Published: November 09, 2008 12:34 am      

GLYNN: Ex-area resident teaches about Intrepid

A Lewiston native has been extra busy for the past few weeks as part of a large staff preparing to showcase the restored USS Intrepid, the fabled aircraft carrier that is now one the leading tourist attractions in New York City.

Patrick Gormley, 27, whose family roots run deep in the Niagara area, is an educational specialist with the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. He works out of an office aboard the ship that recently underwent a 22-month, $115-million restoration at a facility in Bayonne, N.J.

“The Intrepid returned home here Oct. 5 to Pier 86,” Gormley said, noting its Hudson River berth in Manhattan is just about four blocks from Times Square.

The return trip from the New Jersey repair center was a lot smoother than the embarrassing departure nearly two years ago when the ship’s propellers got stuck in the mud as she angled away from the pier. It took several days for some heavy duty tugs to pry the Intrepid free.

Gormley recalled that the History Channel ran a special in December focusing on the stranded ship and how the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had to dredge the pierside area to 35 feet, giving the Intrepid at least 11 feet of bottom clearance at high tide. That same channel by the pier also was widened to 110 feet to accommodate the hull, which is about 100 feet wide at the water line.

Gormley’s prime responsibility is to conduct an outreach program at schools throughout the five New York boroughs, teaching about aviation, the water, and the history of the massive ship that - before its restoration — had been drawing upwards of 750,000 annual visitors.

“We’re expecting that figure to exceed a million within the next year,” Gormley said Friday.

In earlier days, the work force on the Intrepid was about 50. With the refurbished and expanded museum, employment could reach nearly 200, with another 65 as volunteers. The latter includes a number of former crew members when the ship was on active duty.

On Thursday night, former President Bill Clinton and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, attended the annual gala. The ship was re-opened Saturday for public tours.

A re-dedication is set Tuesday, Veterans Day, with President George W. Bush and his father, former President George H. Bush, among dozens of other VIPs invited.

Launched April 26, 1943, by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Intrepid played a key role in the Pacific theater of operations during World War II, involved in six major campaigns including the Leyte Gulf, considered one of the most important naval battles in history. The ship also survived five Japanese kamikaze suicide attacks.

Intrepid was decommissioned March 15, 1974. It also saw action in the Korean and Vietnam wars and was used twice as a recovery ship for the NASA astronauts.

Luke Saks, public relations director for the floating museum, said that simultaneous with the ship’s return is the publication of a book, “Intrepid, The Epic Story of America’s Most Legendary Warship.” It is co-authored by Bill White, president of the Intrepid, and ex-Navy pilot Robert Gandt.

The 2008 GOP presidential candidate John McCain, who served on Intrepid, wrote the forward to the book.

Gormley attended Stella Niagara Education Park, Lewiston, and graduated from Lewiston-Porter Senior High School in 1999. He received his undergraduate degree at Niagara University where he also played on the soccer team. In 2007, he received an M.A. in education from NU before returning to New York City to join the Intrepid staff.

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SUNDAY NOTEBOOK: A reminder that the City of Niagara Falls will observe Veterans Day from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday in Hyde Park, the Robbins Drive site adjacent to Pine Avenue.

n A life-size bronze statue of a World War II Seabee will be dedicated at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the U.S. Seabee Memorial at Fisherman’s Park, River Road, North Tonawanda.

n Military veterans residing at the Schoellkopf Health Center at the Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center will be honored at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday at the health center.

Contact reporter Don Glynn at 282-2311, ext. 2246.