[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.91″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Top Image” _builder_version=”3.8″ show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” show_bottom_space=”on” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/FEAT-CREW.jpg” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding=”2px|0px|8px|0px” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Top Image caption” _builder_version=”3.8″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” background_layout=”light”]<\/p>\n
WWII USS Cowpens Crewmen at the Mighty Moo Festival: (L-R) Carswell Wynne, Robert Harkrader, Ray Williams, Bill Kuntz<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.92″ custom_padding=”2px|0px|37.9062px|0px” prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|18.9531px|0px” custom_margin=”10px|||” _builder_version=”3.0.92″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 1″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.8″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/LEFT-IMAGE-FOOD.jpg” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 1″ _builder_version=”3.8″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n
Food vendors set up in dowtown Cowpens<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 2″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.8″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/MOO-Rides.jpg” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 2″ _builder_version=”3.8″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n
Rides light up the night during Cowpens festival (Photo by Teresa Solesbee)<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 3″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.8″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Moo-Parade-2.jpg” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption 3″ _builder_version=”3.8″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”8px|||2px” custom_padding=”|||”]<\/p>\n
Guests line festival parade route (Photo by Teresa Solesbee)<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.8″ src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/LEFT-MERLE.jpg” \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.8″]<\/p>\n
Merle Gault with a picture of her “adopted” crewman who recently passed away<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”News Story” _builder_version=”3.8″ custom_margin=”0px||0px|”]<\/p>\n
A historic upstate South Carolina town is so small that you might miss its exit on Interstate-85, but to Merle Gault, it\u2019s home.<\/p>\n
During Father\u2019s Day weekend, the red, white and blue colors are hoisted high in Cowpens as the 2.3 square-mile town \u00a0celebrates the Mighty Moo.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t know what the Mighty Moo is you\u2019re losing out on a lot of things,\u201d said Gault, a Cowpens resident.<\/p>\n
The town \u00a0holds the four-day celebration each year to honor and remember Navy crewmembers of the USS Cowpens CVL-25 who served in World War II and those from the USS Cowpens CG-63, which is currently active in the US Navy\u2019s fleet. This year\u2019s 41st\u00a0<\/sup>festival was June 13-16.<\/p>\n The festival is packed with various events for visitors and residents. This year, those events included, rides, performances, and fireworks. Vendors were also there this year.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s to welcome traveling veterans from across the country and their families that come into Cowpens, and it\u2019s a lot like a church social or a family reunion,\u201d said Jan Humphries, a member of the Mighty Moo Committee and the official point of contact between the community, the ship and veterans.<\/p>\n The history of the festival is one Cowpens clings to and celebrates.<\/p>\n According to documentation at the Cowpens Museum, during World War II, George D. Martin, a Cowpens businessman, wrote to President Franklin Roosevelt asking that an aircraft carrier be named after the town of Cowpens. This wasn\u2019t an unqualified request since Cowpens was the site of the pivotal Revolutionary War battle.<\/p>\n Many saw the naming of the ship as an appropriate honor, and so did President Roosevelt.<\/p>\n On May 28, 1943, the USS Cowpens was commissioned in Philadelphia, jumpstarting a distinguished combat career.<\/p>\n The CVL-25 \u201cwas in active service for three years during WWII. She was floating next to the Missouri when the Japanese signed the peace treaty. And her planes flew off her deck and were the first to land in Japan after the end of the war,\u201d said Humphries.<\/p>\n The ship earned 12 battle stars and a navy unit commendation for her service in World War II, according to the Mighty Moo website.<\/p>\n Carswell Wynne served as plane captain on the USS Cowpens CVL-25 and recalls being near the Missouri at the end of the war.<\/p>\n \u201cGoing into Tokyo Bay on the first American Air Craft Carrier, [being] anchored close to the Battleship Missouri when all the dignitaries came aboard to sign the surrender, [and] walking the streets of Tokyo two weeks after the surrender [were] all exciting to participate in,\u201d he said. \u00a0“[But,] the most exciting time was when the going home pennant went up and our ship was headed for home.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Mighty Moo\u201d was the nickname given to the ship by its crew, because of the \u201cmooing\u201d sound the ship made as it moved through the water, according to accounts from the crew. Cowpens picked up on the nickname in 1977, turning the annual festival into the ship’s namesake.