Fleet Week Gets Underway At Port Everglades With "All Hands On Deck" Party
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – A great event for our community continues Monday.
28 years running and a way for men and women of our military to show the public the job they do and the type of military technology they use to protect and defend our country.
The event Monday night is one of many ways that South Florida will be saying showing their gratitude this week.
The 28th annual Fleet Week got underway Monday at Port Everglades.
Festivities kicked off at 7 p.m. with the "All Hands On Deck" party at Esplanade Park in Downtown Fort Lauderdale.
This year, Fleet Week welcomes the crews of two U.S. Navy ships - the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge and the coastal combat ship USS Detroit.
"She is designed to be modular. She can do anti-submarine warfare, mine warfare, or surface warfare. They are a small crew, 80 people including their helicopter detachment. It's a very fast ship, it's small, it can go into alot of tight places in the world and really supports us from the small ship category on war ships," said ear Adm. Brad Skillman, Commander, Expeditionary Strike Group Two.
In addition to the naval ships, the crews from three Coast Guard cutters and a unit from the U.S. Marines will also be taking part in Fleet Week activities.
"For us it's a great opportunity to show what we do to the community. We want to strengthen those ties that we have with the American people by bringing the ships to a port like this," said Rear Adm. Skillman.
Over the course of the week, the roughly 1,500 sailors, marines, and coastguardsmen will take part in community relations projects at schools and hospitals, attend and host receptions and enjoy time on the town.
One of the highlights will be the Legion of Honor Ceremony on Saturday.
"We will have five survivors who fought in Normandy. They will get the highest award from the French government, which is the Legion of Honor award," said Mary Anne Gray, with Broward Navy Days.
They'll take in a Miami Marlins game Tuesday night and they'll be participating in community service projects at schools and hospitals this week as well.
"It's a chance for us to integrate into the communities and have people say, 'Thank you,'" said U.S. Navy Lt. Megan Piotrowski. "Sometimes when you're out to sea you kind of forget what is happening it's almost like clock stops. You just do your job. It's another way for people to appreciate what we do."
The event Monday night includes a welcome from the City of Fort Lauderdale and Broward County leaders, some live music and roll call for sailors, marines and coastguardsmen.
During the week there will be some time for R&R in addition to the community work.
Businesses have donated some fun events for these men and women like deep sea fishing, paddleboarding and golfing.
Fleet week concludes May 6.
Many of this week's events are free and open to the public. A complete schedule of events can be found at BrowardNavyDaysInc.org.