THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 3, 1995 TAG: 9509030061
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WILMINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
With the bustling importance of a young ensign relieving the watch, the sun burst out Saturday and dismissed rain clouds that threatened to spoil an anniversary party for an old gray lady dressed in party clothes.
The bright and clearing tops'l weather greeted the North Carolina, and brought tears and cheers from several thousand veterans and Navy friends who had gathered around the old battleship for East Coast V-J Day ceremonies sponsored by the Defense Department.
Gov. James B. Hunt Jr., and many of his Cabinet officers, were present to pay homage to the old ship and her surviving crew. The Army and Marine Corps sent generals, the Navy brass included an admiral, and Deputy Defense Secretary John P. White represented Washington at the show.
Nerve-racking downtown traffic jams made travel to and from the ship difficult after one of the two key bridges across the Cape Fear River had to be closed Friday night for repairs.
For most of the spectators, the 44,000-ton North Carolina, permanently moored in a slip across the Cape Fear River from downtown Wilmington, was a splendid symbol of the unprecedented Pacific victories that ended with the Japanese surrender Tokyo Bay.
Some who attended Saturday's ceremony weren't old enough to remember V-J Day. For others, it remains forever vivid.
``I learned a lot. I grew up real fast,'' said Gerald Lape, who was 16 years old when he enlisted. ``I lied about my age and people started shooting at me.''
Lape, 69, of Grand Rapids, Mich., wore a 1944 uniform belonging to a friend who had died.
``I wanted to wear it for him,'' he said.
Marion Rose, 73, said the North Carolina was both home and a tool for war for the men aboard.
``Every time I walk across that gang plank, I just lose it,'' Rose said. ``If you stop to think of it, that's my home for four years. She provided us with a tool to do what we had to do.''
For many of the 200 former crew members on the battleship, and for some of the older and more thoughtful visitors gathered for the ceremony, the North Carolina represented the kind of sea power that has controlled human history until Hiroshima brought a new dimension to warfare.
During World War II, the presence of the North Carolina and the other fast new battleships that joined her in the Pacific compelled the Japanese to pull back their older naval units. U.S. battleships, riding shotgun for the fast carriers, then forced the war ever westward until the surrender.
At the end of the ceremonies, there were a poignant few moments when the 82nd Airborne chorus chanted portions of ``Eternal Father'' to the accompaniment of the Marine 2nd Division band playing softly on top of a mighty forward turret:
O Father, king of earth and sea,
We dedicate this ship to thee . . .
And when at length her course is run,
Her work for home and country done,
Let not one life in thee have failed,
But hear from heaven our sailor's cry,
And grant eternal life on high !
The North Carolina, one of the first of the new 28-knot battleships to join the crippled Pacific Fleet after Pearl Harbor, won 15 battle stars from Guadalcanal to Okinawa. By V-J Day, no other battleship had come close.
When the ship seemed headed for a last cruise to a breakers' yard, a statewide campaign saved the battleship as a memorial to the 10,000 North Carolinians who lost their lives in World War II.
So there she was Saturday, surrounded by spidery grandstands full of veterans and the few old crewmen who manned the mighty 16-inch rifles or the 20 fast-firing 5 3/8-inch dual-purpose anti-aircraft guns and more than 100 smaller automatic cannon.
Many a grandfather pointed a gnarled finger at a gun director or the dangerously exposed open tub of a 40mm quadruple mount and told an awed grandchild: ``That was my battle station, son, 'way up there.''
Even Charlie, the alligator who adopted the North Carolina after the ship arrived at her permanent river berth in 1961, showed sluggish signs of life on Saturday.
Charlie, all 12 feet of his protected hide, has become a tourist attraction almost as noticed as the battleship. Most of the time, Charlie's only indication that he is alive is a sluggish blink of one eye.
He blinked both eyes, an observer reported, at the V-J Day ceremony. MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this story.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The East Coast V-J Day celebration was held Saturday afternoon in
Wilmington onboard the battleship North Carolina. Gov. James B. Hunt
Jr. said: ``Today we honor the sacrifices of all, both living and
dead, who helped keep our country free.''
by CNB