Stanley Barish, 90, was transferred off the LST-325 after D-Day and not happy about it, " I didn't want to leave. I was part of the original crew that commissioned that ship. We felt a bond, I guess."
LST-325 (wonder why they didn't name these ships?) was in the thick of the fighting on that June 6, 1944, at D-Day as a backup troop transport at Omaha Beach. The next day the ship anchored and unloaded men and vehicles. It later shuttled supplies from England and returned with wounded Americans and German prisoners. It made 44 trips in all. Barish was on 13 of them before his transfer.
There is another LST in Michigan, the LST-393, which is also a museum, but it can't move under its own power. A few other LSTs exist that have been converted into other uses such as dredges.
The LST-325 is the only operational vessel still functioning in its original configuartion. It makes two trips a year with its all-volunteer crew. They report that crowds line up along the way to see the historic ship.
Glad It Is Still With Us. --GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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