Some of you may have received an e-mail like the one below in 2006. I got it myself just after the first of 2007. I have checked it out on the Internet and it’s a true ship. It was being built during the time hurricane Katrina blew through Louisiana and survived intact. The one pictured in the e-mails is actually the USS San Antonio, as the USS New York will be launched later in 2007. It looks like the other ship though, so its picture has been substituted. I think it’s a great memorial and tribute to all those who died.
USS New York With a year to go before it even touches the water, the Navy's amphibious assault ship, USS New York, has already made history. It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center. It is the fifth in a new class of warship – designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft. Steel from the world Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite, LA, to cast the ship's bow section.
When it was poured into the molds on Sept. 9, 2003, "Those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence," recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there.
"It was a spiritual moment for everybody there." Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the "hair on my neck stood up."
"It had a big meaning to it for all of us," he said. "They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back."
