A Veteran's Journey

Trivia Questions (Answers @ end)

1. What movie made the word, “Plethora” popular?
2. Who said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”?
3. In what song (and who sang it) do we hear the following lyrics?
   Left a good job in the city
   Workin’ for the man ev’ry night and day
   And I never lost one minute of sleepin’
   Worryin’ ’bout the way things might have been

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After forty-eight years of faithful service, USS Kitty Hawk was decommissioned in Bremerton, Washington on January 31, 2009. Her active duty covered the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and the Global War on Terrorism.

I was fortunate to have spent 2 1/2 years aboard her (’75-77). Like many of you, those were times & memories I’ll never forget. It’s also one of the reasons I continue to write about Kitty Hawk–so much rich history before, during, and after my time. And, like I wrote earlier, I love military traditions.

Throughout her lifetime, Kitty Hawk had 407,511 arrested carrier landings and 448,301 launches (who keeps these statistics?!). On August 6, 2008, the final trap and catapult launch was made, and the ship pulled into San Diego the next morning for the turnover to the USS George Washington.

She had been to the shipyards many times for retrofits, including the $100 million overhaul in Bremerton, Washington in 1976. She completed the overhaul in March 1977 and departed the shipyard on April 1 of that year to return to San Diego. I was aboard Kitty Hawk during that entire time. Here’s an earlier blog post I wrote about the Bremerton Shipyards.

Last Ride from San Diego

Kitty Hawk left San Diego for her last “cruise” on Thursday, August 28, 2008 bound for its next stop: Bremerton Naval Ship Yards. The Kitty Hawk Veterans Association had worked diligently with Kitty Hawk and the Navy to get former shipmates on board for this last cruise and had been successful–a “Tiger Cruise” like no other.

I tried like the dickens to make that voyage, but I was stuck in Arkansas attending a trial in which I was to testify as an expert witness, but never did (that’s a whole ‘nother story, but “my side” won).

However, 65 former crew members made the cruise, including 38 who had been onboard when Kitty Hawk was originally commissioned in 1961; these sailors are affectionately known as “Plank Owners.”

Decommission Ceremony

Over 2,000 former shipmates, crew members, guests, and distinguished visitors attended the January 31, 2009 decommissioning ceremony in Bremerton. I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity. It was the first time I had seen Kitty Hawk in over thirty years.

Awesome Memories

When I first arrived in Bremerton, I walked up and down the pier several times, admiring Kitty Hawk and remembering my time aboard. Since the ship was docked on the starboard side as always, the bow was closest to the parking lot.

I thought of the times I poked my head out the mooring lines portholes, looking down at the huge keel piercing the water like a hot knife through butter. I looked up and caught sight of the safety nets and thought of the times I had stood on the forward flight deck at sea with my foul weather jacket unzipped, holding it with my outstretched hands and leaning over so far it felt as if I might fly. I wrote about those “bow flying” experiences in an earlier blog.

I thought of the hundreds of times I had climbed the steps and made the trip across the After brow saluting the colors and the watch, coming aboard and leaving the ship. The aircraft elevators were as big as I remembered—enough to hold two F-14 Tomcats with crews ready to man them for flight operations.

But because there were so many civilians and guests aboard, we couldn’t tour any of the ship nor go up onto the flight deck. The ceremonies were held on the hangar deck. That was OK, though. Just seeing her and being able to board her was enough.

Emotions…

As I climbed aboard for the ceremonies, I experienced a wide range of emotions. In July 1977, all I wanted to do was get off the ship and get out of the Navy. Thirty-two years later, I was happy to be aboard her one last time.

The ship’s CO, Captain Todd A. Zecchin, served as the master of ceremonies and gave an eloquent presentation of Kitty Hawk’s rich history. Admiral Timothy Keating, Commander, U.S. Pacific Command, also gave a wonderful, heartfelt speech–he had also served aboard Kitty Hawk.

I wish I could have visited some of my old onboard haunts, like the flight deck (remember all those hours of flight ops); Flight Deck Control (and the old “ouija board”); the V-1 Division berthing compartment (and find my old rack); the mess decks (remember my favorite meal, Kitty Hawk “steak”); the Forecastle (stick my head out the porthole to look down at the massive keel); the Crash compartment (remember all those times gathered around the coffee pot); and the ship’s onboard radio (entertainment) station, KRAL (and my “call sign:” Country Chet Adkins).

