HOUMA - This Veterans Day marks a historic achievement for the USS Kidd: the ship is finally back in the water.

For the past 14 months, the USS Kidd sat in drydock at Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors.

In November, USS Kidd Veterans Museum Executive Director Parks Stephenson said the once-in-a-generation overhaul saw completion at the shipyard.

"It was really a coincidence that our contract with the shipyard was scheduled to end on November 11 and that she would actually go back into the water on November 11," Stephenson said.

A veteran himself, Stephenson served in the US Navy for 20 years.

"The ship going into the water today on a day that was designed to honor the sacrifices of the veterans, which our museum also does, I mean that’s our whole reason for existence in Baton Rouge, to hon

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