Association News

The US Coast Guard this month has requested that Patriots Point Development Authority register the USS Yorktown as a Permanently Moored Vessel. This certification will mean that the Coast Guard would not need to inspect the Yorktown, since it was removed from navigation years ago. Of course, it has been common knowledge that the Yorktown is permanently moored, but the formal paperwork was apparently not completed with the Coast Guard.

Examples of PMVs like the Yorktown include showboats, theaters, hotels, gaming sites, restaurants, museums, and business offices on a barge.

On Monday, July 11th, SC Governor Henry McMaster announced his intention for “a complete remediation and removal of hazardous materials from the hull of the USS Yorktown, including hundreds of thousands of gallons of old petroleum, polluted ballast waters, and polychlorinated biphenyl compounds, or PCBs that were not removed from the ship’s 428 vessel tanks and compartments by the Navy.” First steps will be a cost study.

McMaster requested the funds for the project during his address to the state assembly in January as part of a $300 million budget recommended for the Office of Resilience for environmental mitigation and remediation. The budget also includes projects like reconstruction after natural disasters.

Yorktown Day commemorates the victory of General George Washington’s Allied American and French troops over Lord Cornwallis’ troops at Yorktown on October 19, 1781. This victory essentially ended the American Revolution and paved the way for our freedom from Great Britain.

Yorktown Day 2022 occurs on Wednesday, October 19 in historic Yorktown, Virginia. The agenda for the 18^th and 19^th day events has not yet been completed. However, past festivities have included wreath-laying ceremonies at the graves of French and American heroes, a patriotic parade down Main Street, and a formal ceremony celebrating the American and French alliance.

Crew, families, and friends of the USS Yorktown CV-5 Association, USS Yorktown CV-10 Association and USS Yorktown CG-48 Association would be most welcomed guests at Yorktown Day 2022. During our nation’s history, five Navy ships have been named USS Yorktown after the Battle of Yorktown. Crews from these ships have valiantly protected our freedoms for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Your legacy lives on in Yorktown and across the nation. Come to Yorktown Day 2022 and celebrate the history of your ship’s’ namesake battle!

We would like to have a group of USS Yorktown CV-10 Association members attend and participate if possible. If you are interested in attending the Yorktown Day Celebration, please let me know and I will keep you informed of future details.

Ron Meacham (C 484-888-1958) or ronaldrgmklm@aol.com

USS Yorktown CV-10 Association: Past Chairman – Event Coordinator

Our Next Reunion: October 5 – 7, 2023

Grab the family! Call your shipmates! Plan to gather again in the fall of 2023. It’s only the best time to be in Charleston, afterall. The flowers are blooming, the humidity is low, and the temps are just right for exploring our favorite aircraft carrier.

Be on the look out for more information in the coming months.

Attendees wearing their reunion name tag/badge will get 20% off merchandise in the Patriots Point Gift Shop (landside by the parking lot) during the reunion. There will be lots of fun items to bring home to friends and family!

On Veterans’ Day, crewmember Joe Zaccaro (OE Division, 1964-1966) visited with his daughter, Laura’s, second grade students at a New Jersey elementary school to speak about his service on the ‘Fighting Lady.’ The students had lots of questions for him. “Besides the size of the ship and how many people on board and were any of them women,” Zaccoro said, “[they] wanted to know if I had my own bedroom and the different countries I visited.” 

Zaccaro also handed out souvenirs from the Yorktown Association to the excited and inquisitive students. “The goodies went over famously.” He said, “My daughter received great reactions from the class the next day. [They] hoped I would come back again.”

With the help of crewmembers like Joe Zaccaro, the Yorktown Association carries on its mission to ‘Remember. Connect. Inspire. Educate.’  “I think [visits from veterans] should be done more often,” Zaccaro said, “as it is a taste of history for them not only in books.”