Three historic ships like those that stormed the beaches of Normandy could return to Baltimore this summer.
Forrest Taylor, of Sams Creek Road in New Windsor, is restoring three historic Higgins boats ? the small, single-propeller landing crafts that carried soldiers ashore during World War II ? and the military is negotiating to use them in area museums and live demonstrations.
“The term for it lately is ?living history,? ” said Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Williams, director of operations for the U.S. Marine Corps Historical Co.
“It?s looking at large-scale artifacts ? not just putting them behind glass, but making them operational. It gives people a much more tactile experience.”
Taylor?s Higgins boats originally were built in the 1940s and could have been used in the South Pacific, he said. They were given a complete overhaul in the late 1960s for the Vietnam War, reinforcing the original wooden hull with sturdier Fiberglas and armor plating.
While Taylor would remain the owner, the boats would be placed in the care of the local Navy Reserves or a nonprofit, which would maintain them, Williams said.
The Liberty Ship Project in Baltimore could receive one of the boats, since ships like the project?s S.S. John W. Brown occasionally carried them when acting as troop transports.
On Aug. 6, the boats will be used in a full-scale Marine landing demonstration at Solomons Island in southern Maryland, celebrating Solomons? role as the country?s first amphibious assault training base, Williams said.
Last used in Iceland as movie props for “Flags of Our Fathers,” the three boats were purchased from Warner Bros. for an undisclosed sum and are being reconditioned in Dillsburg, Pa., by Taylor?s business partner, Michael Sunday.
