While hundreds gathered to welcome the return of the U.S.S. Intrepid to its west Manhattan pier Oct. 2, not everyone present was there to celebrate. More than a dozen peace activists carried banners and handed out fliers along the waterfront to protest what one demonstrator called “an obscene monument to war.”
The Intrepid, a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, set sail in 1943 during World War II, and was deployed during the Korean and Vietnam wars. In the 1960s, it was used as a support vessel in two NASA space missions. Decommissioned in 1974 after years of service, the ship has served as a military and space museum at Pier 86 since 1982.
Nearly two years ago, the warship was hauled to Bayonne, N.J., and then to Staten Island for extensive repairs and renovation. Despite being a privately run enterprise, virtually every cent of the estimated $60 million to fund the overhaul of both the aircraft carrier and the dilapidated pier was paid for by federal, state and local governments. Before it was all over, the cost of the project ballooned to $120 million.
“I’m appalled that my taxes are being used for this. It’s outrageous and offensive,” said Jim Moschella, a member of Brooklyn for Peace who was at the demonstration.
Paying for these repairs, however, does not mark the first or the only time taxpayer dollars have been allocated for the museum. Back in 1982, the Intrepid Foundation received a $4.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to supplement the more than $120 million in private funds to establish the museum.
“The public money used to renovate and rehab what is essentially a war propaganda museum could be better spent on many things, particularly given the last week in this country,” argued Matt Daloisio, a member of the New York Catholic Worker, alluding to the risk of foreclosure faced by millions of homeowners due to the recent financial crisis.
Drawing more than 750,000 visitors per year, including 50,000 schoolchildren, the Intrepid has become one of the city’s most popular tourist destinations. According to the museum’s website, its mission is “to honor our heroes, educate the public, and inspire our youth.” On display are 30 aircraft, the once nuclear armed U.S.S. Growler submarine and a variety of other military hardware used in America’s many wars.
“They talk about it as being educational,” said longtime member of the War Resisters League, Ed Hedemann, “but really it’s a glorification of war and a recruitment tool to get young people interested in the military.”
On his most recent visit to the Intrepid, Daloisio went on a ride that simulated a bombing run over a country specified as Iraq. He was later asked to leave, after politely inquiring about the civilian death toll from the bombs on the planes that were being described during a tour. “There is no mention whatsoever of the victims of war,” Daloisio said.
“It’s not simply a museum, it’s a warship that takes taxpayer money and uses it to put out propaganda to children that war is something that is not only acceptable, but entertaining and fun,” Daloisio said, who brought his 16-month old baby to the protest.
So what should be done with the Intrepid? One protestor who served in the Navy thought it should be used for scrap metal, while others thought it could serve a more useful function. “The best thing that could be done with the Intrepid,” Hedemann said, “would be to convert it into a peace museum showing the horrors of war rather than glorifying the battles that it has been in and people that have been killed.”
The next protest at the Intrepid will be held at 11am on Nov. 8, when the museum will officially reopen its doors to the public. The Intrepid Museum is located at Pier 86, Twelfth Avenue and West 46th Street.
Comments
They are the ones who actually have the guts to express their moral convictions through actions. I would say they do have a life. The government spent 120 million bucks on this piece of junk while people are barely surviving in this city. That is a crime. Rights? No military machine gave anyone rights. We have rights independent of any country or government. Regardless, most of the military resources are used for imperialism. To invade and control other countries in order to steal their resources and to maintain United States dominance in the world. 51 percent of taxes goes to the military. America spends more on military than all the countries in the world combined! Why? The military industrial complex makes lots of money and they rule the government. More war more bombs more money. There are many nations who have your so called rights who don't go about invading other countries or making the military number one. Canadians have more rights and they don't boast about the military being the source of their salvation. I say keep on protesting nonstop that is one way we use our God given rights of free choice to express our moral convictions.
Peace!!
Those who want our country to support human dignity, justice and peace are the true patriots.Grabbing control of other countries' resources and cheap labor is NOT the equivalent of protecting the human dignity, efforts toward peace and justice of anybody's country', least of all our own U.S.A. Glorifying military is wasteful and shameful and a cynical waste of the bravery and good intentions of those who have been led to believe that military service is patriotic and honorable. Peace.
i find it to be shabby journalism when mr stoner did not even seek comment from the INtrepid Museum leadership when writing such a one sided bullshit piece on 12 people protesting the return of the Intrepid. The Intrepid has raised over 250,000,000 of PRIVATE non government contributions for the families of soldiers killed in iraq and afghanistan, those that have lost arms, legs and eyes there and now is bldg a $75M all privately funded traumatic brain injury center for those troops who need our help today. the writer of this article should be ashamed of himself and these so called protesters should protest to the families of our troops whove given their lives for our country that the Intrepid is a "waste of money" these people are clueless.
best
bill White
President of the intrepid
I wonder if Mr. White would call every single other article written about the Intrepid "shabby journalism" because none mentioned the other side of the story - that there were protesters there, and that there are folks upset about the ahistorical (and pro-war) nature of the museum's exhibits. My guess is that he would not.
