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An outpouring of memories upon JFK arrival

PHILADELPHIA — Mike McVey owes his life to the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy — well, at least his livelihood.

On Saturday, he stood on the bank of the Delaware River, not far from his home in Middletown, Del., and watched his old ship go by — heading to a berth at the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and indefinite storage.

“I’m here to pay my respects to her today — I probably didn’t respect her enough when I was stationed on her from 1971 to 1974 — but I'm here today, and that’s what counts,” said McVey, a former second class machinery repairman on the ship.

“It’s where it all began for me. I got my start as a machinist on there, and I won’t forget it.”

After the Navy, McVey worked in local Delaware machine shops while he put himself through college learning mechanical design. Today, he’s an engineer, designing and machining small parts.

McVey wasn’t the only person watching the carrier go by at Delaware’s Fox Point State Park, not far from Wilmington. Hundreds turned up to see the carrier cross under the Delaware Memorial Bridge and come past the park.

“This is Navy, this is history, and we didn’t want to miss it,” said Marge Swain, who brought her two children, Jordan and Kyle, out to the park to watch it. Hundreds more watched from points along the river bank across Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Kennedy finally arrived mid-afternoon off the old Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.

Tom Beitz, a New Jersey native and Kennedy photographer’s mate from 1973 to 1975, stood on a boat ramp directly across the river from where the tugboats were pushing the aging aircraft carrier up to the pier. He took the moment to watch his old ship and tell sea stories.

“It’s not really the ship that brought me here today. It’s the memories of the guys I served with on it,” the former second class petty officer said. “I don’t think I’ve known any better camaraderie than I did with my shipmates from the Kennedy — I’m here to remember those people and the times we shared.”

A photo Beitz took of flight operations on the ship is on the Navy’s official record of the Kennedy and can be viewed here.

“It’s my claim to 15 minutes of fame,” he said.

It was after 4 p.m. when the ship was finally secured to Pier 4, one day shy of a year since it was decommissioned on March 23, 2007, in Mayport, Fla.

The Kennedy was originally scheduled to be towed to Philadelphia in August 2007 but was instead towed to Norfolk while the Navy dredged in the vicinity of Pier 4 to further increase the safety of the ship mooring process and the surrounding waterway.

The Kennedy’s future, however, remains uncertain.

According to language in the fiscal 2007 defense authorization act, the Navy must maintain the ship so it can be activated in a national emergency, if needed, until the nuclear-powered carrier George H.W. Bush is ready to join the fleet in 2009.

At that point, the Navy can decide JFK’s ultimate disposition; options include turning the ship into a museum, a test target or an artificial reef.

But for now, the carrier will sit in Philadelphia, awaiting its fate.

Officials say the carrier will not be open for tours while in storage in Philadelphia because of security and safety concerns.

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