The MLK holiday afforded me another chance to get over to the 325.  Unfortunately, Naomi had to work but I was able to spend the day helping out aboard the ship.  I arrived around 9:15 to find groups already working throughout the ship. 

Vance Barnes already had a group of visitors down in the tank deck and was giving them the grand tour.  These early bird visitors only foretold the trend.  The visitors kept coming and by the middle of the day three Blue Crew were busy showing people around the ship.

Dan Coffey and Terry Leahey, both of LST 1148, were on the tank deck helping out with the installation of some of the donated electrical equipment.  Pat Carroll (a former Army man) and Arnold Ness (WW II LSTer) were also working on the electrical system, but in the aft crew quarters.  Much of this electrical work centers on supplying power to the AC/heat pump units that were recently donated.

Larry Johnson and Matthew Frederickson, both of the Blue Crew, were continuing their mission of making all of the watertight doors on the ship serviceable.  As you will see in the pictures, each watertight door has a number of dogs, or the latches that hold the door shut.  Over the years and due to a lack of lubrication and maintenance the dogs have become stiff and still others are stuck.  So, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Frederickson have been dismantling, cleaning, and lubricating each dog on each watertight door.  A single watertight door may take them up to an hour.  They have been on this project three days a week for over two weeks.  Yes, the ship has many, many watertight doors and hatches.

I have met many families aboard the LST, all coming to see where their loved ones served and some even stay to help out.  But, the Adams family of Ohio come in droves.  This week there were 5 Adamses on board, all related to Marion Adams of LST 491.  Marion Adams named all of his sons after shipmates he had served with aboard the LST 491.  Siblings Ann, William and Kenny Adams are second generation LST'ers and Michael Adams (son of William) and Garth Adams (son of Kenny) are third generation LST'ers.  Ann and William worked in the CO's stateroom.  They removed the old tile ceiling and cleaned out all of the Greek wiring.  Kenny was working on one part of the plumbing system, while Garth and Michael worked on another section of the plumbing system.  When this family shows up they get things done!

I was busy all day taking pictures, making notes and giving tours that the hours flew by. 

     ~ Michael Smith
 

The beginning of the new year finds the LST in the midst of further volunteer work.  Last week a crane from Equipment Rental in Mobile took much heavy trash off of the tank deck.  The trash included several huge spools of wire, old Greek equipment and assorted scrap.  The crane and crew also lowered some donated equipment below to the tank deck (the septic system, new electrical equipment and the fuel oil purifier; all mentioned in my previous report).  The crane and crane crew were donated free of charge.  Without heavy duty help like this the LST can't continue to progress.  Thanks guys!!

We arrived at Chickasaw at 8:15 in the morning and the work was already underway.  Today, members of the American Welding Society were on board working on the septic system.  Most of the efforts for today centered on passing the heavy and bulky unit through two hatches (with a 90-degree turn in-between).  After getting the unit into its new home, the guys began to plan out the installation with Gary Lyon.  While the heaving, pushing and planning continued below, Jerry Betts, also of the American Welding Society, busied himself cutting metal hooks off of the rails that the LCVP's slide down.  Jerry and his son removed all of the hooks, both port and starboard.  These hooks were probably added to hold some sort of hose, but were not original equipment.  Not to mention the fact that they were an eyesore.  These American Welding Society guys are a great group and promised to come back for more work.  I think the LST made some new friends.

Another project was completed up on the main deck.  Vince Collier, a regular volunteer since the ship arrived, rigged a boom over the tank deck cargo hatch.  The boom was already on the ship, but its base was not as sturdy as it could have been and the position was awkward.  Vince constructed a new base, got it attached to the deck, and with some help from everyone else got his boom into position.  Now medium-sized objects can be raised or lowered from the tank deck without using the elevator or getting a crane.

The ship is an exciting place to be, so head down and spend some days on the 325.  We would really love to have some plumbers and electricians to come by and lend a hand.

     ~ Michael Smith & Naomi Friedman
 
 

[Ed. note:  Special thanks go to Naomi, our newest member of the Blue Crew!]

