The U.S. LST Association

There was much elation when one such ship was found in Taiwan, and a crew was selected from the many LST veterans who volunteered--retrained and certified by the Coast Guard--to sail the ship back to "Uncle Sugar" (that's "U.S." to those of us whose memories fail to recall the old phonetic alphabet). However, this project became completely bogged down in red tape and has been abandoned. It seems that Taiwan law has no provision for selling or giving away such Naval ordnance to a private or non-profit organization.

The good news is that the former LST 391 was found just as it was about to be decommissioned by the Greek navy. Arrangements to bring that ship back to the States were complete except for one U.S. State Department form.

The bad news is that--for some unexplained reason--one person in the U.S. State Department, Office of Arms Transfer and Export Policy, Bureau of Political Military Affairs, seems to be totally against this project. His name is Mr. Robert M. Maggi, PM/ATEC. He obviously knows nothing about WWII LSTs. In order to receive his approval for removing this last obstacle, he is insisting that the engines and screws be removed! He seems to think that we do not need or deserve a museum that can be used to tour our coastal seaports and the cities on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The home port of LST 391 would be New Orleans, and it would be docked at the U.S. Naval Museum there. He may think that this will make it possible for the 391 to be used to invade one of our Caribbean neighbors.

Can you imagine seeing one of the many well-armed floating war memorial battleships, cruisers, destroyers or submarines without its guns in place? Some of these ships do put out to sea occasionally. Of all of these memorials, this LST project for a museum and memorial is the only one expected to meet these requirements of engine removal. Without these engines, how will the volunteer crew of mostly LST veterans--Coast Guard retrained and certified--sail her back to the U.S. from Greece? Without these engines, how will this special crew be able fulfill our dream of a mobile floating memorial and museum that will tour our coastal and inland waterways?

We suggest that the time has come to bypass the Department of State. Mr. Maggi, who is the final obstacle in the DOS that must be overcome, is reported to have said, "I DON'T CARE WHAT THE FACTS ARE, I'M NOT GOING TO CHANGE MY MIND." He is determined to scuttle our project and will resort to any measure to bring it to an end.

Please write to your congressman and senators about this NOW! Plead for our case. Watch for updates on this issue. We will keep you posted.

Both houses of Congress have approved and passed legislation for the former LST 391 be turned over to the USS LST SHIP MEMORIAL, Inc. and allow this ship to return to the United States. More information will be posted here at a later date, but you can learn the latest details by visiting the U.S. LST Association site. See the menu below to select our dedicated page to this fine organization and link directly to their home page.