CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — There’s so much along the Corpus Christi Bay to treasure including a large ship-- and it’s hard to miss her.
“Here at the USS Lexington museum, we’re very proud to present this history for the U.S. Navy, but it does represent all veterans and all armed forces,” said Executive Director Steve Banta.
USS Lexington also known as the Blue Ghost. It floats on the bay and is full of military history.
“Starting from World War II and then commissioned all the way to 1991, at the time, was the longest serving aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy and we’re preserving that legacy here,” said Banta.
The artifacts and videos on board help to preserve and share the ship’s history, but that’s not all.
“The volunteers that help you they have the yellow shirts,” said Banta.
You may have spotted those volunteers in their bright yellow shirts. Those volunteers are veterans, veterans like Mr. Bill Miller.
“There’s a lot of Navy on here and I enjoy doing it, it’s work I’ve done my entire life,” said volunteer and veteran Bill Miller.
Miller is going on his 17th year of being a volunteer. He and many others in the yellow shirts get to share their stories with residents from near and far.
“It brings back a lot of memories,” said Miller. "There’s a lot of things I look at and 57 years ago I knew what that was, so I go look it up and it brings back memories.”
Miller gets to share his memories with visitors while also getting to make new ones in the process.
“I remember a day when I had a sailor show up in uniform right out of recruit training and he said he came aboard here as a child and decided that day he was going to join the Navy and he did,” said Miller.
If you want to say thank you to a veteran or learn more about military history, pay a visit to Mr. Miller and the many volunteers aboard the ship.
On May 30th there will be a Memorial Day Ceremony aboard the Blue Ghost. The ceremony kicks off at 2:00 p.m. and is open to everyone.
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