USS LST 393 Veterans Museum welcomes aboard a new museum manager, taking the helm at the high tide of Covid-19 pandemic.
But Jim Flood, a longtime Muskegon area resident, longtime leader of West Michigan’s telecommunication industry and business owner, is ready to steer the venerable World War II warship through these turbulent times.
“We are eager to welcome our visitors back and prove to them we can make a 78-year-old all-steel fighting vessel safe and sanitary,” said Flood. “Of course, you’re still going to know you’re walking where history was made.” The museum opens June 27.
USS LST 393 Veterans Museum is in its 15th year honoring the service of America’s heroes from the wars of the 20th and 21st century. Located at the Mart Dock on the downtown Muskegon waterfront, the shipboard museum contains thousands of artifacts and displays.
Flood’s job as museum manager is to maintain and improve the exhibits. He will make sure the visitor experience is educational, interesting and safe. He also has the somewhat daunting task to keeping the historic vessel shipshape.
“She’s gotten a lot of tender, loving care over the past 15 years,” said Flood. “But like any ship, she needs constant tending ... and a lot of painting.”
LST 393 is a 330-foot flat-bottomed “landing ship tank” designed to carrying heavy fighting equipment like battle tanks onto the beach of a defended shore. During World War II, 1,051 were built; two are left in their military configuration. LST 393 participated in three invasions; Sicily, Italy and she was at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944. She spent a quarter-century as a Great Lakes freighter and is still owned by West Michigan Dock and Market.
For more information, visit www.lst393.org or call 231-730-1477.
