{"id":850,"date":"2012-09-10T06:00:35","date_gmt":"2012-09-10T13:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/morningnewsinverse.com\/?p=850"},"modified":"2012-09-10T06:00:35","modified_gmt":"2012-09-10T13:00:35","slug":"in-the-navy-sorta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/?p=850","title":{"rendered":"HEY, SAILOR, NEW IN TOWN?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Suzanne Sparrow Watson<\/p>\n

Last week my brother took us on an adventure \u2013 or lack of adventure \u2013 with an old Army general.\u00a0 This week we\u2019ll continue with the military theme and go aboard the USS Iowa<\/em>.<\/p>\n

My husband, Alan, brother Bob and I visited the \u201cBattleship of Presidents\u201d last month at its new home in San Pedro, CA. \u00a0Being a World War II buff, and always one to light up at the mere mention of Fleet Week, I thought this would be an entertaining way to spend an afternoon. \u00a0It was…just not in the way I expected.<\/p>\n

When arriving at the harbor I looked around for a huge ship – after all, the Iowa\u00a0<\/em> is\u00a0a battleship, for crying out loud.\u00a0 But as we pulled into the parking lot, I was still looking around for a big ship.\u00a0 Take it from me; battleships are very low to the \u2026 well, sea.\u00a0 I think I was imagining an aircraft carrier, which both Alan and Bob assured me are much taller.<\/p>\n

In any event, once piped aboard we found that there are no official tours. \u00a0The\u00a0Iowa\u00a0<\/em>had only been open for a month and the plan is to have guided tours within the next year. \u00a0Until then visitors follow painted arrows on the floor (or “deck” as they insisted on calling it). \u00a0Let me say right here that this is not a tour for anyone with any physical limitations; we climbed up and down stairs, stepped over those little barrier thingies between rooms, and had to squeeze through narrow passageways. \u00a0People with claustrophobia or who are on the heavier side of the scale should not plan their next summer vacation around a visit to the\u00a0USS Iowa.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the\u00a0Iowa\u00a0<\/em> is an impressive ship with an equally impressive history. \u00a0The\u00a0Iowa\u00a0<\/em> was in Tokyo Harbor on the day World War II ended and it provided the platform from which Reagan\u00a0presided\u00a0over the ceremony for the Statue of Liberty’s restoration ceremony. George H.W. Bush officiated at its recommission and sadly, at the memorial for 47 sailors who died in the accidental explosion of a gun turret. \u00a0It was home to many brave men and women who served our country and it now provides us civilians with a real appreciation for life on a battleship.<\/p>\n

The photographs and artifacts in the officer’s quarters provided the most graphic history of the\u00a0Iowa.\u00a0<\/em> There was a giant map of the ship’s cruises, from its launching in 1943 to its decommission in 1990. \u00a0In 1943 it took FDR to Casablanca for the summit with Stalin and Churchill. \u00a0The captain, having a firm grasp of the organization chart, vacated his quarters and lent FDR his “luxurious” suite. \u00a0Here is a picture of the bed that Roosevelt slept in with the specially woven Presidential bedspread:\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Due to FDR’s polio, the captain also installed a hot tub (pictured below) for that cruise. \u00a0This was a man who clearly wanted to progress up the ranks.<\/p>\n

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I’m thinking that Roosevelt didn’t actually play with that rubber ducky. \u00a0The visit to the captain’s quarters only confirmed that we have a long tradition of wasteful government spending in this country.<\/p>\n

Moving on, we climbed endless steps up and down through the various compartments and decks. \u00a0Without a formal tour guide, I had to rely on the descriptions and explanations that Alan and Bob rattled off – two people who never let the truth get in the way of a good story. \u00a0I have no idea if even half of what they told me is true, but there were times when they were so animated that a crowd gathered to listen to their “expert” commentary. \u00a0The oft-used mnemonic for Iowa – Idiots Out Walking Around – came to mind.<\/p>\n

Here are the two of them – Bob not knowing which is the business end of a 16″ gun barrel and Alan showing off his guns. \u00a0You can see what I was up against.<\/p>\n

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Despite the\u00a0Iowa\u00a0<\/em> still being in shakedown mode, one facet of the ship was up and ready to go – the gift shop. \u00a0Not a trick had been missed in setting it up. \u00a0There were the requisite t-shirts and caps, of course, but they also sold golf ball markers, a Stryker marshmallow gun, and a book called “Airigami: Realistic Origami Aircraft” in case you’re looking to kill some time at your next staff meeting.<\/p>\n

All in all, the \u00a0USS\u00a0<\/em>Iowa\u00a0<\/em>is well worth seeing, but my recommendation is to visit when they have their official tours available. \u00a0If you go before that, just make sure that the person up on the bridge doesn’t look like this:<\/p>\n

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By Suzanne Sparrow Watson Last week my brother took us on an adventure \u2013 or lack of adventure \u2013 with an old Army general.\u00a0 This week we\u2019ll continue with the military theme and go aboard the USS Iowa. My husband, … read more<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[76,77,238,269,341,585,628,671,743],"class_list":["post-850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-info-up-dates","category-opinion","tag-battleship-of-presidents","tag-battleships","tag-fdr","tag-george-h-w-bush","tag-iowa-gun-turret-accident","tag-reagan","tag-san-pedro","tag-statue-of-liberty-restoration","tag-u-s-s-iowa"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p31aN0-dI","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}