According to ABC News:
The 31 veterans of three wars – their average age is 74 – left Spain on Monday to brave the 4,600 miles to Alabama, where they intend to convert the amphibious landing ship into a museum and monument.
They came across the LST-325, destined for a scrap heap, in a naval yard in Greece. Since March, they've been working to put the decrepit flat-bottom craft into seaworthy shape for the trans-Atlantic trip.
"That took a lot out of you at our age," said veteran John Calvin. "If anybody had seen this ship when we first arrived they would never believe that it would look like it is now."
It took them a lot longer than they had imagined, and the United States Coast Guard tried to warn them, right up till the day they shoved off, that the ship was in no condition to make such a trip.
Not to worry, say the determined crew of oldsters, they'll make it.
They did make it, after 13 days at sea, from Greece to Gibraltar at the southern tip of Spain.
After resting up for a couple of weeks and adding finishing touches, the crew of 31 – it took 85 to man it during World War II as it delivered thousands of tanks and troops to battlefields in Europe and the Pacific – steamed out into the Atlantic, headed for the Gulf of Mexico and Alabama.
British Petroleum Co. donated more than 50,000 gallons of fuel. Each of the crew contributed $2,000 for meals and expenses.
As they were about to leave, WWII vet Donald Lockas said, "We have had so many people telling us it’s impossible, you better have it towed back to the States.
"And we said, 'No way, come on. We’re going to sail it back.' "
Said another member of the crew, "We’re just a bunch of crazy old men, let’s face it."
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