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Former Lt jg John McCain campaigns for President/CIC on our hangar deck-
USS Yorktown

 

Tue Sep 2,12:26 PM ET

U.S. Senator John Kerry formally announces his campaign for the 2004 U.S. Democratic presidential nomination at a rally in front of the battleship USS Yorktown September 2, 2003 in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Once considered the front runner in the crowded pack of candidates vying to challenge President Bush (news - web sites), Kerry now faces a substantial challenge from former Vermont Governor Howard Dean. REUTERS/Jim Bourg

 

Click here for the free previews of the Academy Award Winning Movie about
the USS Yorktown, "The Fighting Lady.

Yorktown slated for oil cleanup

By: LINDA L. MEGGETT
Originally Published on: 5/05/99
Page: B6

MOUNT PLEASANT - The aircraft carrier Yorktown at Patriot's Point is about to be rid of its oil problem.
The 211,000 gallons of old Navy fuel oil stored in tanks below the decks will be removed by summer's end.
The oil went unnoticed for decades until a tank leaked in April 1997.
Since then, the authority has worked to remove the oil from the ship, retired Navy Rear Adm. James H. Flatley III, Patriot's Point chief executive officer, said Tuesday.
Seven rows of tanks rest between the center line and the outside of the ship.
Oil located closest to the outside has been moved to the center and is ready to be loaded onto trucks, Flatley said. ``They should have never been there in the first place.''
Initially, the Patriot's Point Development Authority estimated that it would cost about $400,000 to remove the oil, and it would take a year and a half to get it done. But new estimates have the cleanup cost at about half that cost, Flatley said Tuesday.
Two years ago, about 50 gallons of oil leaked out of the vessel. The spill was quickly cleaned, and the Coast Guard Cutter Ingham acted as a buffer that kept the oil off the beach.
About 300 tanks must be brought up and disposed of one at a time to avoid spills, and hazardous and environmental rules must be followed.
The Yorktown was delivered here with the gummy fuel oil on board, Flatley said.
``They knew it was there (24) years ago, but the world didn't worry about the environmental impact then. ... Now every fuel spill is a potential crisis environmentally,'' he said.

 

Enlisted aircrews honored

By: TERRY JOYCE    
Originally Published on: 10/11/96
Page: B1

LONG TIME COMING: Military representatives dedicated an Enlisted Combat Aircrew Roll of Honor on the deck of the aircraft carrier Yorktown. B&W staff photo by Nettles of the memorial aboard the USS Yorktown.

Patriot's Point, together with vets who served on the Navy's carriers, paid tribute Thursday to enlisted aircrew members who for years flew combat missions in the back seats of Navy and Marine Corps planes.
``We're here to honor those `white hat' sailors who climbed into the planes and put their trust in the pilots who sat up front,'' said retired Rear Adm. James H. Flatley III, executive director of Patriot's Point.
Flatley and several others then dedicated an Enlisted Combat Aircrew Roll of Honor on the hangar deck of the aircraft carrier Yorktown. The purpose is to honor the thousands of enlisted crew members who flew for the Navy and the Marines.
``This is long overdue,'' Flatley added.
Roughly 400 Yorktown vets and their wives are in Charleston this week to celebrate the ship's 48th annual reunion. Earlier Thursday, they paid a special tribute to five Crommelin brothers of Alabama.
All five served on Navy aircraft carriers during World War II, including two who were killed during the last months of the war. One brother, retired Capt. Quentin Crommelin of Elmore County, Ala., attended the ceremony along with 13 other family members.
``I think this is great,'' Crommelin said, recalling his experiences early in the war before he attended flight school. He later flew Navy fighters toward the end of the war.
One of his brothers, Charles Crommelin, was featured in the movie about the Yorktown titled ``The Fighting Lady.'' Though temporarily blinded by his wounds, he managed to land his plane on the Yorktown with radio help from a wing man and the ship's landing signal officer.
Later, though covered in bandages, he reportedly limped into the Officers Club bar at Pearl Harbor, not because he wanted a drink but because he wanted to prove to the younger pilots ``that it's not too tough to be shot up.''
Said Quentin Crommelin, ``you have a brotherly feeling for everyone who was in this business.''
Later, Navy veterans and an active-duty Marine represented the thousands of enlisted men who have flown in naval combat.
Retired Capt. Ray Schultz of Cadesville, Md., was an enlisted crewman who later was commissioned as a Navy chaplain. He asked the audience how many of them had ever seen a movie featuring the enlisted crew members of a Navy plane.
When no one raised their hand, he replied, ``That's because there weren't any. ...
``Many people aren't aware that there was someone else (other than the pilot) in the plane,'' Schultz said. ``But we were tested under fire and are part of the brotherhood of naval aviators.''
Former radio operator Alfred Smith of Scituate, Mass., said life on board a carrier was pretty good for the enlisted crew members, assuming they survived the war. Enlisted aircrews didn't have to stand watches on the ship, plus they received a 50 percent pay bonus for hazardous duty.
In 1942, Smith said, that meant an extra $60-$90 a month.
Marine Staff Sgt. Tab Tesreau, now stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C., flies as an enlisted crew chief aboard CH-53E heavy-lift helicopters. Tesreau figures he has accumulated between 1, and 2,000 flying hours since he began flying with the Marines in 1985.
The exact figures aren't available, he said, because only within the last five years have the Marines kept complete flight records on enlisted crew members.
Some of his flying time includes missions over northern Iraq near the end of the Persian Gulf War.
Schultz and Flatley then officially proclaimed the aircrew roll of honor with the late radio-gunner Bruno Gaido as the first man enrolled.
Gaido received the Distinguished Flying Cross posthumously after he was killed following the Battle of Midway in 1942. Shot down and captured by a Japanese destroyer, Gaido and his pilot were interrogated, weighted down and thrown over the side.
``His courage in combat and when facing death were exemplary,'' the proclamation reads.

