Grand Thoughts: Family history is relived on tour of LST 325

I am proud that so many folks in my hometown helped break the record for the number of people who toured the LST 325 that docked at Ross's Landing this past week.

"Chattanooga is a very patriotic town," Mickey McCamish said in a recent Times Free Press article.McCamish is a retired Navy officer and chairman of the Southeast Tennessee Veterans Coalition, which helped bring the ship to Chattanooga.

But it wasn't just old folks who stood in hour-long lines to tour the LST 325 (landing ship, tank), a ship launched in October 1942 and one that landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Kids enjoyed it, too, including my grandchildren Tilleigh, 7, Evie, 4, and William, 2.

The LST, but not the particular one docked in Chattanooga, has history in my family. My father, the late William "Red" Lancaster, was a signalman aboard an LST serving in the Pacific in World War II. It was Daddy's job to communicate with other ships. He would stand on the ship's highest point and send and receive messages - even during battles.

Being a signalman, my father had to learn Morse code. While learning, he would practice the dot-dash-dot signals with his teeth. It was a habit he kept with him until he died in 2008.

His stories of being in the service are being handed down from generation to generation; my grandchildren are well aware of some of my father's war stories.

Standing aboard the LST 325 was an emotional experience for me, thinking about my father being in WWII at such a young age (he enlisted at 18 and served two years). It also made me think of all the men and women who are still today engaged in conflict for the sake of freedom - our biggest gift of being an American.

It's never too early to teach children to be proud to be American, and touring the LST was a hands-on, memorable experience to show my grandchildren what their great-grandfather did to protect their right to be free.

Veterans from all branches of the military served as tour guides and were more than willing to answer questions. The area of the ship where my father was assigned was not included on the tour because it was located near the vessel's highest point and only accessible by two sets of very steep ladders. But because my father was a signalman, they allowed my daughter, Karah, and me to go to the top.

It was incredible to be standing in the exact spot on the ship where I knew my father spent a lot of time. The veteran showed us how Morse code was transmitted and allowed us to operate it. I tried to envision what it must have been like for my father to have been standing there, with Japanese planes dropping bombs all around, and communicating to other ships. It was surreal.

Among the nearly 20,000 men, women and children who toured the vessel during its week-long stay in Chattanooga, a record number were WWII veterans, a tour guide told me.

"We've seen more WWII veterans here than in any other cities we've visited," he said.

And that, too, made me proud.

Contact Karen Nazor Hill at khill@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6396.

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