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Dear Shipmates, Family & Friends,
New
Year Greetings
In this stage of our lives, time seems to go by much too fast. Last year
another of our crew passed on to meet our supreme commander. Paul
Frazier was gunner officer of the USS RICH DE695. He was tall and
slim, and about five years older than the rest of us, who were on
average 19 years old. The scuttlebutt (at the time) was that when we got
back to the states… LCDR Michel, Capitan of the USS RICH, would
get a new command, and LCDR Pearson, Ex Officer of the ship,
would be the next Captain of the RICH… in turn LT Paul Frazier
would to go be the next Ex-Officer. As you all know, such was not to be.
However, Paul did go on to make the Navy his career and retired
as a Navy Commander. Farewell Paul (see
ENC 1). And Marty, all of our thoughts are with you at this
time and always. A donation has been made in remembrance of Paul
Frazier to the D-Day memorial in Bedford Virginia by the USS RICH
(DE-695) Survivors Association.
We received Christmas cards from Bill Cunningham,
Robert “Bob” Bruno, and Carl Boedecker this year. Some of
you might remember Carl Boedecker's wife (Myrtle) tried
grits for the first time at one of our meetings in Myrtle Beach and fell
in love. In fact, she was so in love with grits that she just had to
have a cookbook on 100 ways to fix them. Carl said she went
through the cookbook so fast, that she wanted to know if there were any
more ways to fix them. So, if you all have any secret recipes for grits…
go ahead and send them on to the Boedeckers! (4929 Whitcomb Dr,
#5, Madison, WI 53711)
I also hear H. B. Sims went on a cruise with a
group of ladies for a week or so. Wonder if this was one of those
“Cougar Cruises” that are talked about on TV? I don't know much about
it, but I do know that I haven't heard from him in about a month, so all
I can say ‘til I hear more is… hang in there Sims!
I am telling you all, this is a long time to remember
about “Doc”, so hang with me now. I was on ship, and didn't think
I would live to see land again, let alone set foot on it. So I slid up
to sick bay and asked Cabibi if he had anything at all for sea
sickness, for I had nothing left in me and the dry heaves were killing
me. He said no, but thought for a moment and said in the small store
there was some honey, and since bees had already digested it, it should
hold down pretty good. So off we went, and I bought a jar – it was my
only hope! I drank that small jar, and it was so sweet and smooth on its
way down. I really thought for a minute that it might work, right up
until it felt like my stomach started on fire. Back to the ships rail I
go, and the sweet taste of honey was gone… replaced by the pure fire
coming up out of my belly. I almost went over the rail in a grand exit
of honey. Yet, some how to this day, I still like honey in my first cup
of coffee in the morning, and “Doc” always comes to mind.
I try to go to as many local veterans’ meetings as I
can each month. One is for the Navy Armed Guard, and there are a lot of
northerners at breakfast and as every southerner knows, it is not
breakfast without grits. But then, other people were ordering apple
sauce, potatoes, etc., with their meal. I was the first to let them know
it just isn't breakfast with such food!
I mean it… when I say that I want other people to have
to some input in our newsletters. I know there are some great writers in
our bunch, so let us hear something from you! Boedecker, you are
a great writer, especially now that you've got a good healthy bowl of
grits in you every morning! I would really appreciate it if you would
send me some of your sea-stories. Then we could get the readers involved
in how it was on the RICH.
Smooth Sailing to
Everyone,
M H Green, Shipmate
315 Kinsey Street
Raleigh NC 27603
M. H. Green
Guy Rich - Frances Livesay
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