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November 20, 2009

Local couple attends USS New York commissioning ceremony

'New Yorkers are very proud of the ship, very proud of what it stood for'

By JOSH MINER

SCHUYLER FALLS — The USS New York carries 7.5 tons of steel from the World Trade Center towers, a physical symbol of the nation's courage and determination eight years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

The ship was also built near New Orleans, where the $1 billion vessel survived the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

Embodying both tragedies, the ship's motto is appropriate: "Strength forged through sacrifice. Never forget."

A local couple, Walter and Janet Russell, were invited to the commissioning of the assault ship, held next to the USS Intrepid Museum in New York City.

Walter's best friend has a son serving on the ship, who treated the couple to a private tour.

Walter said the overall message he took away from the ceremony was that, despite the terrible events on Sept. 11, the United States, and New Yorkers in particular, will not back down.

"Even though this terrible event happened, we will not let it deter us," Walter said. "The ship is a symbol of that."

TIGHT SECURITY
Walter, who spent 18 years as a pilot in the Air Force, said the security was the tightest he had ever seen, including two separate presidential visits.

"I never saw so many people talking to their sleeves in my life."

Walter counted five police boats, as well as Coast Guard skids with machine-gun turrets patrolling the water. On land, everyone was searched entering and leaving the area.

CARING CROWD
Members of the New York Police and Fire Departments were also present, complete in their dress blues. The commissioning of the ship had extra meaning for those individuals, who were treated very well by everyone involved, Walter said. Many police and firefighters had friends who died in the towers, and the USS New York carries on their spirit.

"New Yorkers are very proud of the ship," Walter said, "very proud of what it stood for."

New Yorkers can often be seen as callous and uncaring, Walter said. When it came to respect for the men and women serving on their namesake ship, this was far from the case.

"I don't think there was a New Yorker that didn't offer to buy a drink for them."

He said he was truly impressed by how welcoming those in Manhattan were to the service men and women.

"They were treated like kings and queens."

SPECIAL TOUCH
One unique aspect of the ship was that some steel used from the World Trade Center was purposely not smoothed out — it was left in the rough form that the intense heat from the destruction caused.

"They left it that way as a symbol."

The ship itself is massive, Walter said.

The fifth ship in the LPD 17 San Antonio class, the USS New York comes in at 684 feet long. The height of the 12-deck vessel is what really caught Walter's eye. Being used to flying over such ships in the Air Force, he said he has never seen a ship so tall.

The weapon areas are much more compressed than they were in past vessels but are at least three times as efficient, Walter said. All of it is guided by computers rather than needing to be sighted.

He said the weaponry is "so sophisticated its unbelievable."

The state-of-the-art ship serves as a testament to the evolution of technology in our military, he said.

"It shows the change in the complexion of war."

SYMBOL OF STRENGTH
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and New York Gov. David Paterson both spoke at the ceremony, with the message that New York will not be stopped by an act of terrorism.

The ship is a symbol of that determination, Walter said.

One of the most memorable lines the Russells heard at the ceremony came from Clinton, who said, "The strongest steel in New York has always been in the spines of its people."

The commissioning of the USS New York acts to move everything onward, Janet said, because though we will never forget the attacks, they will not hold the country back.

"The people that died in the towers will not be forgotten," she said.

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