Spring 1999

Good evening Mr. & Mrs. North and South America and all the ships at sea - let’s go to press! Does that clarion call by Mr. Winchell take you back in time? I heard it many times on that old Silvertone after I had finished with another memorable call - a fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty Heigh-O-Silver. Sometimes I had to put my ear up very close to the speaker to hear these words because my Dad had not taken the car battery which powered the radio to town for recharging - maybe because he didn’t have the spare dollar it cost for that service. Excuse me for lapsing into the past like this but, in light of what our illustrious leaders in Washington have put me through since the last edition, I kind of have a hankerin’ to go back to some of those "good old days". One retired commander out East thought it had gotten so bad that he picked up my e-mail address out of a reunion notice in TROA and requested that I join him in the old Navy distress signal of flying the flag upside down. Shipmates - if someone or something doesn’t change the attitudes of people as to what is right and what is wrong, I think this great country of ours is in for some perilous times ahead.

That opening line of Walter Winchell is no longer adequate to cover our mailing list as the recent search effort has turned up shipmates in the Philippines and in Norway. And we are only MT and ID away from having residents in all 50 states. Will someone out there from those two states please report in.

Just after I sent out the fall newsletter, I had to change network suppliers for my Internet service. That, of course, necessitated a change in the address for the ship’s web page - it is now www.theriver.net/~gfrank and my e-mail address is now gfrank@theriver.net. In the update my son did for me while he was home for Christmas, we have added some pictures and other memorabilia. If you have a relative with Internet service, or if you can get on at work, school, or your local library, I think you will enjoy what you see there. .If you change e-mail addresses (or discontinue your service) please let me know so that you won’t miss out on future newsletters.

I have been on the phone with Tom Schlundt this week and it sounds like he has things all ready for the 1999 reunion in Vegas. Reservations may be made at the Imperial Palace hotel at 1-800-800-2981. Be sure to tell them that you are with the Great Sitkin reunion. The cutoff date has been set at Aug 9 and you may cancel within 48 hours of arrival. After that, it will cost you a forfeit of one night’s room rate. The rate is $59 on Friday and Saturday and $49 for all other days. That rate will also apply to 3 days before or after our Sep. 9-11 reunion dates if you want to stay longer. You may be able to get a reservation after the cutoff date but it may cost you a little more. So that there are no hidden surprises, there will be a 9% county tax added to the room rate. Our buffet dinner on Saturday night will cost $29 plus 17% gratuity and 7% tax. The hotel is host to an antique car show which we will all receive complimentary tickets to see and a hospitality room will be available from noon on Thursday till noon on Sunday. Tom is suggesting that we take in the show at the hotel called "Legends in Concert" at a ticket price of $29.50 (which includes 2 free drinks and tips) if there are 25 or more in the group. He also suggests that we consider the "American Superstars" show next door at about $45 per person. As I’m sure you are all aware, Vegas is much like Branson with many shows to take in. But, without using a concierge service at the hotel to get the tickets, it will be very difficult to take the whole reunion group to many of these shows. Tom also points out that there are lots of free shows to see in Vegas including a laser light show several blocks long. I believe that is located 7-8 blocks away from Imperial Palace. Your food bill for the whole weekend can be averaged out by taking in some of the public buffets which run as little as 2-for-$6 for breakfast and $6-10 per person for lunch.

With little else to occupy my time this winter, I have put considerable effort into the finding of more shipmates. As I have said before - one of the holes in my rosters has been the officers from 50-53. I got a big assist on that when ChMach Kamman provided me with the wardroom mess list for Christmas dinner in 1952. That same evening I located Gunner Pecotte. Then I found a listing for Engineering Off. Crooke which matched the right initials and he was on the address list. Next - Ens. Buz Reiger chipped in with the first name of Lt. Gross and I found him that day. Conversation with Sandy dropped the fact that Lt. G. P. O’Neil, my first supply officer (and one of the truly nice people I encountered during my 7 year stay in the Navy) was an Academy man. I e-mailed that fact to John Snyder and asked him to see if their alumni assn could find someone by that name. A couple days later he came through with an address in MA which I was able to find in the phone program and another find had been made. Buz had also provided me with the address of Ltjg Lindley in Norway and I later found Bill Bernhart. All that from that one little Xmas menu.

