August 21, 2008

9/11 It’s been seven years and the songs keep coming. A new patriotic tribute has just been released on Seasong Recording, a special projects label co-owned by Sherry Johnson and Liem Walker. The CD appropriately titled Never Forget features 13 patriotic songs written by some of Country Music’s most prolific songwriters. The project is dedicated to those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The CD is currently available for pre-orders on Amazon.com and will be available for most digital download sites and major retail outlets on September 9, 2008.

After hearing about a military ship being built out of tons of melted steel recovered from the ruins of the World Trade Center, songwriter Anita Cox was inspired to write a song called USS New York. She co-wrote the song with Barbara Williams, Billy Smiley and legendary hit-maker Charlie Daniels, who also recorded and produced the song. While the creative wheels were still in motion, Cox penned the album title track Never Forget, which is also the ship’s motto. This song was recorded by two-time Grammy Award winner Rebecca Lynn Howard. Both songs were performed at the USS New York christening ceremonies last spring in Avondale, LA. The ship commissioning is expected to take place in New York City on September 12, 2009. In addition to writing and co-writing six of the songs, Cox worked on the project for over a year, going through all the proper channels, making military connections and laying the foundation work.

Throughout the process, the songwriting juices continued to flow and a patriotic tribute album was born. Cox brings not only a comprehensive understanding of what it takes to create a project of this magnitude, but what it takes to see it finalized. In view of these contributions, she merits the “Project Concept” credit on the album cover. A stellar cast of Country Music’s most recognizable vocalists are included in the line-up: Charlie Daniels, Rebecca Lynn Howard, George Jones, Tracy Lawrence, Michael Peterson, Pam Tillis, Aaron Tippin, Randy Travis, Tanya Tucker and Darryl Worley. Newcomers Leah Faith, Lloyd Knight and Justin Ryan round out the project.

A portion of the proceeds from album sales will be donated to Hope for the Warriors, a charity primarily created to assist U.S.Servicemen and women returning from battle who have been injured in the line of duty. Contact information: Anita Cox, anitacoxmusic@aol.com Happy Anderson, Publicist,

By ALAN SAYRE, AP Posted: 2008-08-22 12:54:28

AVONDALE, La. (AP) – The fourth in a series of amphibious warships is about to be turned over to the Navy and for everyone associated with the LPD-20, there’s a sense of awe.

The Green Bay – it officially becomes the USS Green Bay when commissioned Jan. 24 at Long Beach, Calif. – is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy on Aug. 29 by the Northrop Grumman Corp. shipyard in this New Orleans suburb.Like its three sisters already in service – USS San Antonio, USS New Orleans and USS Mesa Verde – the 25,000-ton Green Bay is 684 feet long and 105 feet wide, suitable for a naval crew of 360 and 800 Marines. It can carry landing vessels and helicopters to deliver the Marines to shore.

The vessel, which cost more than $1 billion, recently completed sea trials successfully.”I love it,” said Northrop Grumman electrician Susie Davis, one of the company workers who went on the sailing trials. “To actually see it all come to a conclusion is breathtaking. It makes me want to join the military.”The Green Bay is the final project for electrician Gerald Dufrene, who will retire in September.”I’m going out with a bang,” he said.The vessel will be around Avondale a while after the Navy takes delivery.

Naval inspectors must certify the crew as ready to handle the vessel and will put them through a series of drills. If all goes well, the process should wrap up by November and the Green Bay will head to California.Cmdr. Joe Olson, the Green Bay’s prospective captain, will have his first command after 17 years in the Navy.”Every ship I’ve served on has been great,” said Olson, a native of Madison, Wis. “But this is a fantastic opportunity. I’m very excited.”The Green Bay is the second Navy vessel to carry the name. The first was a patrol gunboat commissioned in the 1960s.The fifth ship in the LPD series – the New York – was christened on March 1 at Avondale and is in the final stages of construction.

The San Diego is being built at Northrop Grumman’s yard in Pascagoula, Miss., while the seventh ship, the Anchorage, also is being built at Avondale.Initial work is under way on the eighth and ninth ships – the Arlington at Pascagoula and the Somerset at Avondale.Funding for a 10th LPD is pending before Congress. A House committee has earmarked $1.8 billion in full funding, while a Senate committee has signed off on $170 million, which when combined with other funds, would provide $323 million in pre-construction expenses. A conference committee will decide on funding for the next federal budget later this year.The Pascagoula yard has 11,500 employees, while 5,500 work at Avondale. Northrop Grumman also has 200 workers at its Gulfport, Miss., yard and 120 at a yard in Tallulah, La.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

08/22/08 12:50 EDT

Friday, August 15, 2008

Associate Press Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England answered questions during a news conference in front of the USS New York, LPD 21 on Feb-29-08, at the Northrop Grumman shipyard in Avondale, La. Joining Mr. England was his wife, Dotty (center front), who will christen the USS New York on the following day.

The slogan “never forget” has been seared in our national conscience as an eternal symbol for remembering what took place on 9-11. That slogan has found its place on a new part of history, which will be an enforcing reminder of what’s at stake when it sets sail late next year. After four years of construction and a spring christening, it was announced this week that the USS New York is headed to the Big Apple in preparation for her Fall 2009 “commissioning” ceremony which will place the 684-foot vessel into active military service.

In describing the The USS New York, Secretary of the Navy Gordo England said: “This new class of ships will project American power to the far corners of the Earth and support the cause of freedom well into the 21st century.” The ship is constructed with seven-and-a-half tons of recycled steel from the fallen World Trade Center, by Fairfax County-based Northrop Grumman. The irony can’t be lost. After terrorists took out the twin towers and killed nearly 3,000 people in its attacks on America that fateful day, a ship has been built with the very steel from those towers and will be used to combat our enemies in the war on terror. As the ship’s Web site so tastefully sums up: “After the commissioning, the ship will go to sea in defense of freedom, taking with her both the steel and spirit of the people of New York.”The ship’s motto, which was inspired by President Bush, is: “Strength Forged Through Sacrifice. Never Forget.”

At the March 1 christening ceremony, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England explained: “I recall the President telling us to Get Ready – to get the military ready. He stressed that this war will be fought on three fronts – diplomatic, economic and military, but that the military must succeed for the Nation to win. He said, ‘This will be a long war – not like removing a mole, but like removing a cancer.’ He said that the country needed to move on and resume life as normal, but that we, who were charged with the defense of America and freedom, could never forget what happened on 9-11. The President said, ‘I will never forget.’

He then went around the room and looked everyone squarely in the eye and said, ‘Never Forget – Never Forget.’”The fifth ship in the LPD 17 San Antonio class of amphibious transport dock ships, will make her homeport in Norflok, VA.http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/15/never-forget-always-remembered/

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