The USS JFK's Historic Last Port of Call - and MCC is There!
This past Sunday, Tom Walsh, the Coordinator of the Diagnostic Medical Sonography program at MCC, boarded the USS John F. Kennedy in Norfolk, Virginia for its final port of call. The famous aircraft carrier headed to Boston before being decommissioned after near four decades of service.
Walsh was one of the first crewmembers assigned to the JFK in September, 1968, when he was just 19, and is considered a "plank owner," who according to Navy tradition, are the first crewmembers on a ship. The tradition dates back to the days of wooden ships, when the first crew carved their names into the planks. Since ships are now made of steel, original crewmembers now get plaques.
Tens of thousands of residents are expected to take a final tour of the majestic 1,052-foot long carrier, which will dock at the Marine Industrial Park from Thursday, March 1 through Sunday, March 4. After leaving Boston next Monday, the ship will be officially decommissioned on March 23 and mothballed in Mayport, Fla., its home port. The Navy is retiring the carrier because, unlike other modernized aircraft carries that run on nuclear power, the USS JFK runs on oil. The 82,000-ton ship, which is wider than two football fields and as tall as a 23-story building, was home to approximately 5,000 personnel, and was complete with dentists and doctors' offices, a movie theater and a daily newspaper.
Welcome back to port, Tom! Us landlubbers can't wait to hear your sea stories!