Daily News from New York, New York • 1140

'-4: An Intrepid History in UJ a to 7 I 7 sa if tour off Vietnam. The Intrepid will complete three tours of duty during the Vietnam War and will be awarded the Navy's highest group award the Navy Unit Commendation in 1964. March 1974: Intrepid is decommissioned and taken out of service. October 1975: Congress designates Intrepid as the official U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Bicentennial Exposition Vessel.

March 1978: Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher establish the Intrepid Museum Foundation for the purpose of "saving Intrepid for generations to come." August 1982: The Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum is open to the public. 1986: Intrepid is made a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior. Fleet Week's Past In 1984, the Intrepid Museum requested that the newly recommisioned battleship USS Iowa make a port visit to New York in October to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Battle for Leyte Gulf history's largest naval battle. Forty years earlier she had fought alongside Intrepid in the Pacific and had screened the carrier when she was damaged by two bombs and two kamikazes one month later. Iowa came back to New York in 1986 for the Statue of Liberty Centennial on July 4th.

The New York Navy League, Intrepid Museum and the Maritime Association combined forces to produce the first official Fleet Week in 1988. Fleet Week's honorary chairman, Fisher, decided the event was to significant to have it end, so he decided that the Intrepid Museum would host it. For 31 years, the Intrepid served in the defense of the United States. She survived bombs, torpedoes and kamikazes, performed as NASA Prime Recovery Vessel and as the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Bicentennial Exposition Vessel.

She operated in every corner of the globe, sailing millions of miles during her career. Most of her life was dedicated to keeping the peace and preventing war. Yet, when called upon, she served admirably, during WWII and Vietnam. Intrepid's national significance is unparalleled. As a museum permanently moored in the center of the country's most populous region, she's readily accessible.

Resting peacefully in New York Harbor, the memory of her deeds and echoes of her crew are but gentle whispers as she embarks on her new mission. Here is a short look at Intrepid's history. Dec. 1, 1941: The aircraft carrier Intrepid's construction began. August 1943; Intrepid is commissioned into the U.S.

Navy. January 1944: Intrepid supports the invasion of the Marshall Islands; that same year, she was damaged by a Japanese kamikaze attack. Oct. 30, 1944: Intrepid supports the landing beaches at Leyte, the Phillipines, as Gen. MacAr-thur makes good his pledge, "I shall return." August 1945: Intrepid's last air strike of WWII is against Wake Island.

192: She served as NASA's Prime Recovery Vessel, Intrepid retrieves astronaut Scott Carpenter and his Mercury capsule. April 4, 1966: Intrepid began her first combat HERITAGE OF A NATION: After seeing action in several wars, traveling millions of miles and playing a part as a Bicentennial exposition vessel. Intrepid now stands as a National Historic Landmark. EAGLE 3jN CO LU CO 55 -J ri 0 LU I i I I 1 'I I 5 i I if i i ilium; i iiiirl mn i ill at la: 5 9 u. UL LU CM 5 BERTHING POSITIONS of the Fleet Wrek ships.

They will he based at the Intrepid Museum to ii imi turn.