On Wed, 29 Nov 1995, Redding Museum of Art & History wrote:

> Anybody have any similar experiences?

When I worked at Boston National Park, we gave tours of the WWII
destroyer CASSIN YOUNG.  Extensive oral histories had been collected from
former crewmembers -- and some of these former crewmembers and their
families were actively involved in restoring, maintaining, and
interpreting the ship to visitors.

One day, a new interpreter was giving a lively tour of the main deck to a
good sized group.  She told talked about the kamikazi attacks the ship
had survived and incorporated some of the stories that crewmembers had
told about life on board the ship.  One crewmembers had told how
frightening the attacks were that they threw some tools overboard to
delay repairs and return to active status.  When the interpreter told
this story, one visitor lashed out at the interpreter, telling her that
women have no place on Navy vessels and that she had no business telling
a story like that, even if it might have been true.

He gathered his family and left the group to return to shore.  He stopped
to ask for the Superintendent's name, so he could register a complaint.
We ended up talking for about half an hour about the purpose of the
National Park Service, how former crewmembers were involved in research
for the tours, and his own experiences and pride in his Naval service.
By the time he left, he was no longer steaming.  It did seem to
make him feel a little better that the CASSIN YOUNG was decommissioned.
Even so, we ended up "agreeing to disagree" about the whole issue of
women on ships.

Susan Wageman
Grants Coordinator                 [log in to unmask]
The Tech Museum of Innovation      (408) 279-7178
145 West San Carlos Street         fax (408) 279-7149
San Jose, CA  95113                http://www.thetech.org