by Leo » March 3, 2011, 8:44 pm
That's the exact point I was making. If more Americans took a more active interest in their heritage, then something like preserving a supercarrier for future generations wouldn't be the daunting task it is.
It's certainly not the Navy department's fault. The Forrestal was on donation hold for years.
But too many people lack the spirit of generations past. At one time, school children raised $150,000 in pennies to help preserve the USS Constitution. If each child gave 1 penny each, 15 million kids gave towards the cause at the time. Imagine if the money the Navy is going to have to spend to scrap or sink her (Huge amounts, hardly trivial) was combined with some small generosity from the American public to preserve the memory of these ships and the sailers that served on them. Would certainly at least make for a fine start to making them be lasting memorials to the American spirit.
Seeing such an end for ship that survived what the Forrestal did is hard to take (The disaster aboard that killed 134 men, insured 171 more, and destroyed 21 aircraft), no matter what the realities of it are.
But she'll have fine company in our memories at least. The fleet carriers Bunker Hill and Forrestal both went through disasters of similar scope, only to be forgotten and see the scrapyard a few years later.
That's the exact point I was making. If more Americans took a more active interest in their heritage, then something like preserving a supercarrier for future generations wouldn't be the daunting task it is.
It's certainly not the Navy department's fault. The Forrestal was on donation hold for years.
But too many people lack the spirit of generations past. At one time, school children raised $150,000 in pennies to help preserve the USS Constitution. If each child gave 1 penny each, 15 million kids gave towards the cause at the time. Imagine if the money the Navy is going to have to spend to scrap or sink her (Huge amounts, hardly trivial) was combined with some small generosity from the American public to preserve the memory of these ships and the sailers that served on them. Would certainly at least make for a fine start to making them be lasting memorials to the American spirit.
Seeing such an end for ship that survived what the Forrestal did is hard to take (The disaster aboard that killed 134 men, insured 171 more, and destroyed 21 aircraft), no matter what the realities of it are.
But she'll have fine company in our memories at least. The fleet carriers Bunker Hill and Forrestal both went through disasters of similar scope, only to be forgotten and see the scrapyard a few years later.