BOSTON (AP) – The USS John F. Kennedy returned to the 35th president’s home state Thursday for the last time before decommissioning later this month.

“Big John,” as the aircraft carrier is called, is making a five-day stop in Boston before heading to Florida for decommissioning, after which it will be placed on inactive status and maintained in Philadelphia.

Frank Tibbetts watched with about 500 people from Castle Island as the Kennedy cruised by with sailors lining its deck. He was one of those sailors from 1970 to 1972.

“I was a young boy on that boat, just a kid,” Tibbetts said. “It was a big time in my life. I was making a buck. I was seeing the world. It was a big thrill.”

Tibbetts, 57, plans to attend the decommissioning ceremony in Florida, as well.

The ship will be docked in South Boston, near the tip of Boston’s Logan International Airport and near Kennedy’s presidential library.

On Friday, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy is scheduled to swear in 300 new U.S. citizens on board the vessel, including several members of the current crew.

The ship will be open to the public Saturday and Sunday.

The ship was christened in May 1967 by the former president’s then 9-year-old daughter, Caroline. It entered Navy service in September 1968.

Kennedy’s maiden voyage was to the Mediterranean in response to instability in the Middle East.

One of two remaining fossil fuel powered aircraft carriers in the Navy, Kennedy supported Operation Desert Shield in 1990, and was deployed in February 2002 to the North Arabian Sea in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Kennedy also supported Operation Iraqi Freedom in June 2004, its airwing dropping more than 54,000 pounds of bombs on Iraq.

Based at Naval Station Mayport, Fla., since September 1995, Kennedy most recently served as a training platform for Navy pilots to obtain carrier landing qualifications.

Kennedy, with a crew of about 4,600, is more than 1,050 feet long, displaces 82,000 tons and can carry 70 combat aircraft.

The ship first visited Boston in 1970 and returned seven more times, most recently in 2005, before Thursday.