Enterprise plank owner rides final voyage home
Navy veteran William Falls of Gastonia, a 1961 Enterprise plank owner and longtime seaman, rode the nuclear powered carrier on its last voyage from Mayport to Norfolk and attended the inactivation ceremony on December 1. Falls, 77, recounted joining the Navy in 1955, serving aboard the Roanoke and Forrestal, and surviving 25 deployments on the Big E. He recalled the Cuban Missile Crisis blockade and the ship’s eight reactors, later reduced to two, as it remained an enduring symbol of naval power.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
William
Bill” Falls
Gastonia
Enterprise
Falls
Mayport
Fla
Norfolk
Roanoke
Forrestal
Navy
United States
Soviet Union
Cuba
John Clark
the Gazette
William Falls
Florida
Reunion voyage honors USS Enterprise plank owner
REUNITED Falls, a former sailor and 1977 plank owner on the USS Eisenhower, rode the Enterprise from Florida to Virginia after its inactivation was announced. He divides time between Gastonia and Hampton, Virginia, and was treated royally aboard the museum ship Yorktown in Charleston. He even slept in the chief petty officer’s quarters and kept a coffee cup bearing the ship’s name.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Falls
Enterprise
Charleston
S.C
Gastonia
Hampton
Florida
Virginia
Women mechanics prove equal in male dominated shop at Gaston College
Kandice Shedd Nicole Hill and Angel Griffin discuss forging a niche in auto repair at Gaston College in Dallas. The trio recalls how a 1986 Nissan Stanza inspired Shedd to fix cars herself and how a dirt track sparked Griffins interest. Their success challenges bias as they test a car battery in the Pharr Building garage.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Kandice Shedd
Shedd
Angel Griffin
Nicole Hill
Griffin
Hill
Gaston College
Kandice
Volkswagen
Pharr
Dallas
Also Mentioned on This Page
Plank
Landmark
South Gastonia
Jack Falls
Jack
Newport News
USS
Gazette
Right
Donna Anderson
Automotive Tech
By Amanda Memrick
Amemrick
Gastongazette.com
Mike Henshill
Halifax
Dia
Erin Wetzelberger
Uuu
Frances “Chris” Drennan Garris
Jonathan Timothy McLean
Charlotte Rexford
Gordon Annon Jr
Ann Florenne Nievar
Tony Lee Hampton
Rev
Harry Dean Wilson
Benjamin Franklin Hirschman Jr
Shelby Anna Vuoto Carden
Polly B. Allen
Robert Dwight
R.D
Fortenberry
Cherryville
Louis Rubint
Belmont
Carolyn Faye Harding Lyles
Gastonia Rayman Hinton Jr
Clover
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!