overall scheme of things, but it’s important to me personally. This is the ship we sailed across the Pacific and through the Philipine Sea and South China Sea and into the Tonkin Gulf off the coast of Vietnam where she earned her 13th battle star, more than any other aircraft carrier in the Vietnam War. During the Persian Gulf conflict she also flew more combat missions than any other carrier. She’s a piece of American history. The Navy has condemned her to be cut up for scrap, but the city of Long Beach, California, unanimously voted to ask for her to come there to be turned into a museum.The Navy talks like the decision to scrap her is final, but they said that about the USS Iowa, too, and she was rescued. We need 10,000 signatures. We currently have 3,707. I’d like to see her again before I pass on, but that’s unlikely to happen even if she is saved from the scrap yard, but I’d like for my children and/or grandchildren to be able to see her if they’re ever out that way.”
— John xxxxxxxxxxx
**** “Noted entertainers, including Bob Hope, Raquel Welch, Les Brown, Suzanne Somers, Gladys Knight & The Pips and Marie Osmond” *****
And Lee Greenwood “God Bless the USA” when I was on her
TT
Thank you for your service!
Tried to find a video of him singing that on the Ranger. No luck. So this will have to do:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01A7ec7_OxU
I served on the Ranger 1990-1993. I spent Desert Storm on .50 cal gun mount 6. I was surprised at how darn cold it got out there at night. The Ranger was my favorite duty station of my career.
When G.W. Bush came aboard Ranger it was the second time that I had met him ... the Man had a Phenomenal Memory! He remembered when I met him on USS Kitty Hawk and he remembered my First Name ... and addressed me by it when we were trading patches and hats ... after he left all of the guys in the Division asked me “You Know Him?”
“Oh yeah ... we go way back”
Good times!
TT
Almost had a 3rd meeting with him but because of Security I had to settle for Secret Service ... I gave them my First and Last name ... when they let us return to our Office there was a Stack of 8 1/2 x 11 Glossies of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, George and Barbara Bush with a note from Bush Thanking me for my Service.
I was surprised to find out that Ranger CV-61 actually sailed around and was an active ship until 1992.
I could have sworn I toured the ship when I was a kid in NJ, in the 60’s. It was a fun trip, it was anchored in NYC. However it doesn’t especially look like there is much record of the ship being on the East Coast at all other than Norfolk.
I can appreciate your wish to preserve the ship. It is/would be a towering, astronomical amount of work. But I think you know that.
H.W. (not W) sheesh
God bless you for your service.
That’s awesome. As many political differences as I have with the Bushes, I have to say that they understand the military, and demonstrated a lot of care about our people.
Here is a current example:
"USS TEXAS needs substantial long term funding for staffing and to maintain the ship, in addition to an immediate and urgent need for funds to undergo a massive stabilization and/or restoration to prevent imminent loss of historical integrity.
The benefit Texas has, is it carries the name of a great state, which taxpayers have been willing to carry some of the burden. But you are asking for a perpetual tax burden, and it needs to be thought out.
My recommendation? Turn it into a world class military academy AND museum. Everything needed is already there.
Sounds like a GREAT idea.
I sailed on the U.S.S. Independence CV-62 (Sister to the Ranger). I would like to see the Ranger saved as she is important to history and granted that Indy can’t be saved as she was stripped down to her bones to provide parts for other carriers while in mothballs. The 59 class was the tip of spear during the cold war.
Thanks for serving our country, Trueblackman.
And thanks for the support, and for bumping the thread. I hope lots of folks will go sign the petition.
The Iowa is razor blades now. As are another several hundred.
BTTT!
Perhaps I should have chosen the Wisconsin as an example. Or any of hundreds that have been scrapped in the past.
I had a particular affinity for the Benjamin Stoddert. I believe the Adams Class DDG epitomized the DD platform.
Simply BEAUTIFUL. Long, low, fast. High bow, very low fantail. Sleek lines.
That said, I most likely won't be going back to sea, and neither will the other thousands of people who made her function through her useful lifetime.
All that steel, aluminum, and whatever else that can be scrapped from her will much better serve the purposes of current and future sailors (like my son) after it has been reworked into a more modern fighting vessel.
Anchors aweigh!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.