Patriot's Point views new horizon

By: James H. Flatley III    
Originally Published on: 3/11/96
Page: A9


One B&W Mmug of James H Flatley and One B&W File Photo of The USS Yorktown
Fifty-three years ago next month ``The Fighting Lady'' put to sea for the first time to begin intense preparations for combat operations in the South Pacific, a replacement for her namesake, USS Yorktown (CV-5), lost during the Battle of Midway.
``The Fighting Lady's'' first air group commander, Cmdr. ``Jimmy'' Flatley, was charged with preparing the Yorktown's newly formed squadrons for battle against a fierce and ruthless enemy. He knew with certainty that many of his pilots and air crewmen, as well as an uncertain number of the Yorktown's crew members, would find final resting places beneath the waters of the Pacific, entombed in cockpits or canvas shrouds.
Faced with that knowledge and the attendant responsibility of training his very inexperienced Air Group for what was to come, my father's view from ``The Fighting Lady'' was far removed from, but not unrelated to, the ``view'' I want to share with The Post and Courier readership today.
The following might be considered a long-overdue report to the public - Patriot's Point shareholders - provided to augment the recent long-awaited announcement on Patriot's Point's hotel site.
Twenty-four years ago, Patriot's Point Development Authority was established by the General Assembly with a mandate to develop and improve Patriot's Point, a state property, to provide a patriotic setting, both educationally and recreationally appealing to local, national and international visitors. The arrival of the Yorktown 21 years ago provided the first historic element for Patriot's Point patriotic setting. The Yorktown's establishment as the ``National Memorial to Carrier Aviation'' gave that setting a wonderful focus.
With the recent establishment of Patriot's Point's first Volunteer Force, the educational focus has been centered on fostering in our non-veteran visitors, especially the museum's many visiting school children, a sense of awareness of the awesome price paid for the freedoms we enjoy as a nation. The Yorktown's ``Arlington of Carrier Aviation'' and combat aircraft displays offer an excellent example of how fostering such a sense of awareness is easily facilitated.
The names of all aircraft carrier crewmen and air crewmen lost in combat, beginning with World War II through the Persian Gulf conflict, are memorialized in bronze on plaques dedicated to either the aircraft carrier or combat aircraft they were serving on or flying in when lost, an accomplishment unique among all the military museums in this country
Given that many of those buried at sea never had a gravestone placed in their memory, Yorktown's plaques represent the only tangible memorial to their supreme sacrifice. Hence the tie between my father's ``view'' from ``The Fighting Lady'' in 1943 and my view relative to the Naval and Maritime Museum's mission today.
Effectively conveying the price of freedom message will, hopefully, ignite a sense of pride and respect in each visitor for the tens of thousands of American soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen who have died defending that freedom. Even more hopefully, it will engender a sense of service and sacrifice to country and community in our young visitors in proportion to our nation's needs. At a minimum, our visitors should leave Patriot's Point more reflective citizens.
The tremendous challenge of expanding this theme of memorialization to encompass the remaining communities within the sea services, as well as the Army and the Air Force, has been undertaken. The destroyer Laffey and Coast Guard cutter Ingham, truly historic fighting ships in their own right, and the diesel submarine Clamagore will serve to represent their greater communities.
In terms of expanding the museum and the memorialization program ashore, the Medal of Honor Society, based aboard the Yorktown, has joined in a resolution to design and construct a Medal of Honor Museum ashore.
Located elsewhere on museum grounds will be a full-scale ballistic missile submarine, situated in a reflecting pool and suitably landscaped to serve as a symbol of the nation's long but successful Cold War struggle. Significant is the fact that Charleston was the real home of the SSBN force, in that more missile boats and their crews sailed from Charleston Harbor than any other U.S. port.
Also in the concept stage is a plan for a Blue-Gray Wall oriented in the direction of Fort Sumter. This memorial, designed on the order of both the Vietnam Wall and the new Korean War Memorial, will recognize the honor and valor of the many thousands on each side who fought for a cause they believed right while doing their commanders' bidding.
One current thought is to recognize the Union Medal of Honor winners opposite the Confederate Roll of Honor winners. An appropriately-sized Civil War Museum integrated into the setting of the Blue-Gray Wall is an additional consideration. Any and all ideas are welcome.
All of the above-mentioned projects would be undertaken by the Patriot's Point Foundation through corporate and private support. Upon completion, each project would convey to Patriot's Point, hence the state - an ambitious undertaking to say the least.
Needless to say, all these initiatives and activities and the infrastructure to support them are resource-dependent. Taxpayers will be happy, possibly even surprised, to learn that the Naval and Maritime Museum has been self-sufficient and operating in the black since 1986. The Museum sustains its operation from gate and gift shop receipts, its very popular scout camping program and contract/lease fees realized from three supporting contracts, including the Patriot's Point Links.
General visitation this year could top 300,000, and the popular overnight camping program will exceed 13,000. Over the past two years Patriot's Point has steadily increased its share of visitors and campers despite slightly declining attraction visitation in the Greater Charleston area.
We anticipate revenues of $4 million this fiscal year with expenditures of $3.9 million. This includes cash reserves sufficient to cover cash flow, while allowing minor progress to be made in reducing the huge $1.5 million backlog of critical ship maintenance and restoration. This backlog accumulated during extended litigation associated with Patriot's Point's development failure just prior to Hurricane Hugo and has negatively affected other projects, such as adding an Iowa class battleship to the Naval and Maritime Museum.
Patriots Point's ultimate success has always hinged on the successful development of the magnificent coastal property charged to its care. Accordingly, preparation of the hotel development lease has been meticulous in every regard, as will be the oversight of this critical project.
Many Lowcountry citizens have waited a long time for Patriot's Point to become the major attraction and National Memorial it should have been long ago. None has been more patient than the museum's dedicated and deserving staff.
The support of the public, as shareholders, continues to be important. I hope news of the resumption of the hotel project and other ongoing developments serve to regain public confidence and willingness to get involved again, especially as volunteers.
Flatley, chief executive of the Patriot's Point Development Authority, is a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral and a member of the Golden Eagles

McCain picks Yorktown for presidential bid rally

By: SCHUYLER KROPF    
Originally Published on: 4/01/99
Page: B6

 

photo: loc

John McCain speaks in Charleston on Thursday near the USS Yorktown.

