Back at the Helm

Phil Klotz at the helm.

A U.S.S. Orleck past Helmsman residing in Kansas made a trip to Lake Charles, Louisiana to revisit the old ship.

The U.S.S. Orleck was put into active service back in 1945 and since retiring has served as a museum ship. It's been stationed in Lake Charles for the past four years. As many enjoy touring the ship and learning about its history, one man returns to the ship to relive history.

The ship was commissioned in the Navy for 37 years, for three of those years Phil Klotz (LHS Class of 1951) served as a helmsman, during the Korean War.

"I went aboard in 1950 and left the ship in December of 1953," said Klotz.

He has been pushing for years for his family to visit the ship with him and share in his memories. Finally, the group of 15 living in several different states, drove to Lake Charles for the experience.

"It's been awesome seeing where dad lived for three years on the ship when he was a young man," said Klotz's daughter Susan Engstrom.

"There's a lot of history with this ship," Klotz said. "It means a whole lot for them to see what I did."

Klotz and his family were able to visit the bridge of the ship where he spent all of his time steering the ship.

"It was a lot of fun," Klotz remembers.

Copyright 2014 KPLC. All rights reserved.

To see more: http://www.kplctv.com/clip/10904197/man-returns-to-uss-orleck-to-relive-memories

To learn more about the U.S.S. Orleck: http://orleck.org/