Latest news with #USSOakHill
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Young cadet joins USS Oak Hill for Fleet Week in NYC
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Local sailors are in New York City for the big military celebration at Fleet Week, offering up fun experiences for our service members and an opportunity to engage with the public while providing opportunities for young cadets using this to experience life on board a Navy ship for the first time. Born in San Diego while her father was serving, 14-year-old Sara Magee got to experience Fleet Week as a Sea Cadet. 'As soon as we got there, the crew immediately accepted us as a part of them,' Magee said. Embarking from Little Creek, they left Norfolk this week for Manhattan. It was her first time onboard a Navy ship. From the engine room to the flight deck, she got to see it all — living the life of a sailor. 'Being able to experience life on the ship, sleeping in the birthing, eating in the mess deck, experiencing everything, the day-to-day life of a sailor,' she said. 'We're in the same exact uniform and we just look like we're a part of the crew. It was a very good feeling.' Magee said it was good to see the options in person — as she thinks about possibly joining the Marines after talking to some onboard. The USS Oak Hill joins the USS New York in New York for the next several days. Several hundred Marines and sailors will stay in town for the many events happening on and off the ships. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
USS New York and USS Oak Hill off to Fleet Week in New York City
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — After several months of preparation, hundreds of sailors and Marines on the USS New York are heading to New York City for Fleet Week. Setting sail for Manhattan, the amphibious transport dock joins the USS Oak Hill for a week of events in the city that never sleeps. It is a trip many new recruits get to take part in. It joins the more than 450 marines and sailors on board, with Fleet Week letting the public meet all types of service members in the Navy as sailors attend events throughout town. This includes a baseball game, Broadway performances and much more. 'I've never been, so I'm really excited and looking forward to it,' Midshipman 3rd Class Brianna Newell said. 'Seeing how the enlisted interact with the public and how we can interact with them more,' Midshipman 2nd Class Job Grant said. 'It's more important now than ever to integrate the public into what the military is doing and familiarize them with that,' Midshipman 3rd Class Charlie Hecht said. Bringing the ship to its namesake city, USS New York carries about 7.5 tons of steel from the World Trade Center in its bow. 'We're going to pass Ground Zero, which for this ship is always a special opportunity,' Commander David Pagan said. For Pagan, the trip represents his roots. 'My grandfather enlisted out of the Brooklyn Navy yard after immigrating from the Dominican Republic in WWII,' he said. 'He served on a battleship, served on a cruiser, so being able to rehash those ties to my family history in New York specifically is really something special.' They are expected to arrive sometime this week. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
James Monroe's Oak Hill estate has historic roots. Some hope to preserve it as a Virginia park
ALDIE, Va. (AP) — The room where President James Monroe crafted part of his famed doctrine exudes a quiet, stately atmosphere. Inside the enclosed west porch a few footsteps away, a quarried-stone floor marked by fossilized dinosaur tracks glimmers in the sunlight. Just around the corner, a portico built by enslaved African Americans looks out over rolling foothills stretching into the misty northern Virginia horizon, a captivating view untarnished by monied property developments bellying up nearby. It's an early morning at Oak Hill, where centuries of history are deeply rooted in Monroe's Loudoun County estate. It's the last home of a presidential Founding Father still in private hands, according to conservation experts. That is, maybe, until now. The DeLashmutt family, which has owned Oak Hill in the community of Aldie since 1948, hopes to convert its sprawling 1,240 acres (502 hectares) into a state park. A bill to that effect unanimously passed the House of Delegates last month but failed in the Senate. The DeLashmutts, along with a nonprofit corporation, The Conservation Fund, hope Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin will revive the multimillion-dollar project by including it in his proposed amendment to the budget bill ahead of the General Assembly's veto session. The governor has until Monday to submit his revisions. 'We've taken good care of it,' family matriarch Gayle DeLashmutt said, gazing up at trees in the garden during a recent tour of the grounds. 