--Thomas J. Turney/Carolina Morning News
photo: newsRepublican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, of Ariz., addresses a town hall style meeting of South Carolina voters at the Charleston Maritime Center in Charlestown, S.C., Thursday afternoon Feb. 3, 2000. The aircraft carrier U.S.S. Yorktown can be seen behind McCain. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)




U.S. Sen. John McCain will formally announce his bid for president of the United States next Tuesday in Charleston - the second stop in his three-state tour.
McCain's first announcement will be Tuesday morning in Bedford, N.H. Afterward he'll fly nonstop to Charleston for a rally at Patriot's Point. He plans to use the aircraft carrier Yorktown as a backdrop.
``It's just a majestic location. It speaks a lot about national security, which is an area that he is uniquely qualified in,'' McCain's South Carolina campaign consultant Richard Quinn confirmed Wednesday.
Officials at McCain's Washington campaign office declined to comment.
McCain sees South Carolina as key to winning the GOP nomination since no Republican has won the party nomination without first winning South Carolina, Quinn said.
Republicans go to the polls here on Feb. 26.
``I think it's very important to his national strategy,'' Quinn said. ``South Carolina is the gateway to the South. We've got history here. The winner of the S.C. primary has been the nominee for over a decade. It's critically important, and he understands that.''
The Yorktown is being used because McCain sees it as a connector to his years as a Navy pilot.
``South Carolina has a lot of families with ties to the military,'' Quinn added. ``In McCain, we have a war hero.''
After stopping in Charleston, a second South Carolina announcement is scheduled at the Statehouse in Columbia. Afterward, McCain will fly to his home state of Arizona for an announcement rally.
Scheduled to join McCain in South Carolina are U.S. Reps. Mark Sanford and Lindsey Graham.
McCain, 62, has increased his profile in South Carolina with numerous appearances, including an address to state Republicans last month. He asked them not to immediately throw their support to Texas Gov. George W. Bush or Elizabeth Dole.
``South Carolina continues to play a pivotal role in the presidential nominating process. I have been here. I will be here a lot,'' McCain said at a press conference before his speech.
Political scientists say McCain's military service will play well among Republican voters. But ``elections aren't won or lost on foreign policy,'' Dave Woodward, a political science professor at Clemson University who also consults for some GOP candidates, told The Post and Courier during McCain's last visit.
McCain, who is viewed as a maverick Republican, touts the politics of inclusion, rather than the combative style his party has been known for in the 1990s.
McCain, who has been divorced, defended his conservative credentials even while fighting in the U.S. Senate for campaign finance reform and crusading against tobacco companies.
He said he does not believe that the anti-abortion plank should be yanked from the National Republican Party platform, but added that he wouldn't rule out picking a pro-choice vice president.
McCain is a former career Navy pilot who spent 5-1/2 years in a North Vietnamese prison. Shot down over Hanoi at age 31, he broke both arms and shattered a knee and a shoulder after parachuting into a lake. He was stabbed in the groin and ankle by an angry mob.
He has served in the Senate since 1986. Two of his biggest legislative efforts - higher taxes and curbs on tobacco, and campaign finance reform - were both opposed by other Republicans. Both have so far failed. ED:Schuyler Kropf reports on S.C. government and politics. Contact him at 937-5551 or skropf@postandcourier.com.

All not shipshape, LAC says

By: SCHUYLER KROPF    
Originally Published on: 6/26/98
Page: A1

One Color Staff Photo by Matthew Fortner:The aircraft carrier Yorktown basks in the sun Thursday at Patriot's Point
The Patriot's Point Maritime Museum is in danger of becoming four rusting hulks in the harbor.
That's one view. Another is that the ships are safe and repairs are coming.
A performance audit by the Legislative Audit Council of South Carolina's No. 1 tourist attraction gives a poor report on the museum's World War II ships, saying they are threatened by rust and neglect. The audit also indicates the authority has lost money by allowing employees to play golf there for free.
Patriot's Point has ``a serious maintenance and repair backlog and is having difficulty meeting state-approved schedules for permanent improvement projects,'' auditors wrote. ``Without proper maintenance ... the safety of tourists and staff, as well as the quality of the environment, can be compromised.''
Those were two of the quick hits in a LAC report released Thursday that lawmakers said confirmed their primary interest of ship decay on the museum fleet.
``It's undeniable, you've got a problem,'' said Sen. Ernie Passailaigue, D-Charleston.
But museum officials said much of the audit is more alarmist than factual.
Patriot's Point CEO James Flatley said ship maintenance was indeed put aside for a while because Patriot's Point was busy in recent years locking up land leases with the College of Charleston and a private developer to ensure future income.
Patriot's Point had to settle its land deals before addressing the ships, he said.
Now that the land leases are settled, the authority is projected to collect millions of dollars in lease payments that will be budgeted for repairs, he said.
Four vintage ships are berthed permanently at the Charleston Harbor site: the aircraft carrier Yorktown, submarine Clamagore, destroyer Laffey and the Coast Guard cutter Ingham.
They draw 300,000 visitors a year.
``It doesn't look good,'' Rep. Chip Limehouse, R-Charleston, said of the audit. ``I'm thinking we need to get somebody on board who knows something about ship maintenance.''
Patriot's Point Development Authority Chairman Tee Hooper of Greenville said the money had to come first.
``The only way you could maintain something like the Yorktown would be to get revenues from a landside development,'' Hooper said. ``I think now that we have the cash flow, we can address the backlog of maintenance.''
Another concern uncovered in the audit was the free golf perk for Patriot's Point Development Authority employees. Last year they, and workers at the nearby Hilton Hotel, played a combined 3,200 rounds at Patriot's Point Golf Links. The Ethics Commission said it's legal, but auditors say it was costly - as much as $128, in lost revenue.
The audit, the museum's first ever, did not indicate widespread performance or account neglect by the authority. But it did raise several topics of concern for area lawmakers. Among them:
At least three Navy-related book ventures have been launched at Patriot's Point by staffers, including one about Flatley's father, a veteran aviator and the Yorktown's first air wing commander.
Although Flatley asked for board permission for the book to go forward so not to give the appearance of conflict of interest, ``from a purely financial perspective, (writing books) is not the best use of limited agency resources,'' auditors concluded.
The state has spent approximately $412,790 in five years to support the Congressional Medal of Honor Society - without analyzing cost or return benefits to the state.
The mayor of Mount Pleasant has a seat on the authority board, which may lead to a conflict of interest. ``The town of Mount Pleasant clearly has an interest in the development at the agency and has authority over a number of issues that can impact agency operations,'' auditors said.
``While the interests of the town and authority may often coincide, there are times when they may not.''
Mount Pleasant Mayor Cheryll Woods-Flowers did not immediately return a call for comment Thursday.
Lawmakers said the report will provide a base to further investigate the museum's financial future. Limehouse has called a meeting of Charleston County lawmakers and Patriot's Point officials on July 8 to discuss the findings.
``Essentially what I see is a huge repair bill and job and not enough resources going toward repairing that problem,'' Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, said Thursday. He opposes any sort of state- financed bail-out for Patriot's Point to fix the ships, if needed.
Flatley, however, said Thursday he does not envision having to ask the state for extra money for repairs and will give his response and explanation to lawmakers at the July 8 meeting.

