USS Spiegel Grove Navy veterans to attend bell display dedication at Hayes Museum
When Mike Graham visited the Hayes Presidential Library & Museums on a motorcycle trip in the early 2020s, he wanted to see the bell of the USS Spiegel Grove.
Graham, of Delaware, Ohio, had served on the ship during the Vietnam War, and he is the president of the USS Spiegel Grove Association, an organization of veterans who were deployed on the ship.
He found the ship’s bell in the museum Weapons Room, where it sits on the floor next among displays of military weapons from around the world. Immediately, he felt like it deserved a bigger display with a stand.
So he and the USS Spiegel Grove Association got to work and began consulting with Hayes Presidential staff on what kind of stand would be best. Ultimately, they settled on Curator of Artifacts Kevin Moore’s suggestion to create a wooden pedestal, and the association began raising money for the project.
On Saturday, July 4, which is also America’s 250th birthday (semiquincentennial), the USS Spiegel Grove bell will be unveiled in its new display with two new plaques, an interpretive panel and related artifacts in the lower level of the museum. The ceremony is at 12:30 p.m., and the public is invited to attend. Admission to the ceremony is free.
“It means the world to me and my shipmates,” Graham said. “It’s a tribute to all of the men that served, all of the marines and sailors that served aboard the Spiegel Grove. It’s something that acknowledges their service. My association has been excited and very supportive all along as we’ve been working on this. I’ve kept them abreast as we’ve moved along with it. Everybody’s pretty excited.”
Graham and other veterans from the ship, which include U.S. Navy sailors and U.S. Marines, will be in attendance. There are 110 members of the association, and those who served on the ship when it was commissioned in 1956 are considered “plank owners.”
An estimated six plank owners are still living, Graham said. Suzanne Fitch, wife of plank owner Abe Fitch, who died last year, will attend the ceremony.
The project cost $5,700, and the money was raised through donations by USS Spiegel Grove members, the public and donations in memory of U.S. Navy veteran Richard Keiser to Hayes Presidential for the project.
After the ceremony, guests are invited to stay for the annual Independence Day Concert and other July 4 and America 250 festivities. For information, visit https://www.rbhayes.org/news/2026/06/03/general/celebrate-america-s-250th-birthday-with-a-day-of-events-annual-independence-day-concert-at-hayes-presidential/.
USS Spiegel Grove connection to Hayes Presidential
The ship was named after Spiegel Grove, the estate of 19th U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes and First Lady Lucy Hayes and grounds of the Hayes Presidential Library & Museums.
When the ship was christened, Rutherford and Lucy Hayes’ grandson, Admiral Webb Cook Hayes II and his wife, Martha Baker Hayes, were in attendance. Martha broke a bottle of champagne over the hull, a tradition for new boats. Pieces of that champagne bottle will be on display with the bell.
The ship’s bell has been on loan to Hayes Presidential from the U.S. Navy since 2000.
“While the bell’s placement in the museum’s Weapons Room makes sense thematically, there isn’t enough room in its current location to adequately tell the story of the ship that bore the Spiegel Grove name,” said Kevin Moore, curator of artifacts. “We’re very excited to be moving it into the Local History Section, which will give the bell the kind of display it deserves and allow us to better share the history of USS Spiegel Grove with visitors and display some Spiegel Grove objects from our collection.”
About the USS Spiegel Grove
The Spiegel Grove was built in 1954 by Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation. After it was commissioned in 1956, the ship underwent a two-month cruise off. Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Most of the ship’s active service took place along the U.S. Atlantic Coast and in the Caribbean Sea where its crew participated in amphibious assault exercises alongside the U.S. Marine Corps. However, Spiegel Grove also took part in several notable deployments abroad.
They include a four goodwill missions dubbed Operation Solant Amity led by the U.S. Marine Corps to distribute aid throughout Africa in 1961. The missions addressed humanitarian needs while also advancing U.S. national interests in post-colonial Africa during the Cold War. Spiegel Grove served as the flagship delivering tons of medical supplies, food, toys, books and agricultural supplies to nine countries along the west and east coast of Africa.
In 1964, the ship deployed to Spain to participate in Operation Steel Pike I, the largest peacetime amphibious exercise ever conducted. It involved 28,000 U.S. Marines 2,000 Spanish Marines, 45 amphibious ships, 45 other combatant ships,100 helicopters, 11 submarines and several other support ships.
After the ship was decommissioned, it was sunk in 2002 as part of an artificial reef of the coast off Key Largo, Florida. Today, divers from across the world visit the site. Among them is USS Spiegel Grove veteran Richard Neisch, who is expected to attend the dedication at Hayes Presidential.
About Hayes Presidential
Hayes Presidential is America’s first presidential library and the forerunner of the federal presidential library system. It is partially funded by the state of Ohio and affiliated with the Ohio History Connection. Hayes Presidential is located at Spiegel Grove on Buckland Avenue.
For information, call 419-332-2081, or visit rbhayes.org. Like Hayes Presidential on Facebook and follow on Instagram at rbhayespres and on Bluesky at rbhayespres.bsky.social.