USS New York's story is in its metal

Video of USS New York sailing up Hudson River

This was a favorie "fw:" email subject for a few years, but it's holding true. A new warship, the USS New York, was put into operation Sunday.

OK. Big deal. We commission new ships every so often. But this one is unique, and it *is* a big deal. What is arguably our biggest national tragedy went into this one.

Some of the metal in the bow of the ship -- seven-and-a-half tons -- was prized from Ground Zero, from the wreckage of the World Trade Center, flattened in 2001 in what could only be called an act of war.

Now, I don't know a thing about metallurgy, but I understand one of the reasons the towers collapsed was because of the intense heat of burning fuel when a pair of fully-loaded passenger jets slammed into them. The fireball weakened the metal to the point where it couldn't bear the weight of the buildings. I'm assuming the steel from the towers was remelted, perhaps mixed with other steel, and recycled that way.

But this is still a message, a real in-your-face to hostiles everywhere. As a nation we may be prone to hysteria (witness our post-9/11 behavior and subsequent attacks on civil liberties via the USA PATRIOT Act). Our government may be overrun with goofies. We may have an administration that is bound and determined to give the store away. But this is still America and we still have the right stuff.

Watch the video. If you live in the States and don't feel something as you view it, you're in the wrong country.

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