USS John F. Kennedy completes final voyage to Port of Brownsville

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The decommissioned USS John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier made its way to the Port of Brownsville Sunday morning where it will be dismantled after nearly 40 years of service.

Hundreds of spectators visited South Padre Island to say goodbye to the naval ship on its final voyage.

"She demonstrated a very strong sign of force around the world," Navy veteran Richard Makoweic said.

Lots of veterans were in attendance as the ship was tugged into the bay, some who served on the USS JFK, and some who did not.

"A piece of my youth is still on that boat,” said Mario Valles, expressing a deep connection to the vessel from his time in service."

While waiting for the ship to move along, Valles came across a former shipmate of his. Someone who was on the USS JFK at the same time that Valles was.

Lawrence Mainz, an original crew member of the aircraft carrier, shared his emotions as he reflected on the ship’s long history. He said he was among the first sailors to step foot on the ship when it was commissioned in 1968.

"I got to see it when it was born, and I got to see it for the funeral," he said.

The USS JFK left the Navy's Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility on Jan. 16 to reach its final destination at the Port of Brownsville.

Commissioned in 1968, the aircraft carrier went on 18 deployments until it was decommissioned in 2007. It went to the Adriatic, Aegean, Ionian, Ligurian, Mediterranean and Tyrrhenian seas.

Mainz recalled seeing the USS JFK get christened by John F. Kennedy's daughter Caroline in 1967.

"Caroline was there, I remember that," Mainz said. "She christened it with a bottle of champagne and the Blue Angels flew over."

Others at South Padre Island were excited to be witnessing an aircraft carrier for the first time.

"I've never seen an aircraft carrier in the channel so I'm thinking it's going to be a pretty large ship," John Conklin, a Winter Texan said.

The ship's final voyage served as an opportunity for old shipmates to reconnect and as a somber sight for veterans who remembered what it was like to serve their country.

"I'll probably shed some tears," Makoweic said. "It's gonna be a somber moment for me."