After over 30 years of service life, the USS Tarawa (the second one!) has been deemed too old for use in the modern Navy. While it could be used for many years to come, it must not be cost effective. Part of being in the military means honoring traditions and customs, including official dinners. Former shipmates and original crewmembers were invited to San Diego for a final dinner, honoring the gray hulk that had brought us all together. Angela and I were fortunate enough to sit at a table of former crewmembers, who had remained friends after several decades.
The most interesting people we met was an older couple, current local residents, who had served as an original crew member on the first Tarawa, an aircraft carrier of World War 2 construction. He had great stories about his entire life, including his wife (whom he kept showing ‘scandalous’ pictures of). She just laughed. The “mandatory fun” was actually quite interesting as we met great veterans.
After over 30 years of service life, the USS Tarawa (the second one!) has been deemed too old for use in the modern Navy. While it could be used for many years to come, it must not be cost effective. Part of being in the military means honoring traditions and customs, including official dinners. Former shipmates and original crewmembers were invited to San Diego for a final dinner, honoring the gray hulk that had brought us all together. Angela and I were fortunate enough to sit at a table of former crewmembers, who had remained friends after several decades. 
The most interesting people we met was an older couple, current local residents, who had served as an original crew member on the first Tarawa, an aircraft carrier of World War 2 construction. He had great stories about his entire life, including his wife (whom he kept showing ‘scandalous’ pictures of). She just laughed. The “mandatory fun” was actually quite interesting as we met great veterans. 
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