Thousands of people waving American flags lined the tops of the levee and the banks of the Mississippi River at sunrise to watch the USS New York leave the shipyard in Avondale, Louisiana, where it was built and sail down the Mississippi.
Named the USS New York in memory of those who lost their lives in the terrorists' attack on September 11, the U.S. Navy ship has 7 1/2 tons of steel from the World Trade Center's fallen twin towers built into it. It will be commissioned in a few weeks in New York. Today is the birthday of the U. S. Navy. The ship will be based at Norfolk, Virginia and carry Marine landing crafts and aircraft when deployed to duty.
I was happy to have gotten this shot with the sun shining on the "towers" on the ship because a few seconds later the sun went behind a cloud and a huge fog bank rolled in. The thousands and thousands who were waiting at the foot of Canal Street saw the ship through the fog, making it all the more a reminder of 9/11.