Robin had worked diligently in order for us to be able to shoot the USS Hornet. I was sorry that she could not accompany me after all of her hard work. She was just finishing her antibiotics and was in no condition to go, unfortunately. I am so grateful that Jesus continues to bless us with wonderful opportunities.
I learned that once the Navy delivered the USS Hornet to Alameda and turned over the ship it was then totally up to The Aircraft Carrier Hornet Foundation, the volunteers, and the donations of everyone to make it what it is today. You can tour the ship and I would recommend this experience to everyone, young and old. It is such a great part of our history. The keel was laid in 1942 , was heavily involved in WWII, Vietnam, brought back troops from the wars, picked up the Apollo astronauts after they had landed on the moon and then in 1970 it was decommissioned. It remained in moth balls until it became and National and State historical landmark and then opened up for tours in 1998.
I got up at 5am and left the house to drive to Alameda about 6am. I was met by Randall, CEO, and Chuck, head Docent, at the entrance to the ship. Randall had to be at meetings throughout the day so Chuck would be showing me around. He was very gracious and hospitable and took me all over the ship from about 9am to 3:30pm. During that time I can't tell you how many nearly vertical ladders leading from one level to another that we climbed. Up one level, down another level, across the ship and then down another level, up another level.....whew. All the time carrying the good old camera and tripod. We didn't stop for lunch and took no breaks. Chuck was quite a trooper. He was great and helped me to enjoy this fantastic experience and it was a treat to be able to talk navy stuff with an extremely knowledgeable man. I previously had only seen aircraft carriers through the periscopes of the two submarines that I was on during my Naval service. There was so much to look at I know i barely scratched the surface in regards to the images I captured. I can't say enough about how wonderful everyone was aboard the ship. Here are a few of the photos that were taken. Please enjoy and God bless America.