'And I think it's time to let somebody else do it.' A long history of family ownership The DeLashmutt family, which is unrelated to the Monroes, is part of a long line of Virginians who have lived in Oak Hill. Other Founding Fathers' homes in the state — Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, George Washington's Mount Vernon and Monroe's Highland estate — are owned by educational and historical institutions that open the estates' doors to the public. The residence at Oak Hill has a complex heritage: At the top of a split staircase leading to the entrance sits a gifted bell from the decommissioned USS Oak Hill. Inside, elegant parlors feature fireplace mantelpieces made of decadent marble, a gift from Monroe's longtime friend, the Marquis de LaFayette, to thank first lady Elizabeth Kortright Monroe for saving his wife from the guillotine. On an interior windowpane, a young man with the last name of Fairfax, a family that previously owned the house, scratched his name and the date of his graduation from the Virginia Military Institute. Gayle DeLashmutt's daughter, India DeLashmutt, grew up on the estate, charging about on go-carts and sledding down steep hills in the same place that Monroe hosted first lady Dolley Madison more than 100 years earlier. Her father used to tell her stories about finding arrowheads in Little River, a tributary that streams through the property. 'There's just this span of time, and this place can really represent it,' she said. Histories of enslaved residents and Indigenous generations The estate also embodies the histories of the enslaved African Americans who built and cared for the property. There is George Williams, an enslaved carpenter who constructed the main house in Oak Hill, according to independent researcher Emily Stanfill. And Natus Berryman, who lived at Oak Hill before being forced to move to the South, said Lori Kimball, another researcher. Opening the estate to the public full time would allow people to learn more about their stories, Kimball said. Donna Bohanan, chair of the Black History Committee at a Loudon County genealogical library, said it would also educate the public about the Indigenous people and tenant farmers who lived on and worked the land. 'I advocate for not just focusing on the great men of history or military history because that leaves out a lot,' Bohanan said. 'By telling our more inclusive stories, we can start to see the connections between all of us as members of the human race.' Uncertain commitment from Virginia Loudoun County has allocated $22 million toward the roughly $52 million needed to support the project, while The Conservation Fund and other groups have raised another nearly $25 million. The family is selling the property for $20 million. The Conservation Fund says the state won't have to pay a dime toward the project. The legislation for such an acquisition, backed by Democratic Del. Alfonso Lopez, passed unanimously in the Virginia House last month but stalled in the state Senate. During the final days of the session, Democratic Sen. L. Louise Lucas told reporters that she thought the bill was an excellent idea but expressed concern about long-term commitments from the state, even if it has no upfront financial obligation. 'That's a lot of park for somebody to take care of," she said. "Those are the kinds of things you have to consider when you're working on these budgets.' Youngkin said Wednesday he was initially resistant to the project because he was not sure the business plan was fully fleshed out. But he said he felt less uneasy after touring the estate with Republican Del. Geary Higgins, whose district includes Oak Hill. 'We had a good visit, and I'm still trying to decide what we do,' Youngkin said. 'No promises, but I'm open-minded.' ___ Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
The Independent
22-03-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
James Monroe's Oak Hill estate has historic roots. Some hope to preserve it as a Virginia park
The room where President James Monroe crafted part of his famed doctrine exudes a quiet, stately atmosphere. Inside the enclosed west porch a few footsteps away, a quarried-stone floor marked by fossilized dinosaur tracks glimmers in the sunlight. Just around the corner, a portico built by enslaved African Americans looks out over rolling foothills stretching into the misty northern Virginia horizon, a captivating view untarnished by monied property developments bellying up nearby. It's an early morning at Oak Hill, where centuries of history are deeply rooted in Monroe's Loudoun County estate. It's the last home of a presidential Founding Father still in private hands, according to conservation experts. That is, maybe, until now. The DeLashmutt family, which has owned Oak Hill in the community of Aldie since 1948, hopes to convert its sprawling 1,240 acres (502 hectares) into a state park. A bill to that effect unanimously passed the House of Delegates last month but failed in the Senate. The DeLashmutts, along with a nonprofit corporation, The Conservation Fund, hope Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin will revive the multimillion-dollar project by including it in his proposed amendment to the budget bill ahead of the General Assembly's veto session. The governor has until Monday to submit his revisions. 