The Yorktown serves as floating classroom

By: RACHEL GRAVES    
Originally Published on: 5/15/98
Page: B1

Staff Photo by Robin Bass: (color) With Old Glory attached to his trombone, Luke Reed, 12, performs a patriotic song aboard the Yorktown on Thursday as part of Belle Hall Elementary School's fifth-grade assembly; Each child attending the Yorktown event received a miniature American flag.
From Abraham Lincoln to the atomic bomb, fifth-graders aboard the aircraft carrier Yorktown learned lessons in their country's military history Thursday in preparation for Memorial Day.
``History isn't just something in a book. It's also in our memories,'' Belle Hall Elementary fifth-grader Sarah Spies said after the assembly, which included speeches, band and choir music and a dance performance.
About 1,000 students from 10 elementary schools attended the ceremony on the World War II aircraft carrier's flight deck, and another 10 schools will participate in an assembly this morning.
``This is one of the reasons that we're here - to memorialize these men that lost their lives so y'all can enjoy what they've left behind,'' said Billy Richman, a World War II veteran who served as President Truman's orderly and also helped build the Yorktown in 1943.
Richman delivered the cablegram to Truman saying the United States had dropped the atomic bomb on Japan in 1945. He described the bombing as ``one of the reasons y'all are sitting on this flight deck.''
Teacher Therease Metivier, surrounded by military helicopters and planes, told the children to think about the excitement and fear they would have felt on the flight deck more than 50 years ago in the midst of war.
Metivier, the Charleston County School District Teacher of the Year, told the students that in addition to sleeping until noon and playing in the park on their holiday May 25, they should take a minute to think about the people who died for American freedom.
Some students joked that the lesson they took away from the assembly was that President Lincoln, who read the Gettysburg Address on the ship, was still alive. The part was actually played by Eugene Platt, the James Island Public Service District's vice chairman.
``America is a beautiful place, and it has a lot of opportunities,'' said Belinda White, a fifth-grader at Frierson Elementary. Rachel Graves covers education. Contact her at 937-5546.

Our students symbol of vets' success

By: Elsa McDowell    
Originally Published on: 11/12/98
Page: B1


Simply boarding the imposing gray USS Yorktown would inspire some eighth-graders to appreciate veterans who lived and fought there.
Add the Alice Birney Middle School band playing ``It's a Grand Old Flag,'' students reading patriotic essays and veterans telling their stories, and you've got a red-white-and-blue Veterans Day.
Wednesday, hundreds of eighth-graders and several classes of sixth-graders from schools across Charleston County gathered in the imposing hangar of the Yorktown.
The message was loud and clear: Throughout the years, men and women have served in the military forces to preserve our freedom, and Veterans Day is a good time to show we are grateful.
Plenty of students listened intently. They waved little flags when asked to. They gave a spontaneous standing ovation to a 100-year-old World War I veteran.
But the eighth-grade girl who sat in the back row and, thread by thread, unraveled her little American flag, said something else about Veterans Day.
Salute
She didn't say anything about disrespect. She wasn't defacing a flag out of malice. She was an eighth-grader fiddling with whatever happened to be there. Fiddling is something eighth-graders do.
She gave no indication that she was filled with pride when the Wando High School show choir sang the national anthem, or that the notion of hundreds of thousands of soldiers dying made her cringe.
She hardly glanced at the Toole Military Magnet School honor guard or drill team and she showed no interest in hearing a history of the wars of the 20th century.
She just quietly pulled one thread after another until the little flag's first red stripe was unraveled altogether. And then a white one. And then the next red one.
I can hope she got the same message that children right in front of her seemed to get. They appeared to listen to every word.
But I know that she sent a message to me that was ironically heartening. The message was that veterans have not served in vain.
I found myself feeling very grateful that she lives in a world without the sense of urgency brought on by war.
She didn't feel she had to pay attention to every word. She doesn't live with fears that children lived with 54 years ago when their worlds were rocked by war and their fathers were dying.
The veterans who spoke about valor and sacrifice were, in her book, old men talking about a different time. Hers is a free world. Her heroes are on the football field, not battlefield.
Kosovo, Bosnia and Iraq are not on her radar screen.
War and peace
Some educators last year wanted to kill the Veterans Day assembly. They said students were ill-behaved and that the event was a waste of time.
Maybe they saw a student unraveling a flag. Or maybe they saw some who didn't applaud a vet.
If they had looked, they would also have seen hundreds of students who did clap and cheer and wave flags - students who wrote essays about service and freedom.
They might have seen an honor guard that hadn't yet mastered marching.
If they had thought about it, they might have also seen a hopeful symbol in the rough edges. United States veterans have secured what they put their lives on the line for - a country where children don't have to march in lockstep and present arms flawlessly.
Thank you Critics said children could learn a lot more in the controlled atmosphere of their classrooms than in a crowd.
But I have to think each one who heard Pamela Jenkins of McClellanville Middle School talk about her grandfather, a veteran who came home from the war in a wheelchair, learned something dramatic.
I have to think the gap between old veterans and young students was bridged a bit and that students from farms on Edisto and subdivisions in North Charleston might understand better how fortunate we are to enjoy the freedoms we do.
I wouldn't be surprised if a number of eighth-graders went home Wednesday and said ``thank you'' to the veterans who risked everything for our freedoms.
I will, too. Thank you, veterans, for a country where eighth-graders do not have to deal with the urgencies of war.
Elsa McDowell may be reached by phone at 937-5558 or by fax at 937-5579. Her e-mail address is elsa@postandcourier.com and her mailing address is 134 Columbus St., Charleston, S.C. 29403-4800.

