USS New York
Built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the former World Trade Center, 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.
Steel from the former 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 September 9, 2003 , "Those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence," recalled Navy Captain 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 and added, "They knocked us down. They can’t keep us down. We’re going to be back." The ship’s motto? "Never Forget."
(This picture and write-up was sent to me by a veteran. Though I’m not one to promote war over diplomacy, the issue of the World Trade Center tragedy is obviously an emotional one with varied meanings for different people. My cousin, David Charlebois, was co-pilot of the jet that crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and he died that day. Though I never met David, I know that members of his more immediate family, some residing here in Northampton, have suffered tremendously since he was lost.)
