USS New York
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."
The ship's motto? "Never Forget"
