It’s an old veteran, a used up veteran, tired and gray. Yesterdays are yesterdays. She isn’t sleek and new, with the latest gadgets of death. She is simply an old gray veteran with a proud history. As with us, many simple see without looking, nor understanding, either that gallant ship or us. The tales have been told and the lifeblood drained away into the mist of time and memory. That ship, that once gleaming steed of steel and American will, is not unlike us. Some will look upon her with misty, awed eyes, some will see nothing but rust. I agree, take her to a place of honor, a place where folks know, what she stands for.

© 20 August 2005 Fred Avis

News Item: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The USS Iowa joined in battles from World War II to Korea to the Persian Gulf. It carried President Franklin Roosevelt home from the Teheran conference of allied leaders, and four decades later, suffered one of the nation's most deadly military accidents.

Veterans groups and history buffs had hoped that tourists in San Francisco could walk the same teak decks where sailors dodged Japanese machine-gun fire and fired 16-inch guns that helped win battles across the South Pacific.