Military Officer - August 2006 - (Page 67)

pagesofhistory Shipping News Two ships are recycled for new duties: a troopship that served in three wars gives up its grafﬁti-ﬁlled bunk canvases for history, while an aircraft carrier becomes an artiﬁcial reef. A float in a shoreline slip along the Brownsville Ship Channel in Texas, the veteran troopship General Nelson M. Walker recently was cleaned out and torn apart, her 60-yearold steel — all 8,400 tons — recycled. The 5,000-troop capacity, 608-footlong Walker, one of the last remaining P-2 Class “troopers,” had an active duty career spanning three wars — World War II, Korea, and Vietnam — in which she carried thousands of American military personnel to combat or duty stations. Workmen in protective gear used torches to cut into the ship’s thick hull and interior. With powerful tugs, a giant crane ripped away the almost-severed metal sections and deposited them on the sunbaked shore. Other workers cut the metal into smaller pieces for shipment. Before and during the scrapping, almost 1,000 historic objects, including grafﬁti-ﬁlled bunk canvases, were removed by Vietnam Grafﬁti Project volunteers. The artifacts are destined for museums throughout the United States. The Vietnam Grafﬁti Project is collecting the stories of those transported aboard the Walker for an online exhibit in collaboration with the Virginia Foundation THIS MONTH IN HISTORY ■ On Aug. 25, 1944, Paris was liberated from Nazi occupation by the French 2nd Armored Division and the U.S. 4th Infantry Division. On Aug. 26, Gen. Charles de Gaulle led a celebratory march down the Champs d’Elysées. PHOTO: COURTESY LEE BELTRONE for the Humanities. Stories will be shared with the Military History Institute and the Library of Congress Veterans History Project. To participate, e-mail the Vietnam Grafﬁti Project at beltrone@ cstone.net. To view a photoessay on the Walker, visit www.moaa.org/walker. — Art Beltrone T Oriskany Sinking he former aircraft carrier Oriskany has a new assignment — this time as an underwater reef. The decommissioned ship was sunk May 17, the largest Navy vessel intentionally sunk to become an artiﬁcial reef. The Oriskany’s ﬁnal resting place is off the coast of Pensacola, Fla., in the Gulf of Mexico. Preparation for sinking the 32,000-ton, 888-foot Oriskany included pre-ballasting water tanks aboard and cutting access plates between the engineering spaces to allow for natural ﬂooding. Massive anchors, each weighing 33,000 pounds, were used to help ensure the ship sank in the desired orientation. Navy explosive demolition technicians placed small charges on the ship’s intake valves so the ship would ﬂood progressively to sink on an even keel. After the sinking of the ship, ownership of the Oriskany transferred from the Navy to the state of Florida. MO AUGUST 2006 A troop compartment bulletin board on the Walker is covered in graffiti inscriptions left by Vietnam-bound soldiers and Marines. MILITARY OFFICER 67 http://www.moaa.org/walker

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Military Officer - August 2006 Contents From the Editor President’s Page Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Chapter Activities Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Changing of the Guard Four-Star Rating Long Term Care Kryptogram Pages of History Information Exchange MOAA Scholarship Donors Member Books Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps MOAA Member Services Encore

Military Officer - August 2006

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