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Spring, 2008 |
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Dear Shipmates, Family & Friends, First off, lets talk about the upcoming Reunion. I’d also like to thank H. B Sims for his phone call this morning. He informed me that his daughter, Cindy, has volunteered to make arrangements in Lynchburg for our Reunion - - June 5 , 6, 7, 8. Arrival on the “5th” has been added, so we can drive over to Bedford on the morning of the 6th for the D-Day Memorial Service. Like last year, we will be staying at the Ramada Inn, 3436 Odd Fellows Rd, Lynchburg, VA 24501. The room-rate is $62.00 per night (plus tax), including a complimentary hot breakfast. Each person needs to make their reservation by June 1st, 2008, to get the group rate. Call: (434) 847-7500 (mention group Confirmation Number is G00045-43). A hospitality suite is included. Now, we can talk about other things. A friend of mine, C. A. Lloyd --chairman of the Navy Armed Guard, gave me a copy of the January 2008 edition of their magazine “The Pointer”. You are not going to believe this, but there is still a Destroyer Escort in active service! While in the US Navy, her name was USS Atherton (DE-169). She is now proudly serving the Philippine Navy as Rajah Humabon II. Prior to this, she served the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force for many years as the Hatsuhi (DE-263). If you want to know more about DE’s, we suggest that you contact Patricia R. Perrella, curator of the USS Slater (DE-766). I had always been under the impression that 79 of the Rich’s service men were either KIA or MIA in the war. However, the other day I was reading a book about Destroyer Escorts, and I was astounded to find out that the number was actually 91. A thank you to Virginia Calabrese and Paul Frazier for their donations to the USS Rich, thank you again. We recently heard from Lt. Thibaut, who is currently at port of call in Djibouti. He informed us that he and his fiancé, Claire, are planning a wedding for September 20, 2008. The wedding service will be taking place at the Blois Cathedral with a dinner to follow in the Chateau d’ Chambord. We want to congratulate Thibaut on this wonderful occasion, and we wish him and his bride many, many years of happiness. We look forward to another email soon. We would like to thank Doris Holler and the others for their cards. We all continue to remember the wonderful times Doris gave us in Oklahoma. Oh, the people there were so wonderful to us. We cannot thank Doris, her friends, and the church enough for all the sight seeing... and that ice cream, we’ll never forget. Thank you! Now that we are on the subject, how about you people in Oklahoma sharing some of your snow and rain. Well... not so much the snow, we just need the water. We are not asking for all that much of it though, just enough to get us by. We’ve been in the midst of a drought for over a year now, and have experienced little relief. State wide water restrictions are helping some, but we still need the rain! Our hearts and thoughts go out to Jane and Roy Hudson, during their battle against cancer. We’ll all be praying for them and hoping to see them soon. We also want to note that Bea Hicks is in a rest home. She and Bennie have been married for 63 years. Ed Black was kind enough to let us know about the misfortune in Berman Scott’s extended family. As I understand it, Berman’s granddaughter-in-law was burned to death in a house fire. The fire was at 6AM on Sunday morning (4-20-08) in Roanoke VA. According to the newspaper write-up, the two great grand-children were visiting with Berman at the time, and the grandson was at a golf tournament in North Carolina. Our thoughts are with Berman and Ruth in these trying times. We would like to thank the USS Rich (DD-820) for sending us the obituary of our shipmate Joseph Korch of Warminster PA. Thanks go to Joe Koenig and Marshall K. DuBois of the DD-820. (USS Rich Association, 8926 Phyliss Ave., Sarasota FL 34236 email: shipoffice@ussrich.org) Information has been received on the death of Ruth Doody (wife of Frank Doody), who passed away on April 18, 2008. Our thoughts are with their family at this time. If you wish to send cards or thoughts, the address is:
I’d like to end this letter by thanking all of our volunteers for their
hard work and dedication. Without each and every one of our volunteers
and their efforts, I don’t know where we would be... so thank you all
again. |
