World War II LST to cruise Mississippi, Ohio rivers

OAKWOOD, Ill. -- The last time Bruce Voges set sail on a World War II ship, it was to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The next time, it will be go up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

The "landing ship tank," or LST, was launched Oct. 27, 1942. Efforts to get it under way again on American waters will become a reality early next month. On its voyage, it will make a number of stops along the Mississippi and the Ohio so people can visit a piece of history.

Voges was one of 28 men, averaging 74 years of age, who sailed out of the Greek island of Crete in November 2000, and who arrived to a hero's welcome in Mobile, Ala., on Jan. 10, 2001.

These men and other volunteers have continued to work on the restoration of the former LST-325, now known as the LST Ship Memorial, at a pier in Chickasaw, Ala., upriver from Mobile. Now some of the crew will set sail on June 3 to visit cities and raise money to continue the work.

Voges recently made a tour of some of the ports that are offering the ship a place to tie up.

"What I found was that we'll also need to have barges available to tie up to, because we can't risk tying off near rocks in some spots, and there just isn't an area suitable for us in others," Voges said.

Voges and the ship's captain, Robert Jornlin of Earlville, split up the visits to proposed ports of call.

"Paducah is looking good," Jornlin said. "Lots of enthusiastic people, and barges available to tie off to."

Pushed by tugs

The ship's schedule has to be adjusted so it doesn't interfere with those of regularly scheduled riverboat cruises on the Mississippi and Ohio. Additionally, it will not be allowed to navigate the rivers using its own engines.

"Tugs will have to push us," Voges said. "The engines are in good working order, but in order to sail under our own power, we would have to have Coast Guard-certified personnel in charge. We don't have that."

The LST is expected to spend 78 days on its journey and to cover almost 650 miles of river.

"It's going to be a long, long trip," Voges said. "I've taken so much advantage of my family, but (my wife) Kate keeps pushing me to go. Hopefully, it will all be worth it, and we'll make a lot of money toward restoring the ship."

Both Voges and Jornlin are eager to get under way, and look forward to seeing fellow veterans relive some memories.

"Most of the men who served on LSTs spent around three years aboard," Jornlin said. "They were 17 or 18 at the time."

"It will be fun to watch the men bring their wives and family aboard along the way," he said. "There's always some tears and some great stories. We're anticipating a full crowd every day."

Two of the ports on the cruise, Evansville and Jeffersonville, Ind., were sites where LSTs were built.

The crew for the journey is pretty well set, Voges said. Thirteen of the men who crossed the Atlantic together will be on board, nine of them for the entire voyage. The original crew will be filled out with other volunteers to keep a contingent of about 40 aboard at any given time.

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On the Net

www.lstmemorial.org.