SERVING on board a US Navy ship built from the mangled girders of the Twin Towers is a long way from home for a former local man.Adam Drewry-Ledet, 29, is a logistics specialist on board the newly-built USS New York which has yet to go to sea.

SERVING on board a US Navy ship built from the mangled girders of the Twin Towers is a long way from home for a former local man.

Adam Drewry-Ledet, 29, is a logistics specialist on board the newly-built USS New York which has yet to go to sea.

However, it was not so long ago that it was the coast of Norfolk in East Anglia, rather than Norfolk, Virginia, that was his home.

Born in Great Yarmouth, Adam has spent a lifetime moving between the two shores after his mother, Trudy Drewry, met an American, Mark, who was working offshore on rigs.

The pair married in 1975 and made their home in the area but after separating for six years, the couple reunited and the family moved to New Orleans.

However, things didn't work out and when Adam was 12 it was back from the city of jazz and straight into Caister High School before moving on to Great Yarmouth College.

During that time he also worked at the Hippodrome Circus and Rosies nightclub.

However, Adam, who is now married to an American and has three young children, has always been drawn to the Navy, and after a stint with Anglia Railways, the attraction of sea life pulled him away from Britain once again.

“Before I joined the Navy I was finding my feet, but because of my dad's nationality I couldn't get into the British Navy. I've always had a huge interest in that side of the world when it comes to the military and both my grandfathers were in the Navy so it was off to America.”

Now, after further training, he is on board the USS New York, which has 7.5 tonnes of World Trade Centre steel in it.

Adam said: “I picked this ship to work on because it symbolises that which can come back from any kind of tragedy. The ships motto is 'Never Forget', and that's for all the people who lost their lives that day.”

Adam has only had the chance to return home once since he left for America, but he is keen to see his mother, who still lives in Caister, and sister Marnie, 33, who works at The Windmill mini golf centre, as well as relatives in Hemsby.

His mother, meanwhile, is hoping to make a long distance journey of her own.

Mrs Ledet said: “Although I'm terribly proud, I miss him and the grandchildren, so I want save up and see if I can go over to America next year.

“He was such a skinny lad when he left that I never expected him to make it through boot camp but he has always wanted to do something interesting with his life and now he has found his goal.”