USS Nimitz has had roughly 200,000 crew members since it first set sail in1975. Malcomb Young was one of the first. He recalled his reaction, seeing the aircraft carrier from the pier.
“Tears were beginning to well up in my eyes. it's like every time you see an old friend that you haven't seen for a long time, you get emotional, and just remember shared experiences, mostly good.”
Young was part of the ship’s first crew and sailed on its first deployments, marking him what the Navy calls a plankowner. The Navy tradition dates back to sailing ships, when members of the first crew were allowed to keep a wooden plank when the ship was retired. Young said he wanted to see the ship one last time.
“So I left the ship in '76. I knew with the decommissioning, I might not have a chance to come aboard,” he said.
Nimitz is scheduled to leave the Navy in March of next year. The Navy is still repairing the flight deck. It is scheduled to go to sea in October, so they can train crews from other ships. Pilots from Naval Air Station Oceana will use the ship to train for carrier landings, according to Capt. Joseph Furco, commanding officer of USS Nimitz.
“We expect to do carrier qualifications for the newest generation of naval aviators,” he said.
The former sailors rode the elevator that transports the planes to the flight deck. USS Nimitz’s first captain — 98-year-old Retired Rear Adm. Bryan Compton Jr. — was among the guests. The event was sponsored by the USS Nimitz Association, which brought roughly 400 former sailors from around the country to tour their former ship.
“It is my family,” said T.C. Lott, who served on NImitz in the 1990s. “Being aboard here, you get connections, you get friends, and friends turn into family. And luckily, I found somebody that was more than that, right?”
Lott met his wife Kim while the two were serving on board the ship. The tour fell on their 27th wedding anniversary. The couple renewed their vows on the flight deck, before a former Nimitz chaplain.
“I was so ready to get off of this ship, after 5 years,” Kim Lott said. “But you know, so many years later, it's just very special to come back and relive all those memories. And it, you know, you feel differently about it on this side of life, this side of history. So, it's special.”
