New life for WWII ship's bell

Jacksonville (Florida) University’s Navy ROTC (JU NROTC) Unit is home to the bell originally slated to ring on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Shangri- La (CV-38), but was damaged in a fire and later found rusting in a farmer’s field and given new life by loyal former shipmates.

The ship’s bell fell into the hands of the USS Shangri-La reunion group by pure happenstance. The farmer in Hudson, Florida, spotted a man wearing a USS Shangri-La ball cap. They struck up a conversation, and the farmer said he had the USS Shangri-La’s bell lying in a field on his farm. The USS Shangri-La reunion group recovered the bell and begin restoration. After two months, the bell was in pristine condition.

USS Shangri-La’s rusting bell as it was found in Hudson, Florida, before restoration.

The ship’s reunion group and representatives from the Naval Order of the United States’ Florida First Coast Commandery delivered the nearly half-ton restored bell as a permanent loan to the JU NROTC.

USS Shangri-La was commissioned in September 1944, and by April 1945 she and her attached air group launched their first combat missions in the Pacific theater. She took part in numerous operations after the war, including atom bomb testing in Bikini Atoll in 1946 and deployments around the world, from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean. Her final call to duty was during the Vietnam War, where she and her air group launched combat strikes into North Vietnam from Yankee Station.

USS Shangri-La started her career homeported in San Diego, California, and completed her service at Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, from 1960 until she was decommissioned on July 30, 1971.

Members of the JU NROTC say they are honored to be selected as the new home for Shangri-La’s originally cast bell. They will host the USS Shangri-La Reunion Group so its members can see their beloved ship’s bell.

For more about the USS Shangri-La, visit http://cva38.havoc-creative. com/ or http://www.kellycrawford.org/ShangriLa/; about the Naval Order visit www.navalorder.org.

With the refurbished bell of USS Shangri-La (CV-38) are, from left: Roderick Forrester; John Lanse; John Lyons; Al Miller; Bob Whitkop, Capt., USN (retired), JU’77; David Jasso, Cdr., USN; and Matt Tuohy, Capt, USN (retired), JU ‘75.

Reported by Phillip J. Milano, Director of News and Publications at Jacksonville University.

This is from the military reunion planning fair sponsored by the Branson (Missouri) Convention and Visitors Bureau. Participants are pictured with “Ollie,” the US Navy jeep that belongs to Jody Madaras, producer of Branson’s “All Hands on Deck!” show. Ollie is Jody’s mascot for the show that tells the story of the Hollywood Victory Caravan of WWII. The picture was taken in front of the Branson Auto and Farm Museum.

Contact Julie Peters at Branson CVB, jpeters@bransoncvb.com; 417-243-2117, about the next military reunion planning event.