Others for whom addresses are now available, all since the last newsletter are: Frederick Rohrer EMC 71-73, Peter Gaedeke FTG3 66-67, Cliff Hoffman SN 60-62, Larry Furgason EN3 63-64. James Perko BM3 60-63, Clayton Bahl SN 48-50, Ronald Stobert MM3 63-65, George Foras RM3 58-59, Harry Bartow FA 48-49, Aldo Mignanelli S2c 46-?, Charles Gillians ET2 60-61, Leo Wise ETN3 71-?, Phillip Gutt SN 64-65, Howard Soli SN 61-63, Thor Roff SFP2 60-64, Allen Schade BM2 66-70, Romulo Quintos YN2 60-62, Ed Pacult SK3 60-63, Phillip Quinby BM3, 65-68, Gary Marquis SN 65-68, Steven Slovensky SK2 68-70, Tyrone Patrick SA 60-63, Stephen Banyacski SA 59, Bill Weisenstein GM3 65-67, William Strouse SN 63-?, James Wasklewicz MM2 63-64, Dennis Veneigh SN 67-68, Robert Verborg RD3 60-64, Ronald Verborg SK3 58-60, Victor Venette MM3 63-66, Woodrow Prouty RM2 63-64, Lewis Pridmoore RDSN 61-62, Floyd Littleton ENS 61-62, Stanley Regula MM2 68-69, Clark Risley EN3 66-68, Donald Mikuleky HM3 ?-67, Arnold Lema ENS 61-62, Richard Rahill DC1 64-65, William Rodrick SN 62-64, Harold Schreck FN 46-48, Gary Saleh BM3 66-68, Wayne Shepard BM3 66-67, Joseph Sborz ETRSN 71-73, Joseph Skoczynski IC3 67-68, Howard Schalk EM3 72-73, Roscoe Rousey BT3 68-69, Alfred Muraska GM2 56-65, David Mogill Ltjg 58-60, Dwight Plymale RM2 59-62, Charles Overeem ET2 59-60, Douglas Maggard GM2 57-61, Gerald Strayer BMSN 54-57, Larry Koester FA 55-56, Richard Ribbe LT 57-58, Leo Shafer SA 54-56, Howard Tonning BM2 58-60, Ray Ford QM2 59-63, Fred Rabideau SM1 58-59, Jerry Neeland RM3 55-56, William Ratteree SN 68-69, Everette Sigler SN 68-69, George Halter SM3 59-60, Ronald McIlhenny QMSN 51-52, Hatherly Souther RMN2 50, 51, John Koeck SN 58-61, Robert Gonyo FN 57-59, Daniel Sherrange ENS 69-?, Fred Rothe QM3 67-69, Raymond Thull GMSN 69-70, William Simane FCSN 54-57, Gordon Straw BMSN 58-60, Jon Throckmorton SA 58-59, Harold Beachnau SN 57-?, Jon Gartner EM3 57-59, Peter Mussberger QMSA 63-64, George Rotoli EM1 56-58, Frank Sagmeister BM3 68-71, Ed Beikirch SN 61-63, Lenox Abbott SK2 68-71, Fred Ausemus DC2 68-69, Edwin Hodgin S1c Plankie-45, George Inch FTSN, 55-56, Ralph Baggitt SH1 66-71, Walter Teuber YN3 56-58, Lewis Witwer GMSN 53-55, John Bisbing MM2 57-60, Merrill Brunson DKSN 50-51, Clarence Gokay CSC 57-60, Donald Mathias HM1 67-68, Daniel Sheehy SN 66-70, Henry Blizzard Ltjg 62-64, Carl Ross Ltjg 62-65, John Antonia GM3 48, David Atterbury SA 49, Robert Planco MMFN 67-68, Earl Taylor SK1 61-63, Jerry Krauss QM2 57-61, Norman Johnson MM3 53-56, Wallace Burbine S1c Plankie-46, and Ed Rulenz S1c Plankie-46. Calls that were answered by widows or other relatives of deceased shipmates include: Alex Hallberg Ltjg 72, Charles Chattom MEFN 48-50, Ludrick Menard IC2 58-62, Stanley Siebold SN 54-57, Donald Kadlec SK3 56-58, Andrew Pratt ChGunner 53, John Luviano Ltjg 51, Thaddeus Borkowski S1c 48-49 and (a guy whom I pulled a couple liberties with) Steven Hugya SH1 the ship’s barber in 52. Since the last newsletter we have also learned of the passing of Vito Adamo, Howard "Dusty" Rhodes, and Gary Potts Plankie GM1 The one that really took the wind out of my sails was a call from Dennis Crewes in early November to tell me that Lewis Hayes’ wife had found him dead from a heart attack just one year after his first one and only a couple months after we had met him in Gatlinburg for his first reunion. .None of us can tell when our name is going to appear on that ship’s honor roll so it is a good idea to make the most we can out of each day He gives us.

