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NEW YORK (CBS/AP) ― The historic aircraft carrier USS Intrepid begins the last leg of its two-year renovation on Wednesday, marking the 63rd anniversary of D-Day, one of the most momentous events of World War II.

A ceremony to welcome the Intrepid to Staten Island, and to honor the allies who stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944, is planned at the Homeport Pier.

"We picked D-Day to move Intrepid to commemorate the victorious Normandy landing and to remember the thousands of servicemen who sacrificed and served to save Europe from the ultimate terrorist," Bill White, president of the Intrepid Air, Sea and Space Museum, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Former Intrepid crew members, Commander Eric Christensen of the Coast Guard and public officials are to participate in the laying of a wreath to honor those who lost their lives at D-Day.

The sparkling USS Intrepid is fresh from its body scrub and makeover, including a stem-to-stern painting with 7,000 gallons of traditional naval haze-gray -- enough to cover about 400 large houses.

The 41,000-ton ship turned military museum was refloated over the weekend after two months in drydock in Bayonne, N.J., where it underwent the exterior overhaul, including repairs to its weather corroded keel.

On Staten Island, the war veteran will undergo an extensive interior refurbishment, including the installation of new high-tech exhibits and state-of-the-art visuals and interactive displays. The work is expected to take 18 months to complete.

"The greatest outcome of these renovations would be to bring the ship alive to her old glory days," White said, "to demonstrate how amazing all our service men and women have been and still are in defending our freedom."

"We hope our visitors will leave Intrepid in goosebumps, feeling inspired about our country and our heroes," White added.

Intrepid is scheduled to return to Pier 86 in the Hudson River on Manhattan's West Side on Veterans Day 2008, when "a Superbowl of ship returns" is planned, White said.

The museum will be taking a new "green" approach, changing lighting to conserve energy and requiring vendors to use environmentally friendly material -- even the film used to photograph guests.

The $70 million project, including $8 million in Intrepid renovations and $50 million to rebuild the aging, city-owned Pier 86 -- is being paid for by private contributions and by public funding.

So far, $4.5 million in private and corporate contributions have been raised, with $3.5 million more needed to cover the cost of Intrepid's renovations alone.

The names of supporters will be engraved on a museum memorial wall, said White.

The Intrepid, launched in 1943, survived five Japanese kamikaze suicide plane attacks and lost 270 crew members in the last two years of the Pacific war, spearheading the naval defeat of Japan. It served during World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam wars and as a recovery ship for NASA astronauts.

Doomed for the scrap heap in the early 80s, it was rescued by New York developer Zachary Fisher, who transformed it into a military museum that opened in 1982, recently drawing upwards of 700,000 visitors a year.

If the need arises, it could be used for government emergency operations; it served as an FBI command center after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack.

James Oddo of Staten Island, the City Council minority leader, said nearly everyone in his community has a relative who served or is serving in the armed forces. "We look at Intrepid and we understand what it stands for," said Otto.

The Coast Guard's Christensen said the Intrepid supports all the armed services through its museum, its education programs and its Fallen Heroes Fund for the families of those killed in Iraq.

"It is always there," said Christensen, "to make sure people don't forget."

(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)