The People Have The Power

    For a couple of days this past week, we went on a little road trip up to Mobile, Alabama to see the USS Alabama Memorial Park. It was a long drive, but it was well worth the effort. The park is the permanent home of the warships USS Alabama and USS Drum, as well as numerous planes, helicopters, and other vehicles. The main attraction, as you might have guessed, was the USS Alabama.
   The USS Alabama is a South Dakota class battleship, commissioned on August 1, 1941. Coming in at 35,000 tons, and measuring 680 feet in length, the South Dakotas were the third largest, second newest class of battleship commissioned by the United States Navy.
   The USS Alabama and her crew of 2,500 served in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters during WWII, though she mostly saw combat in the Pacific. The Alabama fought in the capture of the Marshall Islands, the Mariana Islands, and Leyte. Alabama also fought in the Battles of the Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf. Even with this prestigious service record, this American marvel of military machinery was almost lost to time when it was removed from reserve service on June 1, 1962 and set to be scrapped.
   The future looked bleak, but the story of USS Alabama was not over yet. When a member of the Mobile Chamber of Commerce, Jimmie Morris, saw that the U.S. government was planning on scrapping the entire South Dakota class he sprang into action. By the end of the day, Morris and many others had worked to organize a statewide committee to save the great vessel. In 1963, the Alabama Senate made the USS Alabama Battleship Commission official, and then Governor George Wallace said “Now Let’s bring our ship home!”.
   Despite the enthusiasm from elected officials, the issue of generating money to purchase the vessel remained. Fortunately, the people of Alabama shared the same enthusiasm. Many corporate sponsors pitched into the effort, as well as the Alabama School System, the latter generating unprecedented support for the project. Among the contributing students from Mobile, were Murphy High School's Don Siegelman, McGill Institute's Terry Ankerson, and Terry's childhood friend, Jimmy Buffett. Together, schools throughout the state raised a total of $100,000 (over $1,000,000 in today's money). In the years to come, Terry would go on to serve on the USS Alabama Battleship Commission, Don would be elected as Alabama's Lieutenant Governor in 1994, and of course, Jimmy would go on to have a famous career in music and business. All of the kids who donated to the cause were given a member card with no expiration date. These cards were valid for one free entry to the park, and amazingly enough, the park still receives around 50 cards a year!
   With the money raised and a museum deal struck, the Alabama was towed by tug boats from Bremerton, Washington to Mobile Bay, a two-month, 5,600 mile journey that holds the record for the longest non-military dead-weight tow in American history. Its entire voyage was covered by reporters, including its trip through the Panama Canal (a tight squeeze; the Alabama had just eleven inches between its hull and the walls of the locks). After an additional three months in Mobile, which included building a wall around the ship's hull and draining part of the bay (to make room for future maintenance efforts), the Alabama was ready for company. Since then, 15 million visitors have made their way to the park to see its many exhibits and feel the power of the people when united.
   This is vastly more than just another fundraising effort. It is the story of everyday people seeing an issue and taking action to preserve a piece of their history. Rather than pouting or begging the government to leave USS Alabama alone, they worked together to raise the necessary funds for the purchase, restoration, and housing of the ship that bore their name. They wanted this living memorial to the men who died for them, and they wanted it in its home.
   Today, the USS Alabama stands a proud display. Not just to the brave souls who fought for freedom aboard her decks, but also to the hard-working men and women who fought to keep her story going for decades to come. The salvation of the Alabama began with one man feeling passionately about a bit of news while eating breakfast. A dream that could have ended with a shrug of the shoulders and a scrapped warship remains alive and well to this day, floating proof that with hard work and cooperation, little people can do big things.