'We've taken good care of it,' family matriarch Gayle DeLashmutt said, gazing up at trees in the garden during a recent tour of the grounds. 'And I think it's time to let somebody else do it.' A long history of family ownership The DeLashmutt family, which is unrelated to the Monroes, is part of a long line of Virginians who have lived in Oak Hill. Other Founding Fathers' homes in the state — Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, George Washington's Mount Vernon and Monroe's Highland estate — are owned by educational and historical institutions that open the estates' doors to the public. The residence at Oak Hill has a complex heritage: At the top of a split staircase leading to the entrance sits a gifted bell from the decommissioned USS Oak Hill. Inside, elegant parlors feature fireplace mantelpieces made of decadent marble, a gift from Monroe's longtime friend, the Marquis de LaFayette, to thank first lady Elizabeth Kortright Monroe for saving his wife from the guillotine. On an interior windowpane, a young man with the last name of Fairfax, a family that previously owned the house, scratched his name and the date of his graduation from the Virginia Military Institute. Gayle DeLashmutt's daughter, India DeLashmutt, grew up on the estate, charging about on go-carts and sledding down steep hills in the same place that Monroe hosted first lady Dolley Madison more than 100 years earlier. Her father used to tell her stories about finding arrowheads in Little River, a tributary that streams through the property. 'There's just this span of time, and this place can really represent it,' she said. Histories of enslaved residents and Indigenous generations The estate also embodies the histories of the enslaved African Americans who built and cared for the property. There is George Williams, an enslaved carpenter who constructed the main house in Oak Hill, according to independent researcher Emily Stanfill. And Natus Berryman, who lived at Oak Hill before being forced to move to the South, said Lori Kimball, another researcher. Opening the estate to the public full time would allow people to learn more about their stories, Kimball said. Donna Bohanan, chair of the Black History Committee at a Loudon County genealogical library, said it would also educate the public about the Indigenous people and tenant farmers who lived on and worked the land. 'I advocate for not just focusing on the great men of history or military history because that leaves out a lot,' Bohanan said. 'By telling our more inclusive stories, we can start to see the connections between all of us as members of the human race.' Uncertain commitment from Virginia Loudoun County has allocated $22 million toward the roughly $52 million needed to support the project, while The Conservation Fund and other groups have raised another nearly $25 million. The family is selling the property for $20 million. The Conservation Fund says the state won't have to pay a dime toward the project. The legislation for such an acquisition, backed by Democratic Del. Alfonso Lopez, passed unanimously in the Virginia House last month but stalled in the state Senate. During the final days of the session, Democratic Sen. L. Louise Lucas told reporters that she thought the bill was an excellent idea but expressed concern about long-term commitments from the state, even if it has no upfront financial obligation. 'That's a lot of park for somebody to take care of," she said. "Those are the kinds of things you have to consider when you're working on these budgets.' Youngkin said Wednesday he was initially resistant to the project because he was not sure the business plan was fully fleshed out. But he said he felt less uneasy after touring the estate with Republican Del. Geary Higgins, whose district includes Oak Hill. 'We had a good visit, and I'm still trying to decide what we do,' Youngkin said. 'No promises, but I'm open-minded.' ___
Associated Press
22-03-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
James Monroe's Oak Hill estate has historic roots. Some hope to preserve it as a Virginia park
