This week brings the USS Yorktown CV-10 Association to Patriots Point on Charleston Harbor for their sixty-third reunion on 13 October! Appropriately, Thursday is also the two hundred and thirty-sixth birthday of the United States Navy! Every year since 1948 a group of Navy veterans have gathered in the honored tradition of reuniting to remember and celebrate their years of service onboard "The Fighting Lady." The first reunion was held in New York City five years after the ship's commissioning on 15 April 1948 with guests of honor: Rear Admiral "Jocko" Clark (1st Commanding Officer), Rear Admiral Raoul Waller (1st Executive Officer) and Captain "Jimmy" Flatley (1st Air Group Commander).
Through the years the Yorktown Association members have held their reunions at various cities and venues, until the USS Yorktown was permanently brought to Patriots Point in June 1975. Now every year in October the crew gather onboard the USS Yorktown at Patriots Point to reminisce. This year over 110 crewmembers with their families will gather onboard. They will hold their annual meetings and banquet onboard, and will hold a "Meet and Greet" with the public on Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm. Below are a couple of famous guests of honor from past reunions.
Those attending this year's reunion range from the original plank owners (original crew) of World War II service all the way up to the Vietnam years and the ship's decommissioning in 1970. If you have a chance to come out and talk with Yorktown crew members at the "Meet & Greet," you'll hear stories to never forget. Patriots Point welcomes and salutes our returning crew, who served our nation faithfully and courageously. "Where do we get such men?"