Colonnade

Issue date: 11/13/09 Section: Campus News

Media Credit: Alana Llewellyn A sailor in the U.S. Navy watches as the USS New York passes by Pier 81 in New York City.

Media Credit: Alana Llewellyn

As the sun was setting this past Friday night, I watched a warm and welcoming shadow being cast upon the soon to be newest member of the United States Navy Fleet - the USS New York LPD-21.

Recently, I received an e-mail from my grandmother reminding me about a new Navy ship making its way to New York called the USS New York. I glanced at the photos and didn't think much more about it. Turns out, this new Navy ship wasn't just any ship, but one with more of a meaning, literally, beneath the surface.

The USS New York is one of the three new am-phibious assault ships being built in memory of Sept. 11. Along with it come the USS Arlington, named for the county where the Pentagon is located and the USS Somerset, named for the Pennsylvania county that American Airlines Flight 77 crashed.

"I believe Sept. 11 was a terrorist attack on all of us, on all Americans," Gordon Lewis, a native of Maine in attendance of the commissioning ceremony, said.

"The USS New York, as well as the other two ships, were built out of respect for all Americans, not only as a reminder of Sept. 11, but also as a way to unite America once again. It's the ultimate show of support."

A unique aspect of these new ships is that each ship's bow was created by salvaged and re-formed steel from each terrorist attack: The USS New York carries seven-and-a-half tons of steel from World Trade Center Twin Towers; the USS Arlington carries steel from the Pentagon's structural girders; and the USS Somerset carries steel from the meltdown of the crane used to unearth the airliner wreckage.

"I feel like this is a defense mechanism to help control and protect, and I think it's a wonderful way of recognizing the fallen by using the recycled steel from the Twin Towers," Lewis said.

Although I wasn't able to witness the commissioning ceremony on board, I watched from piers 86 and 84 with hundreds of fellow Americans. I talked with one in particular, a petty officer in the Navy reserves, who asked to remain anonymous.

"I was a volunteer firefighter who was on call and responded to the Sept. 11 emergency call," he said. "I worked at ground zero for weeks and there are no words to describe how I feel about this ship. To know that the steel in the ship not only keeps our Navy sailors and Marines safe but is also the same steel we dug through for weeks from the Twin Towers, makes me feel like all of the fallen are on board keeping watch over our troops that are over seas."

"After Sept. 11, I enlisted in the Navy and I've been in the service ever since," he said. "I feel like the USS New York is honestly just for New Yorkers. We are the ones who have not forgotten the events of Sept. 11 like much of the United States (has).

"These three new battle ships will help to insure that all American's never forget what happened and hopefully these ships will remind us all of why we are fighting in Afghanistan in the first place."

"I love the ships motto - Strength Forged Through Sacrifice. Never forget; it embodies everything that New York and the United States stand for," he concluded.

As the ceremony came to a close, I parted ways with the remaining crowd and made my way to the benches. I sat back and took it all in, I felt so fortunate to have witnessed an event of this magnitude during my lifetime.

Spirits were flying high that day and the feeling of patriotism and the love of our country was overwhelming.

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