Veterans Visit Historic WWII Ship Docked On North Shore
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- It's a long way from Evansville, Indiana, to Pittsburgh's North Shore when you're traveling 10 miles an hour. So LST 325 is making the most of the visit, with a week of public tours.
Our guide is Bob Hargrove, a Vietnam veteran who served on an LST, which stands for "Landing Ship, Tank."
"You're looking down the barrel of 20 Sherman tanks, battle ready, going out the bough." He gestures toward the cavernous interior of the ship. "They all had to back in, and this ship would go up on the beach."
The 325 was one of many LSTs that took part in the D-Day invasion, the turning point of World War II. Our guide is one of 52 crew members for the LST Memorial, a non-profit dedicated to educating people of all ages about the ship that helped to win the war.
"The ship is 328 feet long, and 50 feet wide," Hargrove says. "By the bell is the captain's sea cabin. It has a bunk and a sink in it."
The radio room was operated by Morse code.
A book by retired Navy captain Bob Jornlin reveals how he and others renovated the ship, which had been abandoned in Greece.
"The most determined bunch of guys," he says. "They didn't look back."
But now we can look back, thanks the efforts of a dedicated crew, and admire the heroes who once landed the vessel on foreign beaches, under enemy fire.
And those heroes, veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam visited the vessel that carried both troops and supplies on D-Day.
The pace of those old soldiers has slowed considerably over the years. But their memories of life aboard an LST are as sharp as ever.
World War II veteran Daniel Possumato says a famous photo of General MacArthur walking onto a beach required several takes.
"They didn't like it the way he came through the first couple times, so they sent him back in and the third time was OK."
Anson Loose and Robert Boyd were buddies on an LST bound for Korea in 1955.
"We like to say they knew we were coming, so they signed a peace treaty," Loose says, with a smile.
"I served from 1952 to '93," Boyd adds. "I got caught in Desert Storm in Army Reserves when I was 57-years-old."
The 325 was bound for the scrap heap when it was lovingly restored by the LST Memorial group as a traveling museum. For veterans like these, it's a memory of old friends and wars that will not be forgotten.
For more information, visit: www.lstmemorial.org
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