Star Spangled Spectacular of visiting ships on Sept. 11th to 15th

Star-Spangled Spectacular will feature more than 30 naval vessels and tall ships from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Norway, Germany, Spain and Turkey. The ships arrive on September 10 and depart on September 16 with public visitation between September 11 – 15, generally from noon until 5:00 PM. This will vary to some degree from ship to ship. Please check individual ship pages by clicking any ship in the list below

USS Saratoga heads to scrap yard

The ex-USS Saratoga (CV 60) on Thursday set off on its final voyage from Naval Station Newport in Rhode Island to the port of Brownsville, Texas where the ship will be dismantled.

The ex-Saratoga departed under tow by the Signet Maritime tug, MV Signet Warhorse III, in front of thousands of spectactors who lined the shores to get one last glimpse of the decorated ship.

The ship arrived in Newport Aug. 7, 1998 following 38 years of commissioned service with the U.S. Navy from 1956 to 1994.

Military’s mental illness stigma pushed Navy captain to edge; attempted suicide three times

The different way, he explained, was to over-exercise himself to death.

“It was the perfect solution to the problem I had, which was I didn’t want the stigma of suicide,” Kruder said.

Kruder’s over-exercising, together with his 17 hour-a-day job as an executive assistant to a three-star admiral, were taking its toll. It was all part of what Kruder, 47, called his “master plan.”

But what he didn’t expect was his family and friends becoming concerned about his 60-pound weight loss as well as his personality changes.

Then, one morning in 2011, Kruder hit rock bottom.

“We were probably days, hours maybe, away from breaking the marriage up,” Kruder said.

Despite the near constant fighting, Todd and Sharon Kruder had kept their wedding rings firmly on their fingers.

In their 24 years of marriage, they rarely, if ever, took them off until that day.

THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY now on newsstands from Glen Burnie to Ocean City

The monthly print edition of THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY can now be found on newsstands all over Maryland. Reaching far beyond the Southern Maryland region, look for THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY in major stores in Prince Georges County, Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Queen Anne County, Talbot County, Worcester and Wicomico on Maryland’s Eastern Shore as well as in Delaware. The print edition will soon be distributed in Northern Neck Virginia as well. Advertisers may reach Larry Jarboe at 240-298-5253 or Ken Rossignol at 301-535-8624.

WWII actual footage of the Memphis Belle and other B17 bomber crews in combat

The first mission flown in filming, ironically, was not aboard the Memphis Belle, but aboard the B-17 Jersey Bounce on a February 26, 1943, mission to Wilhelmshaven, Germany. (The Memphis Belle was being repaired after severe battle damage incurred on February 16.) The mission experienced heavy German fighter attacks and two of the 91st group’s B-17s were shot down. Despite the hazards, Wyler filmed at least six more combat missions with Morgan’s crew, not all of them aboard the Memphis Belle, using a set-up that placed mounted cameras in the nose, tail, right waist, and radio hatch positions. The camera setup is documented in the photograph of the Bad Penny, which Morgan and Wyler flew on a mission to Antwerp on April 5, 1943.