The JEC Middle School went on a sensational field trip to The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, where history learned in the classroom came to life for us. It was so much fun with a lot to see and do.

The museum is not just about the aircraft carrier, The Intrepid, but also about war planes, the space program and even nuclear missiles launched from a real submarine you can actually go inside. In fact, everything at the museum is real, with a lot of hands-on exhibits, which makes this museum so special. Some of the highlights were the history of the Concord, a passenger airplane that could break the sound barrier, and get you to Europe in about two hours. Next to the Concord, is a space simulator you can go inside and feel like you are riding inside a spaceship in outer space.

Once on the Intrepid itself, you can talk to real live veterans who served on the Intrepid during war time. We thanked them for their service before and after they answered so many of our questions.

We also saw real movie footage of kamikaze pilots crashing into the Intrepid during World War II, as well as the story of how the Intrepid stayed afloat after taking a direct hit from a Japanese torpedo. We were able to ride on the original warplane elevator that would bring the planes from down inside the ship to the runway on top of the ship for takeoff into battle.

Next to the aircraft carrier is the Growler, a Cold War-era submarine where nearly everything inside and out is original, and looks untouched. On top of the submarine, there is a nuclear missile that could fly up to 225 feet to its target, if the Growler had ever been ordered to during our Cold War with Russia.

Before we returned to school, we visited the enormous gift shop to get some “merch.” Personally, I found a shirt of the bomber that dropped a nuclear bomb on Japan, the Enola Gay, the most interesting item in the gift shop. I hope to go back to the museum and spend more time exploring areas we didn’t get a chance to this time around.

By Judah Fisch, eighth grade