If you are in town, be sure to check out the hornet.
Me and my son did the overnight live aboard program on the hornet with the boy scouts.
It was really cool. We got a private tour from vet's that were on the ship in WWII.
All the meals were served in the mess hall. We slept in the bunks that were used back then; I even pulled a 2:00 am to 4:00 am fire watch.
With everyone in there bunks sleeping and me walking aroung the ship in the middle of the night ... for a second I felt like I was back in 1944

It was just an amazing trip, the veterans really made the trip for me. The stories they had of the war were heart breaking and some funny.
All I could do is thank these guys so much for there service to all of us... who knows what the world would look like now if not for them
They all said the same thing " The true heros are the ones that didn't make it home"

Although CV-8 the hornet that launched the doo little raids was lost in the battle of Santa Cruz... USS HORNET CV-12 has a remarkable record

Under air attack 59 times, she was never hit.
Her aircraft destroyed 1,410 Japanese aircraft, only ESSEX exceeded this record.
Her air groups destroyed or damaged 1,269,710 tons of enemy shipping.
72 enemy aircraft shot down in one day during the famous “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot.”
10 HORNET pilots attained "Ace in a Day" status.
255 aircraft shot down in a month.
30 of 42 VF-2 Hellcat pilots were aces.
Supported nearly every Pacific amphibious landing after March 1944.
Scored the critical first hits in sinking the super battleship YAMATO.
Launched the first carrier aircraft strikes in support of the liberation of the Philippine Islands.
In 1945 launched the first strikes against Tokyo since the 1942 Doolittle Raid.
Earned 9 battle stars for her service in WWII
Awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for her WWII operations (only nine carriers so cited).
Flawlessly recovered the Apollo 11 space capsule and the first men to walk on the moon. A few months later, she also recovered the Apollo 12 capsule and its all-Navy crew; 1969
USS HORNET (CVS-12) is designated a National Historic Landmark; 1991
HORNET opens to the public as an aircraft carrier museum in Alameda, California; 1998
USS HORNET is designated a State Historic Landmark; 1999.
The F/A-18 strike fighter carries on the name of HORNET in today's NAVY.

It's a must see if you’re in the area
I'll never forget the experience


Ron