I have a new supply of Sitkin caps (still $5 + $1 for shipping) but, please send your checks for caps, pins, and dues made out to the Great Sitkin Assn to our treasurer Adelmo Costantini at 67 Edgecliff Terrace, Yonkers, NY 10705. I have also recently received from Ed Beikirch a pair of 8x10 glossies of the ship - port and starboard views. He says they are available for $6 each including mailing. Send your orders to him at P. O. Box 165, Little Hocking, OH 45742.

We have discussed on several occasions the possibility of getting shirts with the ship on them. I get lots of junk mail because of the reunion notices running in various publications. Mostly, it’s everyone wanting our reunion business and occasionally it represents one of those get-rich-quick investment schemes which I can barely resist long enough to get to the circular file. (In case you haven’t figured it out, I don’t have the time of day for ANY telemarketers.) I did receive a flyer recently from a company in WA specializing in military patches and logos. I have talked to a sales rep of theirs to get the costs for several items and here’s what I found: We can get cotton placket shirts with pocket (what I call a golf shirt) with the ship’s name and number embroidered over the pocket for about $18 plus a buck or so for mailing out to you. They are available in medium to extra large sizes and would be either Navy w/gold lettering or white w/ black lettering. Adding a silhouette of the ship (such as the one on our current caps) would increase the cost of this first order (setup charges) by about $2 per item. We can also get sweatshirts in the same color combinations for about $19 plus a buck for mailing.. We would need a minimum order of 36 pieces total, shirts and sweatshirts. Let me know whether there is enough interest out there to pursue this further. How about a lightweight windbreaker jacket? We could also get those with ship’s logos on them.

My other ship, the USS Chilton APA-38, is bringing their reunion to Branson in October so I will probably take that in . And the AE Assn. is meeting in St. Louis this year. I don’t expect to see any Sitkin sailors up there but I will go up, mainly to disseminate some of this microfilm data I have on most of the other AEs. If this isn’t enough reunioning for me this year, I’m working right now on plans to reunite all the people who worked at the nuclear fuel plant from 1956-1974. There will be people there whom I have not seen in 35-40 years. If everyone who has said they will "see you in Vegas" makes it, we will probably have the largest group of Sitkin sailors to-date also.

What with our boys basketball team coming up against the top-seeded team in the state at sectionals last week means we are not in Columbia this weekend for the state championships. And the Missouri Tigers showed last night that they didn’t want to be one of the Final Four. So - it’s back to the gardening and grass cutting while I await the summer of reunions ahead.