Wooden Model of “Mighty Mo” presented to American Legion Post 182

Mr. Vince Tokarz of North Granby, Connecticut, presented a large and beautifully restored wooden model of the famed battleship USS Missouri to the Granby American Legion Post 182 on Friday, March 24, 2023. Mr. Tokarz salvaged the battered model from the basement of a church in Hartford. Badly needing TLC, he carefully rebuilt the model, often referring to “Mighty Mo: The U.S.S. Missouri - A Biography Of The Last Battleship” for many specific details of the huge ship.

The USS Missouri (BB-63) was an Iowa-class battleship during World War II. Famously, her quarterdeck was the site of the surrender of Japan ending the war. Often called the greatest battleship ever built, the “Might Mo” had nine 16-inch guns that shot 2,700 pound projectiles, twenty 5-inch guns, eighty 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, and forty nine 20 mm auto-cannons. After serving a long and storied career—including service in the Korean War and Operation Desert Storm—the Missouri is now a museum ship at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

The finished pinewood model was originally crafted by Basil W. Matychak, (1922-2011) of Rocky Hill, CT who served in WWII in the Army Air Corps. He was an active member of his local American Legion post and the Russian Orthodox Church in Hartford. Sadly, the model suffered considerable damage while stored in the church’s basement.

Vince Tokarz learned the about the model and rescued it from disposal. Granby Post 182 gratefully received the beautifully restored model and presented Mr. Tokarz with a certificate of appreciation. The restored “Mighty Mo” will stand in an honored place in a custom display case in its new home at American Legion Shannon-Shattuck Post 182, 44 North Granby Road in Granby, CT.