Final Reunion of USS Tennessee Survivors-- Part 2

On May 21, they will have a dinner and appreciation awards.  There is a memorial museum in Huntsville, Tennessee, which is why they are there.  The museum to the USS Tennessee was originally outside of Columbus, Ohio, but it was felt that it should be in the ship's namesake state (battleships, like today's nuclear submarines were named after states).

Among various artifacts in the museum is the ship's bell.  This museum houses the largest collection of USS Tennessee artifacts in the world..  Besides the bell, they have a five-foot model built by the Navy in 1943, another 6.5-foot model built by local historian Cliff Simmons and thousands of other items.

The USS Tennessee was launched in 1919 and had a crew of 57 officers and more than 1,000 enlisted.

At the reunion in 2005, the oldest Tennessee survivor was 94 and the youngest was 76.  This was the same year that the new museum opened

I'll Have to Find Out Where Huntsville Is and Visit Sometime.  --GreGen