Yorktown vets back for annual work party

By: TERRY JOYCE    
Originally Published on: 5/01/97
Page: B1

One Color Staff Photo by Jordan of veterans cleaning a plane Yorktown
MOUNT PLEASANT - Reunions for Navy vets are one thing, but work parties are something else.
About 20 veterans who once served on the aircraft carrier Yorktown are back on board this week, volunteering for various cleanup and fix-up projects.
``We're here because it gives us a chance to visit the ship, talk about old times and because we love one another,'' Harry Hill, 72, a former plane captain from Stratford, Conn., said Wednesday.
Yorktown vets from across the country have made the spring work party into an annual event, US Navy Executive Director Joe Sharkey said. Sharkey acts as host and project coordinator for the vets, most of whom stay on board during their visit at Patriot's Point.
``They've been doing this each year for about 14 years,'' Sharkey said.
The annual work parties offer the vets a chance to give something of themselves back to the ship. Some bring their wives, but most come alone and stay in berthing spaces that on other occasions are used by visiting Scout groups.
Reunions, on the other hand, are largely social in nature, Sharkey said, but war stories abound during both events.
``Everybody pushed airplanes when they first came aboard,'' said Tony Yankovich of Orlando, Fla., who at age 80 was one of the older vets on board. Tugs designed to pull airplanes from one spot to another didn't arrive on the Yorktown until later.
``You probably saw me in one movie or another, pushing a wrecked airplane over the side,'' Yankovich said.
Another vet, J.C. Moore, 72, of Mount Holly, N.C., recalls how he was struck by a plane's propeller during an accident on deck.
``It was June 6, 1945,'' Moore said, while the Yorktown was at war in the Pacific. He spent the next seven months in various Navy hospitals where doctors managed to save his badly injured right arm.
On Wednesday, several of the vets were cleaning the wings of a Navy Hellcat fighter that's on display on the Yorktown. It's the same type of fighter that the late Vice Adm. James Flatley Jr. flew in 1943 when he became the first pilot ever to land an airplane on the then-new Yorktown.
Flatley's son, retired Rear Adm. James Flatley III, is now chief executive officer at Patriot's Point.
Other chores for the vets this week include painting some of the wooden bulkheads that decorate the museum, Sharkey said.
The vets also will refurbish one of the wardrooms on display and rearrange some of the heavy bronze plaques that list the men who gave their lives in battle.
One vet, Bob Wallace, 64, of Salem, Ore., served on the Yorktown during the Korean War. Assigned as a cook and baker, his best job came during off-duty hours.
``We were sailing off the east coast of Korea, outside the range of Armed Forces Radio,'' Wallace said. ``So we set up our own little radio station that we transmitted to the other ships in the fleet. From 7 to 7:30 p.m., I was `Bob's Bops and Blues.' ''
``Why am I back?'' he said, repeating a question. ``To be with these guys and be on this ship. They went through World War II. They're my heroes. You realize what a privilege it is just to serve alongside them.''

Yorktown suffering oily problem

By: LINDA L. MEGGETT    
Originally Published on: 4/17/97
Page: B3


B&W staff photo by Nettles of Flatley checking the fluid level in the problem tank.

The aircraft carrier Yorktown at Patriot's Point has an oil problem - too much.
About 211,000 gallons of old Navy fuel oil is stored in tanks below decks, and it went unnoticed for decades until a tank sprung a leak this month, said retired Navy Rear Adm. James H. Flatley III, Patriot's Point chief executive officer.
The oil became a concern when about 50 gallons leaked out of the vessel through a hole. Flatley said the hole has been repaired and the oil is safely contained.
The spill was quickly cleared up and the Coast Guard Cutter Ingham acted as a buffer that kept the oil off the beach, said Lt. Chuck Jennings, chief of operations for the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office.
But questions remain on what's the best way to get the oil off the ship and how to pay for its removal.
``They (the Coast Guard) want to know our plan for removal,'' Flatley said. ``It's probably time to get it off the ship. But because of the physical constraints it's going to be difficult.''
About 300 tanks must be brought up and disposed of one at a time to avoid spills. It could take 1-1/2 years to complete the job, he said.
The staff is getting formal estimates from companies in the business to determine the cost.
Removing the oil could be expensive, creating a cash flow problem that might stall other repairs to the ship, Flatley said, adding that money is tight.
Based on unofficial estimates, it could cost about $1.50 per gallon to take the oil off the ship. Hazardous and environmental rules must be followed along with renting a barge to haul it away.
``We've got a real chore on our hands,'' Flatley said.
``It's complex because it's a warship and it's a lot of little tanks,'' Jennings said. ``The tanks will have to be emptied separately. It will be logistically difficult and labor intensive.''
Another oil spill was discovered in the marshes near the Yorktown in February and the source never was found. Flatley asked that samples from both spills be tested to determine if the ship was the source of both spills, Jennings said. ``We're still waiting on the results.''
The spills were very small. ``But because we have a fairly clean environment we react to everything,'' he said.
The Yorktown was delivered here with the gummy fuel oil on board, Flatley said.
``They knew it was there 22 years ago, but the world didn't worry about the environmental impact then. ... Now every fuel spill is a potential crisis environmentally.''
Jennings said: ``Nobody really knows how much oil is left. We're not afraid of contamination. But it's there and it's not being used. It's an unnecessary risk.''
The leak occurred this month when heavy northwest winds created an extremely low tide that exposed the hole.

