Mac wrote:

I made the Nam cruise in 1972 and also am saddened that the ship was
sunk. But since when did things in the Navy make sense? Why is the
Kitty still in service?

The America was the next ship on the list awaiting her SLEP when the
call came down decommission a CV to save money in the 1990's. The Kitty
Hawk had already been through it's SLEP by then.

Why are people fighting over decom of the Kennedy?

That's not so much a battle to save the Kennedy, but a fight to keep a
CV/CVN homeported in Jacksonville. I'm sure the local officials would
be just as happy if the JFK were retired and a CVN was moved to JAX as a
replacement so the base could stay open.

Why are Forrestal and Saratoga on the donate to museum list
while the America was denied that status?

That I don't know. Maybe they were in a better material condition?
Unfortunately their isn't enough public interest or money out there to
save every retired CV for museum duty.

Why was America decommed before other ships that were older?

Aside from the SLEP issue, I remember their was a bit of a scandal in
the news over the America's poor material state towards the end of her
service. The cost of fixing those problems on top of the standard SLEP
costs at might have also played a factor in the decision.

ALV