And I think it's wonderful that the museum has raised so much money for the families of soldiers who've been killed, and for veteran's care. But Mr. White apparently doesn't think or care about how his museum, by not teaching visitors about the horrors of war and the unsavory reasons for why we have fought so many wars, indoctrinates the 50,000 children who tour the ship every year. By presenting such a "one-sided" perspective on war, his museum therefore encourages more kids to join the military, some of whom will inevitably be killed or injured in our needless wars. It's an ugly cycle that the Intrepid only fuels.
Why not dissuade these children from killing and being killed in the first place? If Mr. White cares so much about military families and veterans, the best thing he could do for them would be to shut down his recruitment tool of a museum in protest of the war and make some effort to teach young people how to resolve conflicts without violence, rather than pushing them into the fire.
It's because of ships like the Intrepid and the men and women who serve on them that these protesters have the right to stand out in front with their cowardly faces covered and hold up their signs.
Always keep in mind the sacrifices made for your freedom, and the freedom our country has afforded others.
Isn't it a bit ironic that the person criticizing the protesters for wearing masks uses the name "Anonymous"? From my understanding, the masks were worn not to hide faces, but to draw attention. Having witnessed this event, I can say there was nothing cowardly about these protesters. Vicious name-calling and threats were hurled at these brave folks who dared challenge a mentality that has killed millions of civilians overseas, while endangering our own national security.
Even more ironic is criticizing people for exercising what Anonymous seems to consider our War-given rights. What good then is free speech if it is not used? Furthermore, war does not ensure that our rights are protected. In many cases our rights as American citizens have been scaled back since the War on Terrorism has begun (e.g. warrantless wire-tapping and other Patriot Act decrees). And what about the rights of Iraqis and Afghanis? They certainly have not been upheld by our instruments of war. By all accounts (even US military officials) both countries are worse off than when we first invaded.
Perhaps it's time we recognize that our freedoms are not created or protected by the military, but by common every day people who are willing to stand up to injustice. We can thank those people for everything from labor laws, universal suffrage, and civil rights. So let's keep using them lest we start taking them for granted.
Sorry, friends. The piece does read like a press release for the protesters. It wouldn't have disjointed the author's writing hand or his politics to have gotten a statement from museum management--rubbishy as the comments such as Bill White's may have been-- or done some digging to find out what income from private sources was received, from whom, and why. That would have made for a better story, esp. given that Ed Hedemann and the others are right on the issues. Valuable waterfront space and public dollars shouldn't be given over to making an icon of a monstrosity. The Holocaust Museum at Henry Hudson Park doesn't praise genocide; it documents it and puts it in context. The Intrepid is virtually fact- and context-free. It's a floating advertisement for killing and dying gloriously. No such thing. Some wars may be necessary; they are never glorious.
to 718nyc obviously you must be about 20 years old and not aware of the real legacy of this ship.sure, and I agree that the large expenditure used to restore this ship could be put to better use, however the original function of her was to save our country and the world from domination by a nazi and imperial japanese war machine. sorry for the long sentence.ww2 was not a case of making a bad decision to fight as evidenced by vietnam probably and in my opinion iraq most certainly.I choose to honor the heroes who are responsible for us still speaking the english lanquage and being free. if you do not believe this and also our choice..... to occasionally make stupid blunders, please move to Iran , north Korea or a place like them. historically it has often been the case that young citizens who believed in the higher powers decisions to make war or go to war .......are the victims and did the suffering. I choose not to forget that what they did often times was right and if not , at least they thought they were fighting for a just cause.
In an other link, titled Anti-War Vets, Injured Arrested, I can pretty much copy, paste, and insert my comments to that thread here as well. If you want to get your point across, rather than protesting, you need to campaign at the grassroots level for whatever it is you stand for. You need to engage people through conversation, etc., in less dramatic manner in order to be taken seriously. Protesting simply makes a spectacle of yourself-and more often than not- not a good one, either. Just because protesting is a right doesn't mean you should. Just like, because I can cheat on my wife doesn't mean I should...
BTW, 718NYC? A military machine HAS indeed won us rights. It was a 'ragtag group of guerrillas' (they called themselves that, aka-our Founding Fathers) that won our independence. (I digress; back on target)
I feel that voting is a more powerful and useful tool than protesting. If you don't like something-campaign for your cause and encourage others to do so as well. That's all I got...
Godspeed to all...In Christ, In Amerca--K.T.
If the same 120 Million was used as seed money to maintain modern rehab centers and treatment to out Vets it would have been well spent. The interest alone of such a huge sum of money would have made a difference to those who really need it. This is just a monument to our sick and twisted war machine!
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