Kidd Five generations of the Kidd family gathered in November for the commissioning of the USS New York in New York Harbor.

Matron Evangeline (Edwards) Kidd; son, Kenneth L. Kidd; granddaughter, Kaywin (Kidd) Cottle; great-grandson Timothy L. Kidd; and great-greatgranddaughter Kaydence Kidd posed for photographs aboard the ship with Chaplain Lt. Col. Laura Bender.

Seaman Quartermaster Striker Timothy Kidd is a 2005 graduate of Malad High School in Idaho and a former student at Van Elementary School.

He is a plank owner, or original ship crew member, for the USS New York.

Timothy Kidd is the husband of Brittney (Poen) Kidd, father of Kaydence, son of Danny and Kaywin Cottle (Malad), older brother of Samantha, Brayden and Ashton Cottle, nephew of Jerry Kidd (Van) and Stephen and Melissa Kidd (Chandler).

He is the grandson of Kenneth L. Kidd (Downey, Idaho, and Ben Wheeler), Mildred Smythe (Van), the late Hank (Peg) Corrie (Chandler), Vicki Wright (Arizona), and great-grandson of Evangeline Kidd (Brownsboro).

Timothy Kidd's family was invited to attend the historic ceremonies. The ship honors the victims, heroes, and families of Sept. 11, 2001.

"The family is ecstatic that Tim is a plank owner onboard USS New York," Kaywin Cottle said. "This is his first Navy assignment. Since he joined the military, he has done very well and this assignment is testament to the level of devotion to his duties and service to his country. He recently achieved the rank of E4."

Timothy Kidd was assigned to the ship after completing Quartermaster A School Navy training in Chicago in the Spring. He joined the Navy in January after entering the service through the Navy's Delayed Entry Program.

He finished QM A school in record time with some of the highest scores the Navy has seen. He spent several months as a member of the pre-commissioning crew of 361 getting the ship ready and moved from the Northrop Grumman's Avondale shipyard in Louisiana to the homeport in Norfolk, Va.

On Nov. 7, the USS New York (LPD 21) became part of the fleet in a time-honored tradition at Piers 86 (Intrepid) and 88 in the New York Harbor. The ship was built with more than seven tons of World Trade Centersalvaged steel forged into her bow.

The ship is commanded by native New Yorker Commander F. Curtis Jones.

To honor the occasion, Cottle, speech and English teacher at Preston High, helped the school's Key Club sponsor a book drive for the ship and United Through Reading.

"Because my son and granddaughter are separated from one another at this time in her development, I wanted a way to help keep them connected," Cottle said.

"My son, Timothy, and his wife, Brittney, recorded several books before he left when Kaydence was just a few weeks old.

"Once Tim got to the ship in Louisiana and found out that there were not any books onboard the ship's library yet, I started sending him some books for the crew members and included a couple of children's books so that he could read to Kaydence on the phone. Then I found out about United Through Reading on the Navy website."

The ship's library received its "standard issued" books, so the book drive has concluded with over 550 books collected.The extra books were sent to the Norfolk USO.