Eight years after the attacks of 9/11, a battleship has emerged called the USS New York carrying steel from the twin towers and the memories of those who fell within them. WOR's Joe Bartlett took a tour of the ship and came across a bevy of the three hundred and thirty crew members on board. The men and women were abuzz with excitement over docking in New York, the city for which their assigned ship had been named.
Hospital Corpsman Lotoya Wilson of Brooklyn New York, who had been in the service for seven years never expected to receive the honor and she was touched by the energy of the crowds who came out to support the troops as well as the memory of the families of 9/11. When asked to describe the energy in the air. The petty officer could only respond: “Excitement, you could just tell that it’s something that’s going to touch them… it’s something they’re going to remember and talk about for a long time."
Ensign Tim Gorman gave WOR a tour of the ship and the aircraft on board. He began in the main vehicle stowage looking out onto the well deck which is where the ship deploys it’s marines. and ended with the Asprey, which is an aircraft aboard the ship that is able to convert from an airplane into a helicopter in less than ten seconds. Though Gorman explained that the USS New York used the latest in sophisticated technology, such as the S.W.A.N. which connects everything on the ship through a computer, he conceded the appearance of the facade didn't give that away. “Big and gray: it’s not as sexy as maybe a cruiser or destroyer… our job is to deploy marines. We’re not worried about how we look to the general public.”
As it stands now, there are three permanent marines assigned to the USS New York but once the ship’s deployment gets underway it will be holding upto eight hundred. Gorman explained that there are tanks called "bales tanks" beneath the ship that fill with water, lowering the stern gate and allowing marines to come into and out of the ship easily using floatation devices such as hovercrafts. But with all of the moving parts, Gorman warned, the process is dangerous and so a minimal amount of people are allowed in that area when the ship is deploying marines onto a beach.
One of those marines is Lance Corporol Steven Churchill of Long Island and says he was "ecstatic" when he learned he would be stationed on the USS New York. When asked about the long held rivalry between the Navy and the Marine Corps Churchill says that no matter what the hype, Navy guys aren't that bad: “I don’t care what anyone says, these Navy guys are great, they’ve been awesome to us. I’ve never been on ship before, they’ve been more than helpful with everything and they’re all great, we’re all working together.”
Gorman agreed that the feeling aboard the ship was one of unity and zeal. He says he is “very excited," and that "it’s motivation to get up in the morning and make sure my uniforn looks good and represent the ship and the families who were affected by 9/11 in a positive way.”
Nick, a visitor from Garden City who came to view the ship says that as a New Yorker, coming aboard this ship has
“It’s very interesting, you know, being that this came from the world trade center and I think a lot of people feel that they need to come down here and see this special ship, it’s something very special.”
The ship is available for viewing right now and all of next week. Please visit: http://www.ussny.org/ for more details.
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As it stands now, there are three permanent marines assigned to the USS New York but once the ship’s deployment gets underway it will be holding upto eight hundred. Gorman explained that there are tanks called "bales tanks" beneath the ship that fill with water, lowering the stern gate and allowing marines to come into and out of the ship easily using floatation devices such as hovercrafts. But with all of the moving parts, Gorman warned, the process is dangerous and so a minimal amount of people are allowed in that area when the ship is deploying marines onto a beach.
