I see from the news so take that for what it's worth, that USS Nimitz is now operating in the Caribbean which, you must admit, is a strange place to find an aircraft carrier based out of Bremerton, Washington on the very point of a dignified retirement. I know, she is underway to her final homeport for decommissioning but it still seems odd to send a nuclear ship all the way around South America to commence its final act. Those who have read the Fighting Words to the top right know my connection with the ship but I liked this picture:
and I never saw this one until now:
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| Catherine Nimitz Lay christened Nimitz on 13 May 1972. |
She was the very first person outside the family that I worked for. I slaved away all through 7th grade as one of the assistant librarians at Thomson Junior High School in Newport, RI where she was the Head Librarian. She was a fascinating lady.
As the war got out of control and more and more wounded soldiers returned to the States I read about the 'disgraceful' conditions at Walter Reed Hospital and winced because I knew from one of my officers that closed down NAS Alameda and Treasure Island that the immediate effect of appearing on the BRAC list was deterioration of the buildings and infrastructure because nobody would approve contracts to spend money on 'dead' facilities. It was a shambles.
One can only hope that this is not how the delayed decommissioning has affected USS Nimitz. Getting jerked around like that at the end of service life is bound to have been a major pain in the ass. I saw that with the MSOs, an LST and the poor Destroyers. Bean counters are never kind but they are positively vicious at the end.
Good luck and Good Night Cuba.
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