Storage Ship

By:     
Originally Published on: 9/05/96
Page: B1


The aircraft carrier Yorktown at Patriot's Point in Mount Pleasant will store five helicopters during Hurricane Fran. Scott Newsome, director of air operations for Charleston County, said he has been looking for a place to keep the helicopters during hurricanes ever since Hugo. Above, a mosquito control helicopter lands on the elevator of the Yorktown. At left, the helicopter is pushed into the hangar of the ship to ride out the storm.

Man who seized carrier Yorktown still haunted by Vietnam's

By: SCHUYLER KROPF    
Originally Published on: 10/05/95
Page: A15


demons

Months in the jungle had conditioned James Jordan to be terrified of anything that moved in the dark.
So when an armed figure nearly stumbled on top of his hiding place, he fired at what he assumed was a North Vietnamese soldier. That's when he heard a voice cry in English, ``Oh God!''
Instantly, Jordan knew that he had just blown away his best friend.
``I was the first one to shoot, and I killed him,'' he said.
Jordan's demons from Vietnam have never gone away. But three months after taking armed control of the aircraft carrier Yorktown, a museum ship in Charleston Harbor, he says he finally is getting the counseling he missed after coming home more than 20 years ago.
Jordan said he first was diagnosed as being an alcoholic by doctors at the Veterans Administration hospital in Charleston. Now, he said, they say he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, the terror-filled anxiety that has surfaced among many war veterans.
``When I first came out of the Army, if you weren't missing an arm or a leg, they didn't want to talk to you,'' Jordan told The Post and Courier in a recent interview. ``I still hadn't convinced them that something was wrong, that I needed help.''
Today, Jordan said, he receives individual therapy on a weekly basis.
``I feel better than I was,'' he said, admitting the publicity from the standoff at Patriot's Point Naval and Maritime Museum probably is what got him into treatment.
Last week, Jordan agreed to discuss his life since the Yorktown incident. Questions about his 31 hours aboard the ship were off-limits under strict guidelines set up by his attorney, a public defender.
Jordan, an out-of-work truck driver from Hampton County, faces up to 20 years in jail for burglary and carrying a firearm on state property.
As part of his condition for release, he is under house arrest and must stay in treatment and away from the Yorktown. His case could move forward in the next few weeks.
During the interview, Jordan was advised by public defender D. Ashley Pennington not to answer questions about why he seized the Yorktown or whether it was a cry for help.
Pennington, however, offered his own theory.
``Part of the reason that the Yorktown was an ideal spot for him to go was because he reasoned a steel-hulled ship would be a good place to hide, and people would be reluctant to shoot at him because bullets ricochet around a ship,'' he said.
``And he reasoned it would be a safe place to hide from the world.''
But some experts in post-traumatic stress doubt that the disorder was the only thing motivating Jordan.
Jordan's actions are not reflective of what someone suffering from the disorder would normally display, said Dr. Connie Best, a clinical psychologist at the Medical University of South Carolina who has studied more than 300 stress cases ranging from soldiers to crash survivors to rape victims.
Taking a gun and driving 70 miles to the state's most-popular tourist attraction on the Fourth of July is the extreme, she said.
``There are some Vietnam vets who have done some violent things and some pretty dramatic things,'' she said. ``But (what Jordan did) is a very, very rare occurrence that is clearly the exception to the rule.''
Jordan, a slight man about 45 years old with a bushy mustache, says he has gained weight since seeking counseling. Smiling, he used both hands to grab his stomach and show off his new paunch.
He said he still has bouts of panic and that much of his anxiety stems from a life afflicted by violence, an alcoholic father and an isolated life in the country.
``His childhood was far less than ideal,'' Pennington said. ``There was an extreme amount of isolation where he lived.''
Said Jordan: ``I knew violence when I was a kid, I knew violence in the Army and I knew violence when I was married.''
In Vietnam, Jordan was in the 25th Infantry Division, the same unit depicted in Oliver Stone's Academy Award-winning film ``Platoon.'' His best friend was trying to find his way back to their unit the night Jordan accidentally shot him.
``He was the only person, I think, who really cared about me,'' Jordan said.
After Jordan returned to the United States, he drifted through a series of jobs, had a violent marriage and a bitter divorce. In the early 1970s, he tried to ward off insomnia and pain through heavy drinking. ``When I first got out, I would drink a couple beers to go to sleep. Then it turned to be a six-pack, then a couple quarts. They sent me to the VA Hospital the first time to get off alcohol. They still hadn't realized the alcohol was because of another problem.''
Everything came to a head on the morning of July 4 when he drove to Mount Pleasant, stormed past a security guard and boarded the Yorktown.
During his time on the aircraft carrier, he never made a demand but told police he was distressed about his family and the declining values of the country.
After his surrender, he then drew the anger of authorities after he repeatedly gave television interviews from his room at the VA hospital.
Mount Pleasant Police Chief Tommy Sexton said Jordan was making a mockery of the situation.
During the newspaper's interview last week, Jordan said he wanted to clear up the misconception that he was distraught over allowing women in the military. Jordan, whose face is scarred from a grenade attack, said he was more concerned over why women would want to join the service and face possible disfigurement.
``Poor things. They don't know what they're asking for,'' he said.
Jordan said he still has panic attacks and memory loss. He takes medication and visits the VA hospital at least once a week as he waits to see how the charges against him play out. that moved in the dark.

