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Page 5 text:
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HISTORY OF SHIP ' S NAMESAKE Gunston Hall, the plantation home of George Mason, exemplifies a great period in the history of Virginia and the nation. Famous for architectural beauty as well as his- torical associations, it remains virtually unchanged from the days when Washington and Jefferson visited here. George Mason (1725-1792) was a statesman and political thinker who played an im- portant but behind-the-scenes role in the founding of our nation. He rarely left his acres on the Potomac, but instead wielded his pen in his lifelong fight for individual rights. In his study at Gunston Hall, Mason drafted the Virginia Declaration of Rights, one of the greatest documents of all time. It was the model for the Federal Bill of Rights of Man, subsequent European governments, and the United Nation ' s Declara- tion of Human Rights. Guston Hall is a story-and-a-half Georgian house made from brick and local Aquia stone. The two outstanding rooms in the house are the dining room, done in the Chi- nese style, and the Palladian Room. The elaborately carved woodwork throughout the house was done by William Buckland. Buckland, a young carpenter and joiner, was brought from England to plan and execute the work. Although he is responsible for many other lovely rooms in Maryland and Virginia; the Palladian Room is consid- ered to be his masterpiece. Gunston Hall was a self-sufficient plantation in the time of George Mason. He owned over 5,000 acres, many of them devoted to growing wheat and tobacco and grazing sheep. Tiny village-like compounds on the grounds provided housing for craftsmen, servants and slaves who lived there with their families. To the east of the Hall is the kitchen yard. Surrounding the original well are the reconstructed kitchen, laundry, dairy, and smokehouse. To the west, the schoolhouse stands on the founda- tion of the original building where Mason ' s nine children studied their lessons. The formal gardens have been carefully restored by the Garden Club of Virginia with documented plants of colonial days. The original English boxwood allee is now some 12 feet high. From the end of the garden, there ' s an unspoiled view over the deer, park to the Potomac, where sailing ships once docked to load Mason ' s crops for ship- ment to Europe.
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Page 6 text:
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OP IHHi SYMBOLISM SHIELD: The colors of the shield are taken from the coat of arms of George Mason, Revolutionary owner of Gunston Hall. The red cross, from the flag of England, reflects his country of origin and source of the name Gunston. The boarder of nine stars represents the nine battle stars earned for World War II and the nine battle stars earned in the Korean War. The red cross also refers to Operation Crossroads, the 1946 series of atomic bomb tests in which USS GUNSTON HALL partici- pated at Bikini Atoll. White, symbolizing high ideals and virtue exemplifies the part that Gunston Hall played in the U.S. Na- vy ' s humanitarian efforts in 1955 to evacuate almost 800,000 refugees from North to South Vietnam, Operation Passage to Freedom. CREST: The sea lion, taken from the device of the first USS GUNSTON HALL, represents here and recalls her long and distinguished service. The torteau refers to the World War II Pacific actions against Japan and the threat of Kamikaze at- tacks. The motto Defending the Constitution is referred to by the parchment in the sea lion ' s grasp, recalling also the Bill of Rights which was based on Virginia ' s Declaration of Rights, au- thored by George Mason. The tower refers to Gunston Hall es- tate and the security provided by the modern Dock Landing Ship. The red fleur-de-lis is adapted from George Mason ' s coat of arms. The grassy knoll stands for the land of Virginia and is a canting reference to the function of the Gunston Hall, i.e., it is an allusion to the landing ship. SEAL: The coat of arms emblazoned upon a white oval en- closed by a blue collar edged on the outside with gold rope and inscribed with the words USS GUNSTON HALL above and LSD 44 below in gold letters. MOTTO: Defending the Constitution.
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