ALDIE, Va. (AP) — The room where President James Monroe crafted part of his famed doctrine exudes a quiet, stately atmosphere. Inside the enclosed west porch a few footsteps away, a quarried-stone floor marked by fossilized dinosaur tracks glimmers in the sunlight. Just around the corner, a portico built by enslaved African Americans looks out over rolling foothills stretching into the misty northern Virginia horizon, a captivating view untarnished by monied property developments bellying up nearby. It's an early morning at Oak Hill, where centuries of history are deeply rooted in Monroe's Loudoun County estate. It's the last home of a presidential Founding Father still in private hands, according to conservation experts. That is, maybe, until now. The DeLashmutt family, which has owned Oak Hill in the community of Aldie since 1948, hopes to convert its sprawling 1,240 acres (502 hectares) into a state park. A bill to that effect unanimously passed the House of Delegates last month but failed in the Senate. The DeLashmutts, along with a nonprofit corporation, The Conservation Fund, hope Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin will revive the multimillion-dollar project by including it in his proposed amendment to the budget bill ahead of the General Assembly's veto session. The governor has until Monday to submit his revisions. 'We've taken good care of it,' family matriarch Gayle DeLashmutt said, gazing up at trees in the garden during a recent tour of the grounds. 'And I think it's time to let somebody else do it.' A long history of family ownership The DeLashmutt family, which is unrelated to the Monroes, is part of a long line of Virginians who have lived in Oak Hill. Other Founding Fathers' homes in the state — Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, George Washington's Mount Vernon and Monroe's Highland estate — are owned by educational and historical institutions that open the estates' doors to the public. The residence at Oak Hill has a complex heritage: At the top of a split staircase leading to the entrance sits a gifted bell from the decommissioned USS Oak Hill. Inside, elegant parlors feature fireplace mantelpieces made of decadent marble, a gift from Monroe's longtime friend, the Marquis de LaFayette, to thank first lady Elizabeth Kortright Monroe for saving his wife from the guillotine. On an interior windowpane, a young man with the last name of Fairfax, a family that previously owned the house, scratched his name and the date of his graduation from the Virginia Military Institute. Gayle DeLashmutt's daughter, India DeLashmutt, grew up on the estate, charging about on go-carts and sledding down steep hills in the same place that Monroe hosted first lady Dolley Madison more than 100 years earlier. Her father used to tell her stories about finding arrowheads in Little River, a tributary that streams through the property. 'There's just this span of time, and this place can really represent it,' she said. Histories of enslaved residents and Indigenous generations The estate also embodies the histories of the enslaved African Americans who built and cared for the property. There is George Williams, an enslaved carpenter who constructed the main house in Oak Hill, according to independent researcher Emily Stanfill. And Natus Berryman, who lived at Oak Hill before being forced to move to the South, said Lori Kimball, another researcher. Opening the estate to the public full time would allow people to learn more about their stories, Kimball said. Donna Bohanan, chair of the Black History Committee at a Loudon County genealogical library, said it would also educate the public about the Indigenous people and tenant farmers who lived on and worked the land. 'I advocate for not just focusing on the great men of history or military history because that leaves out a lot,' Bohanan said. 'By telling our more inclusive stories, we can start to see the connections between all of us as members of the human race.' Uncertain commitment from Virginia Loudoun County has allocated $22 million toward the roughly $52 million needed to support the project, while The Conservation Fund and other groups have raised another nearly $25 million. The family is selling the property for $20 million. The Conservation Fund says the state won't have to pay a dime toward the project. The legislation for such an acquisition, backed by Democratic Del. Alfonso Lopez, passed unanimously in the Virginia House last month but stalled in the state Senate. During the final days of the session, Democratic Sen. L. Louise Lucas told reporters that she thought the bill was an excellent idea but expressed concern about long-term commitments from the state, even if it has no upfront financial obligation. 'That's a lot of park for somebody to take care of,' she said. 'Those are the kinds of things you have to consider when you're working on these budgets.' Youngkin said Wednesday he was initially resistant to the project because he was not sure the business plan was fully fleshed out. But he said he felt less uneasy after touring the estate with Republican Del. Geary Higgins, whose district includes Oak Hill. 'We had a good visit, and I'm still trying to decide what we do,' Youngkin said. 'No promises, but I'm open-minded.'