Patriot's Point gunman could face prison time

By: DAVID W. MacDOUGALL    
Originally Published on: 7/07/95
Page: A17





A truck driver whose armed takeover of the aircraft carrier Yorktown on July Fourth shut down the tourist attraction on its busiest day of the year will be charged with burglary and weapons violations.
Ninth Circuit Solicitor David Schwacke announced Thursday he has directed Mount Pleasant police to file two charges - second-degree burglary and carrying or displaying a firearm in a public building - against James Melvin Jordan of Hampton.
Jordan could face up to 20 years in prison if he is found guilty of the charges. Mount Pleasant Police Chief Thomas Sexton said arrest warrants will not be served on Jordan until psychiatrists have evaluated him.
Armed with a rifle and a handgun, Jordan walked onto the Yorktown, one of several ships at the Patriot's Point Naval and Maritime Museum in Mount Pleasant, about 3:15 a.m. Tuesday and held police at bay for more than 30 hours before surrendering.
Jordan, 45, a Vietnam veteran who had told police negotiators he was upset about women in the mili- tary and the amount he paid in child support, was taken immediately to the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center for observation.
He was transferred to another facility Thursday after Jordanhe called two local television stations and gave interviews, which the TV stations aired.
``We requested that he be moved because we were concerned about the lack of security at the VA hospital,'' Sexton said. ``He was able to call Channel 5 Wednesday night from the psychiatric ward.''
A Channel 5 (WCSC-TV) news editor called Sexton about 8 p.m. Wednesday and told him someone had called the TV station and identified himself as James Jordan.
``They thought it might have been a hoax, but this man was telling them things only someone who was there could have known,'' Sexton said. The editor told Sexton a news crew was on its way to the hospital to interview Jordan.
``I went right to the hospital,'' Sexton said. ``I took a couple of FBI agents with me because I thought we might not have jurisdiction in a federal facility. When I got there, a reporter was up in the psych ward, interviewing this guy. I couldn't believe it.''
Sexton said he asked who allowed the reporter in the psychiatric ward and was told the hospital administrator had approved it.
Chaz Kastell, chief of medical administration for the hospital, said there was no approved interview Wednesday. ``The reporter showed up and visited with Mr. Jordan as a friend, not as a representative of the news media.''
Sexton said he talked with hospital officials and left with the understanding that Jordan would not be making any more telephone calls or getting any more visitors.
``Then I get a call at 8 o'clock Thursday morning and find out he's called Channel 2 and given them an interview,'' he said.
Sexton conferred with Schwacke and both agreed something had to be done to stop the interviews.
``He is just making a mockery of what happened,'' Sexton said.
Sexton said they also were concerned about his safety because a reporter had easily gained admission to the psychiatric ward.
Jordan was transferred Thursday to the psychiatric unit at Medical University Hospital, Sexton said.
Jordan's television interviews might encourage other disturbed people to consider using violent means to bring attention to their grievances, Sexton said.
Schwacke said he has great respect for the military service of veterans such as Jordan, but he is concerned about maintaining public safety. RESCHEDULED
July Fourth activities that could not be held at Patriot's Point because of a gunman's standoff aboard the Yorktown have been rescheduled for Saturday.
The Naval and Maritime Museum will host a special flag-raising ceremony at 8 a.m. honoring all branches of the military. At 9 a.m., WSSP-FM will host ``The Breakfast Club'' aboard the aircraft car- rier.
Tickets purchased earlier for the Breakfast Club meeting, postponed Tuesday, will be good for Saturday's event. Anyone who purchased tickets but cannot attend the event Saturday can obtain a refund by calling WSSP at 722-7611 before Saturday.

CAMP YORKTOWN

By: FORREST WHITE    
Originally Published on: 6/06/94
Page:
LIVING HISTORY: Spending a weekend on board an aircraft carrier gives Scouts an experience that makes a differences. Two B&W Photos of Girl and Boy Scouts camping aboard the Yorktown.

