Some veterans of the Battleship Missouri are planning a unique gift for the new USS Missouri when it is commissioned Saturday.
The United States Navy accepts its newest Virginia-class submarine Saturday, Some of those attending will be men who served on the Battleship Missouri in World War Two, the Korean War, and the first Gulf War. One is Charlie Guthrie of Slater, who spent most of 1991 on the battleship, leaving just a few months before the ship was decommissioned.
He says a 37-millimeter shell casing fired in the Pacific Theater during World War Two will be a special gift for the submarine Missouri. It will be filled with Missouri soil, representing the roots the crew will have to the state.
Guthrie says it was exciting to walk the same deck where the Japanese surrendered in 1945 and where distinguished Americans such as Nimitz, Truman, and MacArthur walked. As for the submarine–Guthrie says he’d be glad to serve on the sub if it had a window so he could see outside. Even without a window, Guthrie says he’d be honored to serve on the submarine Missouri and he’d make the situation “work fine.”