The way Iowa looked when I reported aboard in January, 1987. (credit: US Navy/National Archives)

Today is Veterans Day in the US, and we wanted to recognize the Ars readers and staff who’ve served by resurfacing former Navy man Sean Gallagher’s trip to his old home, the USS Iowa. His piece originally ran on May 15, 2015.

A few months ago, as I was planning to head out to California for Microsoft’s Build developer conference in San Francisco, I decided I needed to stretch the trip a bit further to the south—down to the Port of Los Angeles to visit the Pacific Battleship Center, the home of the battleship USS Iowa.

I served on the Iowa for two years in the late 1980s, and that experience was life-changing. But I had not had a chance to see the ship in over 26 years—my last visit had been in late April of 1989, weeks after an explosion in the ship’s second 16-inch gun turret took the lives of 47 men. Many of those who died had worked in my division aboard Iowa; others had been colleagues and friends.