Posted on 09/14/2006 5:18:06 AM PDT by DollyCali
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Every Thursday at the Finest  |
Awesome tribute..
Later all
Well hey there. Long time no see! Glad I took one more look before walking out door
You're right, Dolly. Most of us probably haven't seen those astounding pictures.
I get up early, for work. I am drinking coffee by 5am, out of the house by 6am (530 if I have to go all the way into Los Angeles.)
Good luck with the Pooch!
| With a year to go before it even touches the water, the Navy's amphibious assault ship USS New York has already made history. It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center. USS New York is about 45 percent complete and should be ready for launch in mid-2007. Katrina disrupted construction when it pounded the Gulf Coast last summer, but the 684-foot vessel escaped serious damage, and workers were back at the yard near New Orleans two weeks after the storm. It 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. "It would be fitting if the first mission this ship would go on is to make sure that bin Laden is taken out, his terrorist organization is taken out," said Glenn Clement, a paint foreman. "He came in through the back door and knocked our towers down and the New York is coming right through the front door, and we want them to know that." Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite, La., 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 tradecenter 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." From Wikipedia.... Shortly after 11 September 2001, Governor of New York George E. Pataki wrote a letter to Secretary of the Navy Gordon England requesting that the Navy bestow the name USS New York on a surface warship involved in the War on Terror in honor of September 11's victims. In his letter, the Governor said he understood state names presently are reserved for submarines but asked for special consideration so the name could be given to a surface ship. The request was approved 28 August 2002. 24 tons of the steel used in its construction came from the rubble of the World Trade Center, with seven tons melted down and cast to form the ship's "stem bar," part of the ship's bow. The construction workers reportedly treat it with "reverence usually accorded to religious relics," touching it as they walk by. On 9 September 2004, the Secretary of the Navy announced that two of her sister ships will be named Arlington and Somerset, also to commemorate the attacks. The contract to build New York was awarded to Northrop Grumman Ship Systems of New Orleans, Louisiana in 2003. The ship also survived Hurricane Katrina. |
I just read the letter. My thanks too to our Church friends and to the other Freepers that were there.
More than likely our friends are aware of the letter. But just in case, does someone have contact with them to send them a copy?
Very appropriate, thank you for posting!
Did the link work?
If it did, I will email the link to a member of the church.
There is an allegation in the letter that he has been harassed by fellow employees because of his reserve obligation. I wonder where he works? It would be a great place to Freep.
Thank you, Dolly.
The link worked for me. I was able to view the entire letter.
I don't think the link works unless you register with the Bee.
Here is a copy of the letter.
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Soldier will never forget all the grateful ones
(Updated Thursday, September 14, 2006, 5:49 AM)
On the evening of Sept. 8, my wife and I were driving home through the intersection of Shaw and Blackstone avenues. A large group of people, from all races, all ages, were holding signs and waving service flags and the American flag.
It was not a protest of political ideologies; it was not a protest of any type. It was all in support of American service members. I was brought to tears as these common people yelled and screamed "thank you" to me. They had noticed I had my military jacket hanging in the car.
If I'd had the time, I would have gotten out and shaken every one of their hands. The act of these strangers gave me the biggest "thank you" I have received in five years. It was very important to me due to the fact that only hours earlier, I had finalized a full and formal complaint against my employer, for the harassment from my fellow employees based on my Reserve obligations.
"I will never forget their faces," Lewis "Chesty" Puller, USMC, once remarked in his written memoirs. I will never forget these fine people either.
John Allen Essex
When I try to access the link again, I get a request to log in.
I will try it on the Picnic thread and also do a copy and paste.
I think all Fresno FReeper should read this letter.
thanks for posting that. I hate the sites where you have to register & give your firstborn in order to see their stuff.
Need to leave for a bit..
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