JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville is getting a historic addition to its riverfront.
Currently, the USS Orleck is making its way from Texas to Jacksonville to become the featured piece of the Jacksonville Naval Museum.
On Thursday, the USS Orleck set out for its final voyage; a tugboat will bring it more than 1,000 miles from Orange, Texas to Jacksonville, Florida.
"To see the video yesterday of the ship coming off the shipyard and leaving Texas was emotional and gratifying knowing that the next place it's going to be is here," said Daniel Bean, president of the Jacksonville Naval Museum.
Bean served in the Navy for 25 years and for the past 12 years he's worked to get a former Navy ship placed on the St. John's River to be displayed for all to see.
"This is THE ship of the Vietnam veteran era," said Bean, "This ship had more gunfire in Vietnam than any other navy warship. It served in Korea, it was commissioned during World War II, it has fantastic history. It also helps memorialize and symbolize that Jacksonville is Florida's #1 Navy town and 3rd largest Navy town in America."
Soon all of those people will be able to tour the USS Orleck and learn about the history that the volunteers of the Jacksonville Naval Museum fought to preserve.
"There's been hundreds of folks involved in our non-profit who worked to get to this moment," said Bean, "It's especially meaningful for me, I'm just a representative of one of 200,000 people in Duval County that has some form of military affiliation."
Roughly a month's worth of work will need to be done to the USS Orleck before the Gearing Class Destroyer can be toured by visitors.
Bean plans to have the ship ready for display before June.
"To have a symbol like that, it's important for her to be bright and shiny because we don't want to let that symbol deteriorate," said Bean.
The USS Orleck will be a museum as well as a location for meetings, reenlistments, overnight stays and dinner parties. Bean hopes that it will become a fixture of downtown Jacksonville.