Servicepeople help restore, maintain historic Battleship

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - More than 30 people who serve our country in the military spent their Saturday serving Mobile through volunteerism.

They helped out by working to restore and maintain the Battleship USS Alabama, a sometimes time consuming undertaking.

Michael Ballin said, "One of the workers here told me that, just working on the front part, it took over five years to get that completed."

Most of the group from Naval Hospital Pensacola scraped the walls and put on new coats of paint.

They're a group of active duty volunteers who come on a monthly basis to help in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The volunteers all have their own reasons for showing up.

"Anything we can do to help out to, one, remember our history, remember the people who did it, and just to help preserve that history, we're willing to do," Ballin said.

After the work, the volunteers enjoyed a pizza lunch courtesy of the battleship staff.