USS JFK Sailors & Aviators Fight to Save Carrier from Watery Grave

The tenth Commanding Officer of the USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67), Vice Admiral Diego E. Hernandez (ret.), is "on a mission" to save the recently decommissioned carrier as a museum and tourist attraction. "Big John" as former shipmates refer to her, is destined for mothballs in Philadelphia, or worse, may be sunk as an artificial reef, as was another carrier, the USS Oriskany, in May of 2006.

"There is a higher use for this $1.5 billion US taxpayer asset," declares Hernandez, 73 of Miami Lakes, Florida. "The John F. Kennedy Maritime Museum will profitably serve south Florida as a platform for education where parents, children and educators can learn firsthand the role that history, math, science, geography, social studies, seamanship and aviation play, in real-life terms that kids can get excited about!"

A profitable example is situated in the heart of San Diego's tourism corridor along the waterfront. A boon to that city's tourism and convention mix, the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum features the ex-USS Midway. "What some were concerned would block the view has subsequently become the view," said John "Mac" McLaughlin, President and CEO of the successful tourist attraction, having welcomed over 900,000 visitors aboard in 2006. McLaughlin's team was honored in a Rose Garden Ceremony in May of this year when First Lady, Laura Bush, presented them with the prestigious Preserve America Presidential Award for their successful preservation and operation of that "cultural heritage asset."

Hernandez is part of a team calling for the enlistment of the 500,000-plus JFK vets and "Navy Friends Of JFK", whose knowledge of team work and planning are said to be required to activate the national online campaign at SaveTheJFK.com. "The key to our ultimate success is to prove to the Navy in a highly-detailed way that our business plan provides the self-sustaining solution to the US Taxpayers' problem," says Paul Troxell, a retired aerospace metals dealer and Founder of the JFK CV-67 Memorial Foundation. "Tourism revenue is the key to ensuring that this vessel will sustain itself in perpetuity and the "John F. Kennedy" name combined with our choice of location for this major attraction, adjacent to one of the world's largest cruise embarkation ports in either Miami or Fort Lauderdale, virtually guarantees 1.2 million-plus annual visitors," Troxell said.

For more information visit http://www.SaveTheJFK.com or call (954) 563-0525 The JFK CV-67 Memorial Foundation, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.

Further Press Background Material available here: http://www.savethejfk.com/mediacenter.php