140,000 Visit INDEPENDENCE

Otaru, Japan - Approximately 140,000 people visited USS INDEPENDENCE (CV-62) Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 6 and 7, during a port call to Otaru, Japan. This was the first time INDEPENDENCE has made a port call to a civilian port in Japan. Since 1991, INDEPENDENCE has resided in Yokosuka, Japan as the U.S. Navy's only permanently forward deployed aircraft carrier.

The weather was perfect as the crowd of people, at least 10,000 by 8 a.m. each day, patiently waited for their chance to view the 81,000 ton vessel up close for the first time. Lined up like visitors to Disney World, the mass of humanity moved like a large snake, winding its way through the barriers closer and closer to the ship and the chance to meet Sailors.

Originally scheduled to occur from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the general ship visiting hours were extended by the Commanding Officer, CAPT Mark Milliken, a native of Homosassa, FL, to accommodate the incredible response.

"When there were more than 10,000 people waiting in line by 8 a.m. with no slow down in sight, it became obvious that we would need to adjust our plan," Milliken said as he decided to open the ship to visitors a half hour early on Saturday and an hour early on Sunday.

"In order to allow the people who had been standing in line for as much as three or four hours to get on to see the ship, I also decided to keep the ship open until 6 p.m. each day," Milliken added.

Once inside, the people gleefully put to use cameras, camcorders, and the latest digital video cameras as they took pictures of the different aircraft of Carrier Air Wing FIVE displayed in the hangar bays. Many of the crew felt like celebrities as the exuberant Japanese asked for autographs and smiled from ear to ear as they posed for a snapshot of them shaking hands or arm in arm with a Sailor.

Moving from display table to display table, the excited Japanese acted like kids on Christmas morning as they discovered hats, shirts and patches emblazoned with the logos of the ship or one of the squadrons. Most of the people were beaming with pride as they added these latest finds to the free welcome aboard pamphlet written in English and Japanese available to them as they entered the ship.

As they again patiently waited in line to depart from the elevator at the back part of the 1,070 foot vessel, the people seemed tired, but satisfied. They had accomplished their goal of seeing for themselves one of the most impressive peace keeping systems in the world today.