Imagine how disappointed I was when I found out later that several attendees asked on-duty sailors to “escort” them around the ship after the ceremonies. Had I known that, wow… a trip down memory lane. But alas, that wasn’t meant to be.

Kitty Hawk’s Future

Currently, Kitty Hawk sits in Bremerton, Washington, awaiting her last voyage to the scrapyard. There have been several efforts over the past few years to save her to serve as a museum, but those efforts seemed to have hit the wall. The last I heard was that she had been sold to International ShipBreakers in Brownsville, Texas and awaits her tow date from Bremerton to Brownsville, which is yet to be determined.

Active Aircraft Carriers

The United States currently maintains eleven aircraft carriers in service. The newer “Nimitz-class” nuclear powered carriers cost about $8.5 billion (2012 dollars) to construct compared to the $265 million price tag for Kitty Hawk in 1961.

Of the eleven carriers, ten of them are Nimitz-class carriers, which means they are CVN-68 or higher. Since the Nimitz was first commissioned in 1975, the Nimitz-class carriers have been around for over 45 years. The newest class is the “Gerald R. Ford” class. The following is a list of active (as of 2020) United States aircraft carriers:

• (CVN-68) USS Nimitz, May 3, 1975 – West Coast
• (CVN-69) USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, October 18, 1977 – East Coast
• (CVN-70) USS Carl Vinson, March 13, 1982 – West Coast
• (CVN-71) USS Theodore Roosevelt, October 25, 1986 – West Coast
• (CVN-72) USS Abraham Lincoln, November 11, 1989 – West Coast
• (CVN-73) USS George Washington, July 4, 1992 – East Coast
• (CVN-74) USS John C. Stennis, December 9, 1995 – East Coast
• (CVN-75) USS Harry S. Truman, July 25, 1998 – East Coast
• (CVN-76) USS Ronald Reagan, July 12, 2003 – West Coast (Yokosuka, Japan)
• (CVN-77) USS George H.W. Bush, January 10, 2009 – East Coast
• (CVN-78) USS Gerald R. Ford, July 22, 2017 – East Coast

Question?

I don’t know if this matters now, but I’m sure someone has an answer.

I was aboard Kitty Hawk in the 70s and worked in Crash & Salvage, part of the V-1 Division. At that time, we only had 14 Crash crew members and had to maintain a minimum of 11 Crash crew on the flight deck during flight ops. That often meant a lot of long hours and at times, rotating double-shifts, especially during round-the-clock flying. More than once, several of us worked a 36-hour shift, but that’s another story for another day.

When I spent a few awesome days aboard USS Ronald Reagan in 2009, as research for my book, there were 25+ members in Crash. But, if memory serves, back in my day, there were 26 active aircraft carriers; now there are 11. My guess is that there are enough ABHs in Crash now with fewer carriers.

I don’t know what the minimum requirement for Crash during flight ops is these days. Anyone know? If you know, please answer in the comments section; I’d greatly appreciate it.

Kitty Hawk Internet Resources

One last thing…

There are several excellent resources available on the Internet regarding Kitty Hawk. I’m listing them here for your reference.

• National Archives Kitty Hawk Photos
  • More than 2,000 “public domain” photos of Kitty Hawk through the years.
• USS Kitty Hawk Veterans Association
  • Kitty Hawk Veterans Association
• Naval History and Heritage Command
  • Kitty Hawk Command Operations Reports
• USS Kitty Hawk Cruise Books
  • Online cruise books from 1961-2008
• USS Kitty Hawk Deck Logs
• NavSource Online: Aircraft Carrier Photo Archive
  • Dozens of Kitty Hawk photos

That’s today’s weekly report (i.e., blog post). Stay safe, my friends.

Until we meet again,
Andy

Andy Adkins is a US Navy veteran (’73-77) and the author of several books. His newest novel, NEVER FORGET, is the story of A Vietnam Veteran’s Journey for Redemption & Forgiveness. NEVER FORGET is FREE (eBook, PDF) for all veterans. Download your FREE copy HERE.

Previous blogs mentioned in this post:

• #27 – Time-honored Military Traditions
• #30 – USS Kitty Hawk @ Bremerton Shipyards
• #25 – Livin’ the Dream: Life Aboard an Aircraft Carrier
• #13 – After 30+ Years, I’m Back on the Flight Deck

Answers:

1. The Three Amigos (1986)
2. Wayne Gretzky
3. Proud Mary (1969), Creedence Clearwater Revival; written by John Cameron Fogerty