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Farewell to a proud warrior
USS John F. Kennedy in last visit to BostonThe USS John F. Kennedy, the aircraft carrier famously named for the nation's 35th president, launched fighters that shot down two threatening Libyan MiGs over the Mediterranean Sea in 1989. It helped start Operation Desert Storm in 1991, and was among the first warships to respond to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, targeting the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. After nearly 40 years of service in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, the majestic steel ship is being decommissioned after making one last port call this week in Massachusetts, native state of its namesake. Along with members of the Kennedy family, other dignitaries, and former sailors, tens of thousands of residents are expected to take a final tour of the 1,052-foot-long carrier, which will dock at the North Jetty in South Boston's Marine Industrial Park from Thursday through Sunday. The public is invited on board over the weekend. On the vessel's last visit to Boston, for two days in May 2005, about 60,000 people lined up as early as 2 a.m. in queues that grew to a half-mile long. After leaving Boston next Monday, the ship is to be officially decommissioned on March 23 and mothballed in Mayport, Fla., its home port. The Navy is retiring the carrier because, unlike other modernized aircraft carriers that run on nuclear power, the USS John F. Kennedy runs on oil. Lieutenant Paul Brawley, a Navy spokesman based in Boston, said the Navy would save $85 million annually by decommissioning the ship. Posted by: tu3031 2007-02-27 |
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