The USS Orleck and the Story Behind the Veterans Museum

One of the most decorated destroyers of the post-World War II era, the USS Orleck arrived in downtown Jacksonville, FL, in March 2022. Since then, the historic museum ship has welcomed tens of thousands of visitors from across the nation and around the globe. Yet her most important visitors are the former sailors who once served aboard her. Their stories inspired the very mission of the Veterans Museum.

For decades, former crew members have gathered for reunions organized by the USS Orleck Association and Bob Orleck, nephew of ship namesake Joseph Orleck. Since the ship’s arrival in Jacksonville, those reunions have taken place on the pier alongside the vessel each Veterans Day.

During an annual ceremony of remembrance, former sailors, family members, and friends gather to honor shipmates who have passed, celebrate the ship’s legacy, and–most importantly–reconnect and share stories with old friends and shipmates.

In 2023, members of the Florida Chapter of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America began recording interviews with visiting Orleck Veterans. Those interviews were submitted to the Library of Congress Veterans History Project, ensuring that the sailors’ experiences would be preserved for future generations. Meanwhile, the Jacksonville Historic Naval Ship Association began recording “sea stories” from visiting Orleck sailors to create promotional videos for the museum ship.

Recognizing the value of these firsthand accounts, the newly established Veterans Museum, whose mission is to ensure that no Veteran story is lost, collaborated with the Colonial Dames to share these stories with a wider audience. Using interview footage provided by the Colonial Dames, Veterans Museum video editor Mike Galski transformed lengthy oral histories into short, educational videos lasting just two to three minutes each that visitors to the ship could easily experience and enjoy.

Those videos became the foundation of the Veterans Museum’s first touchscreen storytelling kiosk, installed aboard the USS Orleck in July 2024, just one month after the Museum’s launch.

Later that year, Veterans Museum staff worked alongside the Colonial Dames to conduct additional interviews with former crew members in town for the Veterans Day reunion. These interviews were conducted in a dedicated interview room at the Jacksonville Public Library. Jane Arnold, part of the original team of Colonial Dames interviewing former Orleck sailors, officially joined the Veterans Museum team as an interviewer, bringing invaluable experience and expertise.

This initiative to capture the memories of Orleck sailors has now become an annual Veterans Day tradition at the Veterans Museum. Today, interviews are conducted at the Veterans Museum’s new studio at the Jessie Ball duPont Center in downtown Jacksonville, while staff continue to support the yearly ceremony of remembrance aboard the ship where the Museum’s story began.

To date, the Veterans Museum and the Colonial Dames have interviewed more than 30 Orleck sailors and produced dozens of educational videos from their stories. Their firsthand accounts are now not only a permanent part of the historical record but will also inspire and educate visitors to the USS Orleck for years to come.

By Jennifer Carter, Operations Manager, Veterans Museum  

To learn more about the history of the USS Orleck and how it came to be docked in Jacksonville, read Bob Orleck’s essay, “The Orleck’s Three Lives.”