Harry Pickett wanted to take the boys in his Cub Scout den on a special trip before they graduated to Boy Scouts, the kind of trip they would remember 20 years from now.
As he flipped through the pages of Scout Magazine, he came across an ad for the camping program aboard the aircraft carrier Yorktown.
It would mean making a 10-to-12 hour drive from Burlington, Ky., but Pickett thought it would be worth it. He was right.
``Man, we thought everything was great,'' Pickett says, sounding kind of like a kid himself.
Since returning to Kentucky in April, he has sold the local pack on taking all the Webelos to camp on the Yorktown before they graduate.
Who can blame them?
It is quite an adventure.
First and foremost, the young people who come to camp on the Yorktown don't just find a corner and curl up in their sleeping bags. The boys sleep in bunks in the actual berthing areas once occupied by the enlisted men.
The girls? They get the more spacious officers' quarters. The quarters are tucked away behind large steel doors, near steep ladders.
When it's time to eat, they dine Navy-style in the original chief petty officers' mess.
While aboard the Yorktown, campers have the chance to explore the flight deck, the hangar deck and the working and living areas of the ship such as the hospital and the bridge.
``When I do Scout trips, I try to offer the kids an opportunity to learn something and explore something. I don't take them to Disney World,'' says Suellen Cermenaro of Augusta, Ga., who has accompanied Boy and Girl Scout troops on camping trips to the Yorktown.
``The Yorktown program is something that makes them feel special. It gives them the chance to do something the average tourist can not do. It's history at their fingertips without having to study. The people there are great. If we had a question, we found someone and they took the time to answer it.''
Since the program's inception in 1980, around 136,000 boys and girls from across the country have participated in the program.
Roughly 80 percent of the campers are Boy Scouts, 10 percent are Girl Scouts and the rest come from church and school groups, according to Richard Condon who has directed the program from the start.
In 1980, around 750 campers participated. Last year there were nearly 12,000. Perhaps the greatest tribute to the program is this - around 40 percent of the leaders who have brought groups this year have brought groups before. Cermenaro has been four times.
``The best part is you see how the sailors lived,'' Pickett says. ``You eat where they ate, you sleep where they slept. They even have a fire drill.''
While aboard, campers watch the Academy Award-winning movie ``The Fighting Lady,'' which was filmed on the Yorktown during World War II.
In addition to getting a taste of what life was like on the Yorktown, campers have the option of touring Fort Sumter or taking a trip through the harbor and up the Cooper River for a look at the ships and submarines docked at the Charleston Naval Base. They also tour Fort Moultrie and visit Palmetto Islands County Park.
Since the ships at Patriots Point are on the National Register of Historic Ships, the scouts who camp on the Yorktown become eligible for the Historic Trails Award. (All Scouts receive a patch to commemorate their stay.)
The Historic Trails Program is administered by Jim Sutherland, a retired Navy officer and World War II combat veteran.
``We really believe it's important to instill a sense of patriotism in these young people,'' says Alan NeSmith, director of marketing for Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum. ``Jim is the point man in getting these kids excited, in talking to them and instilling in them that sense of pride and patriotism. He can bring tears to the kids' eyes when he starts talking about pride and country.''
During its busiest time - mid-January to mid-May - around campers stay on the Yorktown each weekend. (Those who travel a great distance often spend Friday night, while everyone else arrives on Saturday morning and stays until Sunday morning.) Things tend to slow down during the summer, even though the sleeping quarters ARE air conditioned. This weekend, there will be around 240 on board.
The cost for one night's stay is $39 per person. Two nights is $54 per person. From Aug. 15-Sept. 30 and during December, campers receive a 20 percent discount. It is possible to set up an overnight stay during the week, but there must be at least 40 people in your group.
``When you travel such a long way, you kind of worry and tell yourself, `These kids aren't going to pay attention,''' Pickett says. ``They really did. They took the time to read the plaques, look at the exhibits and listen to the people on the staff. They learned a lot and had a lot of fun doing it. It was really impressive.''

Patriot's to honor Yorktown

By: DAVID QUICK    
Originally Published on: 6/19/00
Page: C 3

     One B&W File photo: Almost a dozen tugboats were needed to place the Yorktown in its new home at Patriot's Point 25 years ago. The silver anniversary celebration for the aircraft carrier's being in the Lowcountry will begin on July 4 and will last a year. Events will include fireworks, summer day camps, a Veterans Day celebration and a ribbon-cutting. MOUNT PLEASANT - Twenty-five years ago, thousands of Lowcountry residents cheered and waved flags from boats, the shore and even the Cooper River bridges as the aircraft carrier Yorktown docked at Patriot's Point on a Sunday afternoon.
     Since then, the World War II carrier - dubbed "The Fighting Lady" - has been the focal point of Patriot's Point and a magnet for tourism for the state and the Lowcountry.
     An estimated 6 million people have visited the Yorktown site and 200,000 scouts have spent the night in the belly of the behemoth, according to Patriot's Point Chief Executive Officer James Flatley. In all, the 888-foot carrier has generated $65 million in revenue. For Flatley, whose father "Jimmy" Flatley served as the first air squadron leader on the Yorktown, the ship has more meaning than those big numbers.
     "People come to see it for all sorts of reasons," Flatley said. "It means so much to so many people."
     While Flatley's focus for six years has been on the Congressional Medal of Honor Museum, he stresses that "the Yorktown will always be the centerpiece of Patriot's Point."
     Though the Yorktown arrived in Mount Pleasant on June 15, 1975, Patriot's Point won't start celebrating its silver anniversary until July 4.
     The celebration will last a year.
     Events will include fireworks on July 4, a Silver Anniversary Exhibit during the month of September, a Veterans Day Celebration in November, a Pearl Harbor memorial service on Dec. 7, a 25th Anniversary Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony on Jan. 3, 2001, summer day camps in June 2001 and the grand finale on July 4, 2001.
     The Yorktown is actually the fourth Navy ship with that name. The first Yorktown was a 16-foot gun sloop commissioned in 1840. After striking a reef off the island of Mayo in 1850, it sank. The second was a 244-foot gunboat built in 1887. It was sold for scrap in 1913.
     The third Yorktown is a source of confusion for people visiting Patriot's Point because it was an aircraft carrier launched just before World War II. The Japanese sank it at the Battle of Midway in June 1943.
     The Yorktown moored at Patriot's Point originally was called the Bonhomme Richard, but the Navy renamed it after the original aircraft carrier Yorktown sank.
     The fourth Yorktown first was involved in action Aug. 31, 1943, dispatching 275 combat sorties in six separate air strikes. Its first taste of action earned it the nickname, The Fighting Lady. The Yorktown subsequently was activated for wars in Korea and Vietnam.
     In 1970, the Navy mothballed the ship in Bayonne, N.J. A deal to moor it in Yorktown, Va., had fallen through.
     "It was headed to the scrap yard before South Carolina came to the rescue," said Joe Sharkey, shipboard director of the US Navy and a veteran who served on the aircraft carrier from 1943 to 1945.
     Though the state bought it for $1, Sharkey said the major expense was dredging a secure home for it in the pluff mud.
     Sharkey said before and after the Yorktown was taken to Charleston Harbor, its sister ships - aircraft carriers Essex and Randolf - were dismantled for scrap.
     "They took the Yorktown to Charleston for a new life and it's still very much alive with the scouts and the tourists from all over the world coming to visit her," he said.
     Newspaper clips from The News and Courier and The Evening Post in 1975 tell of the massive undertaking to stabilize the ship before its official dedication in October.
     More than 17,000 tons of fresh water were pumped into the Yorktown's water and fuel tanks, which added to the ship's 28,634-ton weight - "enough to hold her in place in the unlikely event of a 12.1-foot (hurricane) storm surge."
    

 

 




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