A local veterans group in Phoenix, AZ is trying to get the sail from the USS Phoenix (SSN-702) for use in a cold war memorial. I really hope they succeed.
I don't know if it is something about Arizona in particular, but I do know that the city of Tucson was extremely supportive of the crew of the USS Tucson while I was aboard.
Unfortunately, that just is not the case here in Washington. Over the last several years, whenever the USS Olympia has wanted to do a namesake city visit, it is loudly protested by local whack-jobs in Olympia. The city council in Olympia has gone so far as to declare itself a "Nuclear Free Zone" with one former councilman, TJ Johnson, having gone so far as to call the USS Olympia a "public-financed killing machine."
I remember from my time on the USS Tucson, that there were many people in Tucson that considered it a matter of pride to have a nuclear submarine named after the city. They would frequently visit the submarine and maintain correspondence with the crew. When we moored in San Diego, you could be sure that members of their support organization would be there to visit the crew. They donated money to our Rec Fund so that we could have wonderful Christmas Parties. One restaurant in Tucson, El Charro, would regularly send us salsa, and I remember them going so far as to arrange a shipment of tamales to our boat.
Every year, some sailors from the USS Tucson get to visit Tucson. Even though they spend a lot of time walking around Tucson in dress whites, I have never heard anything but glowing reviews of the treatment they received in Tucson. They get to meet many people from the community and are given VIP treatment during their visit. There is no doubt that the people of Tucson are top-notch at maintaining a great relationship with the submarine that bears the name of their city. The organization that spearheads this support is the 770 club. Here is a link to the 770 Club website.
To the people in Phoenix, I wish you the best of luck in your attempt to maintain the history of the USS Phoenix and to honor the memory of those that protected the nation during the Cold War .
For those of you that have served on subs, what kind of relationship did your boat have with it's namesake city or state?
"This would be just one way to credit not only the people who rode that particular ship, but for the rest us who spent our careers under the umbrellas of the Cold War," said Jim Denzien, vice commander of the Phoenix chapter of Perch Base, a submarine veterans group that could soon take up the fight to build a USS Phoenix monument.
I don't know if it is something about Arizona in particular, but I do know that the city of Tucson was extremely supportive of the crew of the USS Tucson while I was aboard.
Unfortunately, that just is not the case here in Washington. Over the last several years, whenever the USS Olympia has wanted to do a namesake city visit, it is loudly protested by local whack-jobs in Olympia. The city council in Olympia has gone so far as to declare itself a "Nuclear Free Zone" with one former councilman, TJ Johnson, having gone so far as to call the USS Olympia a "public-financed killing machine."
I remember from my time on the USS Tucson, that there were many people in Tucson that considered it a matter of pride to have a nuclear submarine named after the city. They would frequently visit the submarine and maintain correspondence with the crew. When we moored in San Diego, you could be sure that members of their support organization would be there to visit the crew. They donated money to our Rec Fund so that we could have wonderful Christmas Parties. One restaurant in Tucson, El Charro, would regularly send us salsa, and I remember them going so far as to arrange a shipment of tamales to our boat.
Every year, some sailors from the USS Tucson get to visit Tucson. Even though they spend a lot of time walking around Tucson in dress whites, I have never heard anything but glowing reviews of the treatment they received in Tucson. They get to meet many people from the community and are given VIP treatment during their visit. There is no doubt that the people of Tucson are top-notch at maintaining a great relationship with the submarine that bears the name of their city. The organization that spearheads this support is the 770 club. Here is a link to the 770 Club website.
To the people in Phoenix, I wish you the best of luck in your attempt to maintain the history of the USS Phoenix and to honor the memory of those that protected the nation during the Cold War .
For those of you that have served on subs, what kind of relationship did your boat have with it's namesake city or state?
2 comments:
Just me but; I think that any City a SSN is named after that want's a piece of the boat after de-comm should be allowed to host it.
I know that here in Bremerton, at PSNS they are just loading the parts of the old boats they are cutting up onto rail cars to be "recycled" at some foundry. They have saved to sail of the Parche and made a nice plaza park to commemorate the achievements of that "Special" boat.
In addition, there is a park in Seattle that used the Fairwater planes of several of the 41 for Freedom and old S-girl boats to make a sculptor of Orca's swimming in the Puget Sound. A peace-nik interpretation of the cold war, but they do recognize the boat the plane surface came from.
Nereus
I didn't read the question, but here is the answer.
When I was on the Nebraska, we were treated with various treats and visits from the "Big Red Sub Club". The folks in Nebraska are crazy about their boat.
The Alaska, not so much.
The Alabama, Well the C+W group gave the boat an "Gold album"
The Florida again, not so much
These boats had memoribilia from the states that dated around the time of the commissioning but after that it seems that other than the odd dignitary that was from that state and in the area when we were in port you didn't see any support from the sponsor state.
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