<\/p>\n \u201cWell it initially started following, the nation\u2019s bicentennial in 1976. The first reunion of the USS Cowpens CVL-25 WWII ship was held in \u201977. And all they did was put a blurb in several newspapers throughout the southeast,\u201d said Humphries.<\/p>\n But that blurb was more than enough to draw a crowd. According to the Mighty Moo website, about \u201c1,500 visitors\u201d showed up to enjoy the \u201crides, flea market, and colonial experiences\u201d the first year.<\/p>\n On March 9, 1991, the USS Cowpens CG-63, a guided missile cruiser, was commissioned in Charleston, South Carolina.<\/p>\n \u201cWe call it, the \u2018new ship,\u2019 even \u00a0though she\u2019s 26 years old… She\u2019s the first of the guided missile cruiser group that’s being renovated, updated, modernized with all of their security, technology, everything. She\u2019s going to be top of the line. They are anticipating that she will be back in active service late 2019 to mid-2020,\u201d Humphries said.<\/p>\n The ship has set many records, including an unparalleled track of six successive battle efficiency awards.<\/p>\n With the crew from two different ships, the amount of people that the annual festival drew grew, which Humphries attributes to the uniqueness of the festival.<\/p>\n \u201cWe say, and very proudly say, that we are the only community in the United States that has this type of event. I\u2019ve had military career sailors, veterans tell me, ‘I\u2019ve been\/served on six or seven ships and I\u2019ve never seen anything like what Cowpens has done with the Mighty Moo.’ Never. It\u2019s not done,\u201d said Humphries.<\/p>\n The future of the festival faces a challenge as the number of World War II veterans dwindles.<\/p>\n Just four of the eight surviving CVL-25 crewmen were able to attend this year\u2019s festival.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very hard and sad. It breaks your heart because we are family. It\u2019s kind of what the adopt-a-crew emphasis is. Celebrating our family that served on our ship and they are now part of the Cowpens family. It\u2019s very hard losing our WWII crewmen,\u201d said Humphries.<\/p>\n The dwindling number of crewmen isn\u2019t lost on Humphries and many others.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s only four of us from the CLV-25 here this year, and we\u2019ll be dropping off year by year. So, the CG-63 people take up the representation of the Cowpens ship,\u201d said Ray Williams, a WWII USS Cowpens CVL-25 crewman.<\/p>\n Wynne, too, is aware of that reality but plans to relish every moment.<\/p>\n “Words can\u2019t explain the joy we have when coming to The Mighty Moo Festival,\u201d Wynne said. \u201cThis could be my last year, but if I can crawl, I\u2019ll be here next year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Humphries is confident the younger crew members of the CG-63 will take up the baton and represent the ships at future \u00a0reunions as they get older.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know when you\u2019re young, you don\u2019t think about reunions \u2026 But as you get older, you think back to the history, the times, the experience you shared,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m very proud of them, and I\u2019m very sure that they will step up and continue for our WWII crew.\u201d<\/p>\n But for some, coming to Cowpens once a year wasn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n Joe Giannini was on the original ship in World War II. Gianni, a lifelong resident of New York had eight children who he exposed to the Mighty Moo celebration.<\/p>\n His son, Mark, a New York city fireman who brought his family to the festival for almost 20 years, served during 9\/11 and recently retired from the New York City Fire Department. After retirement, he moved his family to Spartanburg County and built a house on a local lake last summer.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s all funneled through Mighty Moo because of the relationships and the connection that\u2019s been made over the years,\u201d Humphries said. \u201cThey have fallen in love with the area, the people, so we are thrilled to have them.\u201d<\/p>\n Humphries hopes others follow their lead. \u201cIf you haven\u2019t gotten here yet, come on and visit us. We are waiting for you, anytime you can make it. We will love on you, spoil you and wear you out, but we will have a fantabulous time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n For more information about \u00a0the festival, visit cowpensmightymoo.com.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_video _builder_version=”3.8″ src=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/krr_Wsv5jUA” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Mighty Moo Festival is a four-day annual celebration that honors crew members of the USS Cowpens CVL25 and the USS Cowpens CG63. The 41st annual celebration was held June 13-16.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":10847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[42,64,40],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10835"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10835"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11521,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10835\/revisions\/11521"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}