Jim Bartlett has just returned from a one-day trip to CA to a Merchant Vessel Machinery Replacement Company which has too many parts to mention, including a steering system and two late model main engines for LST's complete with clutches and reduction gears.  These parts have been offered to the LST 325 with our only expense being delivery costs to the ship.  Jim reports that this is a gold mine for us and most everything there is in good shape considering the age of 55 years but "new."  Our dilemma is what to do with these parts until they are needed. 

We have a main engine repair company coming in to give us an analysis of what we need to repair the main engines.  This has been put off until Feb. when Mr. Bartlett can be on the ship.  A new brochure, 3000 copies, has been designed and donated for the LST 325 fundraising efforts by Letterkraft Printers, Inc. of Peru, IL.  It is exceptionally done.  Radio equipment for the "Jackson Carter Radio Room" has been found and shipping arranged.  We thank all those who have worked on this project.  There are many!

Plans for the ship are to get it operational and running.  The timing depends on our fundraising efforts.   Anna Koepp is working hard on this and on our membership drive, which is growing very fast.  Annual memberships were the number one thing for fundraising recommended by the John Brown Liberty Ship in Baltimore, MD.  That has been most successful for them and they are a class act.  We hope to be like them someday.  There is a rumor that this same John Brown would like to go with us to Normandy in 2004 as a convoy of two WWII ships to the 60 Anniversary celebration.

We don't feel that we can have the ship operational in 2002 unless we can raise one million dollars quickly.  We are solvent as the USS LST Ship Memorial, Inc. but have expenses every day.  Thus far donations exceed expenses.  The documentary exposure has brought us more donations, materials, and volunteer labor.  Ron Maranto's tapes have sold well also and they give an inside look at all the problems we encountered over the nearly 6 months time it took to get the ship home.  We will continue to stay in the Mobile area and have tentatively made plans to go to Evansville, IN, in 2003.  I feel our first priority is to get this ship back to the places where they were built.  As much as we would like to be in St. Louis for the LST convention in late August, we can't do it unless a miracle happens or someone wins the lottery for the ship! 

For those who say the ship will never run again, talk to my crew, but speak very loudly.  They can't understand "no" or "can't do!"  Special thanks to Gary and Gayle Lyon who have been in charge of the ship these past few months.  They are doing a great job!

Finally, THE USS LST SHIP MEMORIAL has bestowed the honor of "Honorary" Crew Members to the following persons:  Capt. Hal Pierce, Howard Ross, Bill Kaupas, Sean Connaughton and Ambassador Nick Burns.  These men have aided and helped in the Memorial's goal of acquiring and restoring a working LST.  More persons are being considered.  [Ed. note:  These names will be added to the Crewmembers page after my return from a weekend road trip.]

Bob Jornlin
Captain, LST 325

A personal note from the WebSkipper:  I'd like to encourage absolutely anybody and everybody to provide material for this page.  By no means are submissions here restricted to just certain individuals.  The whole purpose of this website (and especially this particular page) is to share information about our LST Memorial with the entire community.  Sitting here 2,000 miles away, I personally don't have a clue what's happening aboard the ship unless somebody tells me.  To date, I've posted absolutely every single tidbit of information that's come my way.  If you have any news to share at all, please just send me an email:  WebSkipper@LSTMemorial.Org -- all of us would be very appreciative, and we all want to know what's going on! 

Legend: 

Archives (click here for complete index to archives) :

Archive for December 2001:

• 29 DEC 01 - Update from Pat Johnston
• 23 DEC 01 - Progress Report from Gary Lyon
• 23 DEC 01 - Update from Michael Smith
• 21 DEC 01 - Update on the Radio Room Project
• 15 DEC 01 - Recommissioning Covers and the Edwards Family
• 15 DEC 01 - "The Resurrected 325" by Leo E. Smith (LST 1046)
• 15 DEC 01 - Videos now available through the Ship's Store
• 01 DEC 01 - Progress Report from Michael Smith

• 26 NOV 01 - Progress Report from Capt. Jornlin
• 26 NOV 01 - Update from The WebSkipper
• 17 NOV 01 - Update from Michael Smith
• 17 NOV 01 - Update from The WebSkipper

• 09 OCT 01 - Progress Report from Capt. Jornlin
• 09 OCT 01 - Progress Report from Earl Stone
• 09 OCT 01 - Announcement from Linda Alvers
• 09 OCT 01 - Update from The WebSkipper