So long, Big John: Hundreds turn out to bid farewell to USS John F. Kennedy

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — The decommissioned USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) aircraft carrier entered the Brazos Santiago Pass jetties around noon on Sunday, passing by the Cameron County Amphitheater and Event Center at Isla Blanca Park roughly 20 minutes later, before threading the needle into the Brownsville Ship Channel.

Despite the lack of any formal ceremony this time around, the jetties and shorelines of Isla Blanca were packed with hundreds of spectators, including veterans of all stripes and a number who served aboard the JFK, fondly known as “Big John.” Winter Texans also made up a substantial portion of those who turned out to bid the retired Navy supercarrier farewell.

The sight of the massive, gray vessel under tow — very, very slowly — by the powerful offshore tugboat/supply vessel Laney Chouest under blue skies and bright sunshine made for an impressive spectacle. Official and recreational watercraft were out in force.

Spectators are seen waiting for the arrival of the USS John F. Kennedy at Isla Blanca Park on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in South Padre Island. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald)

The ex-JFK departed the Navy’s Philadelphia Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility on Jan. 16 en route to its final destination: International Shipbreaking Ltd./EMR Brownsville, or ISL, at the Port of Brownsville.

The last of the Navy’s conventionally powered supercarriers, the JFK was commissioned in 1968 and decommissioned in 2007, at which time it was moved from Florida to Philadelphia.

ISL won the contract to scrap the ship in 2021. The shipbreaker originally anticipated the JFK’s arrival more than a year ago, though it was delayed for reasons the Navy has not made public. The level of security and secrecy surrounding the arrival was likewise higher than that with any other retired aircraft carrier the port has received over the years.

The ex-JFK is a one-of-a-kind variant of the Kitty Hawk-class of carriers, originally designed for a nuclear powerplant but ultimately fitted with a conventional one. The Kitty Hawk (CV-63) itself arrived at ISL in June 2022 for dismantling.

ISL previously dismantled the former USS Constellation (CV-64), USS Ranger (CV-61) and the former USS Independence (CV-62), and is in the running for the Navy contract to salvage the former USS Enterprise (CVN-65), the world’s first nuclear-power carrier, deactivated in 2012 and decommissioned in 2017.

CV-67, the first ship to be christened “John F. Kennedy,” was deployed 18 times during its 39 years of service, including to the Adriatic, Aegean, Ionian, Ligurian, Mediterranean and Tyrrhenian seas during a period of escalating tension in the Middle East and North Africa, according to the Navy.

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the JFK and its battle group established air security along the mid-Atlantic seaboard in support of Operation Noble Eagle. In February 2002, the ship deployed in support of operations Anaconda and Enduring Freedom, then Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004.

The ship served as a training platform in 2005-2006, made its final port of call at Boston in March 2007 and was removed from service the following August, according to the Navy.

Rear Adm. Bill Greene, director of Surface Ship Maintenance, Modernization and Sustainment for the Navy, said in a statement that the former JFK “will always be remembered as a symbol of enduring freedom and a beacon of hope and peace during difficult times in our nation.”

Alfredo Cavazos, a Brownsville native who served aboard the USS John F. Kennedy for three years, is shown in his original USS JFK cap near the Cameron County Amphitheater and Event Center shortly after the decommissioned aircraft carrier was towed past on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (Steve Clark | The Brownsville Herald)

Alfredo Cavazos, Brownsville native, Hanna High School graduate and 20-year Navy veteran, watched the big ship float past from a vantage point near the new amphitheater stage. He was there with his wife, Mary, and pointed out the part of the JFK where his sleeping quarters were as it passed by.

Cavazos joined the Navy in 1986, spending his last three years on the JFK, retiring in 2006, the year before the ship was decommissioned. He was part of the last deployment to the Persian Gulf, did “a couple of cruises” and went to Boston and New York for Navy Fleet Week. Cavazos served in maintenance support, which retained all the blueprints, drawings, technical manuals and all other records necessary for maintenance and repair.

He likened the JFK to a “floating city,” with about 2,200 sailors onboard while in port and some 5,200 or 5,300 total while on deployment with aircraft squadrons aboard.

“I loved every minutes of it,” Cavazos said. “If I could do another 20 years I’d do another 20 years. No regrets.”

He said he still keeps in touch with a few good friends he met while serving on the JFK. Cavazos said seeing his old ship one last time was exciting and sad at the same time, admitting he shed a few tears behind his sunglasses.

“It’s a part of you,” he said. “It’s part of my soul. A sailor would understand that. You only do your job but seeing it come into my hometown of Brownsville, I was in awe.”

To see more, view staff photographer Miguel Roberts’ full photo gallery here: 

Photo Gallery: USS John F. Kennedy arrives off South Padre Island for scrapping at Port of Brownsville

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