Finally, Osama bin Laden is dead & buried at sea

MEDITERRANEAN SEA (May 2, 2001) Master-at-Arms 1st Class Kelvin Lee reads about Osama Bin Laden's death while reading the morning news aboard the guided-missile destroyer 

USS Barry (DDG 52). Bin Laden was killed by Navy SEALS 

during a raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. 

ARABIAN SEA (April 25, 2011) An F/A-18C Hornet assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 113 launches from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70). Carl Vinson and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17 are conducting maritime security operations and close-air support missions in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.


Just days after this picture was taken Osama bin Laden was buried at sea from  the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70).  A daring raid, months in the planning, took only minutes in the execution; finally Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader who masterminded the September 11, 2001, is killed in a fire fight. 



ARABIAN SEA (April 30, 2011) An F/A-18C Hornet assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 25 is positioned on catapult No. 4 aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70). 

MAKHAM BAY, Thailand (May 1, 2011) The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) arrives for a scheduled port visit to Phuket, Thailand.

CHARLESTOWN, Mass (April 28, 2011) Sailors practice furling and unfurling a sail aboard USS Constitution for the first time since the ship began a restoration period in 2007.

I spent two Christmases at a friends home in Charlestown Mass in 1951&1952.  His family were all longshoremen and his name was John J. "Punky" Wallace - if anyone reading this knows where I can get in touch with "Punky" Wallace, please let me know.

ARABIAN GULF (April 26, 2011) Aviation Boatswain's Mate 3rd Class Mary E. Nelson directs a C-2A Greyhound assigned to the Rawhides of logistics support squadron (VRC) 40, before launching from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65).

I was aboard the USS Valley Forge CVA-45 in 1954 and a twin engine prop plane similar to the one above crashed into the barrier just above my office and the time of a prop went right through the deck.