Today seventy years ago, the keel of the USS Yorktown was laid at Newport News Shipbuilding, not far from the battle site of Yorktown, Virginia. The mighty Fighting Lady (nickname given by her crew in World War II) is now a museum ship fighting the ravages of time instead of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and Newport News Shipbuilding is now Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding. Seventy years ago, the country was just coming out of the Great Depression, about to face a devastating blow at Pearl Harbor and enter a great World War. Today our country is still fighting wars around the world and attempting to come out of another great economic downturn.
Thanks to the men and women who have served our nation, past and present. Without them, the Fighting Lady would not have earned her sixteen battle stars (11 in World War II and 5 in Vietnam). Only the USS Enterprise (CV-6) had more with twenty battle stars, but she was scrapped in 1958. So the Fighting Lady fights on as the most decorated carrier to survive war and scrapping, but her fight today is against the forces of nature. Hopefully time will allow for future remedies to be found, and the Fighting Lady will continue to exist for future generations. When Americans connect with the heroes of our past, they open up the possibilities for the heroes of the future.
USS Yorktown in the distance during the raids on Marcus Island in October 1943 (Photo US Navy)