World War II landing ship visits Ohio River communities

Photo by Brett Dunlap
People were able to go aboard the World War II era USS LST-325 landing ship that was docked at the levee along the Ohio River in Marietta on Sunday. The ship has been in Marietta since Wednesday with officials estimating over 10,000 going aboard for tours.

MARIETTA, Ohio — People lined up throughout the day Sunday to tour the World War II era USS LST-325 landing ship on its final day in town.

The boat arrived at the Ohio River Levee in Marietta Wednesday and has been open daily for tours. Officials estimate thousands of people have come aboard the ship during its time in Marietta. At times the line stretched from the riverfront “Marietta” sign all the way back to the fountain near the Lafayette Hotel.

“It was an overwhelming success,” said Marietta-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Deana Clark. “We have had people come in from several surrounding states.”

Clark estimates over 10,000 people visited the ship during its time in Marietta.

The USS LST-325 is a World War II landing ship that serves as a memorial to all those who served in the war. The ship originally launched on Oct. 27, 1942, and has traveled around the globe, including New York, Algeria, Sicily, Libya and England. The current crew hails from 35 different states, and members range in age from 21 to 78.

“When you get a 1940s era ship that has so much history, we don’t get the opportunity to see something like that very often in the Mid-Ohio Valley,” Clark said.

She credited the crew aboard the ship with putting on an outstanding event for the local area.

The CVB has been helping with crowd control, offering rides in golf carts for older people to get them to and from the ship while down at the riverfront.

Clark said the ages of visitors have ranged from infants to people well into their 90s. She helped a 98-year-old woman earlier in the day.

“There have been a lot of stories of women whose husbands served on a ship like this to people whose parents served on ships like this, and we have had some veterans who served on ships like this,” she said. “It is a pretty impressive piece of machinery.”

There were times when people were waiting for an hour or so to get on.

Clark said the ship being in Marietta for the past few days has had an impact on local businesses and restaurants. They had a list of restaurants that were open on Sunday to which they were directing people.

“The restaurants (on Saturday) were super busy, and the stores downtown were busy,” Clark said. “We are thankful for this opportunity.”

Courtney Juranovich, the office operations manager for the USS LST -325 Memorial, said they have had a good trip to the Mid-Ohio Valley.

“Marietta has been wonderful to us,” she said. “We have had a great turnout.”

Many of the people who went on board said they were interested in World War II history with a number of people saying they were really interested in the type of armaments such a ship had, Juranovich said.

“The kids are interested in the guns,” she said with a laugh.

Many people don’t realize the history of the boats and how these types of ships helped win the war because they were used to transport tanks, vehicles, troops and more, as well as getting them unloaded onto the shore, Juranovich said.

“Without being able to get the military vehicles on the beach, we couldn’t push the enemy back,” she said.

The ship could carry 20-30 tanks and 30-40 wheeled vehicles on different decks and could carry 225 soldiers. It usually had a crew of around 100 sailors with around 10 officers.

Juranovich said this ship is the last operational ship of its kind with its World War II configuration out of 1,051 that were originally built. They have 50 volunteers that run it.

The ship also has a local connection as Capt. Bob Kubota is from Lowell, Ohio.

People who visited the ship or saw it from shore marveled at its history and its military connections.

“It was a great experience,” said Steve Huffman of Marietta.

Huffman came down Sunday to support the history the ship represents. He liked to be able to go on the ship and see what a World War II ship looked like at that time and the level of technology they were working with back in the early to mid-1940s compared to all the computerized systems that are in use today.

“It is interesting to see that,” Huffman said.

Steve and Linda Perry of Washington, W.Va., were on the shore outside of the boat Sunday afternoon. They hadn’t been on the ship and were wondering if they would be able to make it on.

Steve’s father was in the Navy as a Seabee during World War II and he wanted to see what it might have been like being on a ship like that as it was used to transport troops and equipment.

“I wanted to see what kind of boats they had,” he said. “It was really interesting.”

Keith and Andrea Kostelak of Marietta were interested in World War II history.

“It is interesting to see things the way they were,” Keith said, adding he was impressed with the guns onboard.

He just wished he could have been onboard when it was sailing up the river as he thought that would be an experience in and of itself.

Andrea Kostelak is a nurse practitioner and was looking at the history of how wounded were loaded aboard and how they were cared for on the ship and so on.

“It was interesting to see how the wounded were treated,” she said. “It is definitely different now than what it was back then.”

Larry and Rita McVey, of Vincent, came down because of Larry’s interest in World War II history.

“It was her idea, and she thought it would make me happy,” he said. “My father served, and it was very interesting.

“We got a feel for what it would be like to serve on such a ship. I felt sorry for the soldiers being transported to a battle zone there because of the sleeping arrangements. They were not very favorable.”

The ship does a number of inland waterway tours every summer for five to six weeks. It has visited Pittsburgh, Pa.; Wheeling, W.Va., and Marietta on this tour, and will be returning home to Evansville, Ind.

“We thank everyone for coming out and supporting a great piece of history,” Juranovich said. “We are thankful to Marietta. This has been a wonderful experience.”