As most of you probably know, a sizeable number of our fellow shipmates have spent a number of years building a remarkably nice museum in honor of the ship and crew of our beloved 'Thunder'. In addition to filling up a berthing compartment on our sister and host ship, the USS Salem CA-139, (the world's only preserved heavy gun cruiser) berthed in the Fore River Shipyard at Quincy, Massachusetts, our museum crew has restored the interior and exterior of Turret #2, which is dedicated as a memorial to our mates who lost their life in the turret explosion of October, 1972 off the coast of Viet Nam. We also maintain several other spaces and areas which have been placed in our care by the U.S. Navy Shipbuilding Museum, which operates the USS Salem as a museum ship.
All of this takes money to properly maintain, so as you have probably guessed, that's the reason we're including this page to reach out to ALL our fellow Shipmates, Family and Friends. We'd like for all of our Newport News shipmates to become "Members" of the USS Newport News CA-148 Museum & Memorial Foundation, Inc., coughing up enough money in the process to properly maintain our museum and support our working parties throughout the year. To pay our fair share of the USS Salem maintenance cost (sort of like our museum space "rent") we hope to be able to give a generous cash donation to the Salem each year to help cover heat and electricity costs. In addition, volunteers have ongoing needs for cleaning supplies, replacement light bulbs, repairing damaged items and upgrades to our audiovisual displays. We also support working parties with paint, food & water, brushes, needle guns, protective gear, and the like. Between all of those needs, it adds up to several thousand dollars a year just to keep our museum open for the public, so PLEASE donate today.
You can donate by sending a check through the mail or with Credit / Debit Card. All donations are tax deductible.
You can send a personal check to:
Bob Freeman
3 Nevens Street Hudson, NH 03051
Thanks for your support Shipmates, Family & Friends!!!