Pondering About the Kitty Hawk

It may come to pass that the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk will be decommissioned in early 2009.

Currently the non-nuclear powered Aircraft Carrier is on its last mission from it home port in Japan. It will be replaced by the U.S.S. George Washington.

Both San Diego and New York City have full-sized carriers as tourist attractions and historical sites.

Perhaps it is time to put all our heads together and ponder whether we would want to try and get the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk for our own waterfront.

There would certainly be many challenges to having a large carrier along our waterfront.

I probably would not fit into the old fishing boat slip, but it would add to our port's ability to call itself a destination port instead of an on-loading and off-loading of passengers and freight port.

If the Port of L.A. could acquire either a smaller helicopter carrier/assault ship or even the massive U.S.S. Kitty Hawk, it would bring lots of tourists, their dollars, and more fame to our port.

Just think of the T.V. shows that would pay to shoot scenes on a real aircraft carrier.

We could probably move the Museum of Flight from where it currently is to the flight deck and hangar deck of the carrier and offer a wider audience for the museum.

Of course there would be other airplanes and flying things that would fit nicely on board a carrier of any size.

I do feel we need to start really pondering this issue sooner than later. I don't want to see the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk used as target practice like the U.S.S. America was.

I certainly don't want it to be scrapped in a foreign country just to come back to America as a bunch of sub-compact vehicles.

The U.S.S. Kitty Hawk is the last conventionally powered full size carrier the U.S. Navy has.

The only other ship within the U.S. Navy that has served us longer is the U.S.S. Constitution and it is a mere 209 years old!

The Kitty Hawk has welcomed returning astronauts, and has served offshore of Viet Nam, Iraq, and other hot spots.

We could be well honored to have such a distinguished ship come to the Port of Los Angeles.

Whether you love war or hate war as much as I do, there is something very grand about our aircraft carriers and I think we may have an opportunity to help all of OUR community out.

The city of Wilmington, North Carolina is already lobbying to have the Kitty Hawk become a floating museum next to the U.S.S. North Carolina, which is already there.

The nation of India is also thinking about purchasing the ship.