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HISTORIC NAVAL SHIPS ASSOCIATION
CITATION
RUSSELL BOOTH AWARD
TO
STEPHEN O'NEAL
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----It is a distinct honor and pleasure
on behalf of the membership of the Historic Naval Ships Association to present a Russell Booth Award to Stephen
O’Neal, Chairman and CEO of the Education Council for Space Age Technology, Inc., Miami, FL. His firm joined HNSA
as an Associate Member in 1997.
----Steve worked for four
years to save USS CABOT (CVL 28) from being scrapped and to have it as a museum at Miami. He spent countless hours,
exhausting every means to rescue the carrier. Among the organizations he consulted were the U.S. Coast Guard, the
U.S. State Department, the U.S. Department of Justice. the National Park Service, the Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation, the city of Miami, the CABOT-DEDALO Foundation, and the USS CABOT Association. He wrote letters to
presidents and to members of Congress to solicit support. He was successful in this aspect of his campaign, but
not to the point of achieving sufficient funding. He retained an expert in historic ship acquisition projects to
develop a business plan for a museum and consulted frequently with the Historic Naval Ships Association for guidance
and support.
----He pursued the acquisition
task with a passion. He set aside regular duties with his firm to devote time to the project. In late 2000, he
bid against a ship scrapping firm when the ship was put up for auction. He continued to bid until his limit, but
in the end the scrapping firm won. Even after the auction he continued to pursue any possibilities, but none of
those attempts came to fruition.
----Although his is not a
success story in the saving of a ship, Stephen O’Neal is richly deserving of recognition by HNSA for his dogged
determination and devotion to the effort to save USS CABOT. The roads taken and the lessons learned, his work helped
others in the movement and will undoubtably for years to come. As in sports, it is not whether you win or lose
the game, but how you play it. It is a privilege to present this award.
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