Hello Shipmates:
We
apologize for the fact that we haven�t put out a newsletter since April.� We�ve had to take some time off from Tucker
business to host a reunion in
����� Bob Sipole has booked the Beaumont Plaza Holiday Inn for our
next reunion.� I�m not sure if they will
take reservations at this time.� Usually
not if it�s over a year in advance.� Bob
will have tour information and pricing in January 2006.� Full information and an itinerary will be in
the first newsletter in 2006.� He and his
able-bodied helpers will work hard to make this a memorable reunion and we hope
for a very large turnout, especially since so many of you live in
Wed.
November 1 � Sat. November 4
(depart
Sun. November 5)
Beaumont
Plaza Holiday Inn
3950 I H
10,
Local
Tel:� 409-842-5408
Toll Free
Tel:� 877-465-4329
Group
Rate:� $89.00 per night
If booking
online, use Group Booking Code 2-USH
Web
Address:�
http://www.holidayinnbeaumont.com
We
will be ordering some baseball caps with mesh backs.� Some of you have requested them as they are
cooler in the summer.� Our new cap
supplier is one of our own, Chuck Hughes.�
The caps are of excellent quality.�
If you would like to order one, please see the last page of this
newsletter and be sure to specify that you would like the mesh back cap.
On
August 29 the
At
the
We
have been in contact with some of our shipmates who live in Louisiana,
Mississippi and Alabama, including Chuck Ruth and Louie Duke in MS, Aubrey
Quebedeaux in Louisiana and Ron Holt in Alabama.� All came through the storm OK.� Some had minor damage and lost trees, but
that is nothing.� They are alive and
well!� We look forward to seeing them in
We
have lots of additions to the crew list this time, as well as to the memorial
list.� Bob Miller, as usual, has been
busy.� We welcome all of our newly found
shipmates.� We hope you enjoy the
newsletters and will attend the reunion in
����� If
you have moved or changed your email address, please let us know as soon as
possible.� If you receive your
newsletters via paper mail and have an email address, please send us your email
address.� The more newsletters we send
via email, the lower the postage and printing costs are.� Pat has begun posting the newsletter on the
website in �web page� format as well as PDF.�
Those of you who have had problems opening the PDF document might be
able to open the �HTML� version.� If you
can, please let us know so we can remove you from the �snail mail� list and add
you to the email list.
We
had a call from Erik Mezger, who attended the reunions in
If
you have information on shipmates who are ill, we�d like to know about it.� Please either write, call or email (contact
information on the last page of this newsletter).� Also, if you know the addresses, etc. of
shipmates who are not on our mailing list, please let us know or tell them to
contact Bob Miller at
[email protected].� We
currently have over 1,600 shipmates, living or deceased on the database, but we
know there are many more out there.
����������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Fair
winds and smooth sailing,
����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Bill
& Pat Siler
Additions to the Crew List
Ayers, Peter T.
FT3, 66-67
Barton, Brady W. �Bart�
SN, 70-71
Black, Steven P. �LC�
BT2, 64-68
Blackshere, Benny L.
SN, 60-62
Bonner, Robert A. �Bob�
SN, 68
Bower, Robert B.
FN, 49-50
Burns, Martin J. �Marty�
MM3, 68-70
Busby, James
SK3, 64-67
EM2, 69-71
Chandler, Myron H.
DC3, 56-59
Cisneros,
RD2, 59-62
Cunningham, Ronald L. �Ron�
HT3, 71-73
Dinwiddie, James D.
BTC, 71-73
Ditta, Frank A.
SN, 68-70
Dorris, Jack M.
FN, 49-50
Golden, William E.
EN3, 72-73
Grogg, Bruce M.
SN, 62-64
Hedges, Charles E. �Chuck�
�Charlie�
CS2, 56-57
Keck, William C.
LTJG, 71-72
Largent, William E. �Bill�
FTG2, 56-59
Lerner, Albert M. �Pete�
LTJG, 57-59
Macomber, James H. �Billy
Boot�
SN, 70-72
Manley, Eugene B.
EN3, 50-51
Marchese, William �Duke�
RM3, 64-67
Murphy, Peter
RM3, 72-73
Owens, Jerald R. �Jerry�
SN, 57-61
Pierson, Leon C.
RM1, 68-69
Pirtle, Ronald L.
EM3, 68-69
Rafferty, Robert B.
FTG2, 55-57
Richards, Stewart W. �Rev�
RD1, 52-55
Rolando, Orville F. �Chuck�
BT2, 64-69
Schmidt, Hans P. �Pete�
EM3, 64-66
Seals II, Walter B. �Walt�
FT3, 55-57
Singley, Durward W.
SN, 49-50
Swayzee, Kenneth W.
GMM3, 65-67
Sweany, Jimmy D. �Jim�
GMMC, 69-72
Whitson, Kenneth R. �Ken�
AT1, 67-70
Williams, George M. �Willie�
SN, 53-55
Wright, David L.
EM2, 68-71
Zumwalt, Arnold R. �Zummy�
SA, 49-50
Zuniga,
FA, 69-70
Additions to the Memorial List
Badger, Robyn L. �Bob�
ENS, 53-55
Bager, Thomas �Tom�
LT, 50-53
Bash, Richard D.
GM3, 55-57
Carpenter, William C. �Bill�
LTJG, 47-49
Cichirillo, Sam P.
SN1/c, 45-47
DeMoss, Clarence M. �Mike�
SN, 64-66
Duffey, William E.
BM3, 50-51
Ellis, Sam
LTJG, 65-67
Frei, Raymond T.
BT3, 57-59
Gardner, David L.
ENS, 47-48
Gentry,
SN, 48-50
Gibson, Donald K.
SN, 63-65
Weber, David W.
ET1, 50-51
Working, Patrick L.
ENS, 47-48
Wright, Kenneth M.
SN, 61-64
Got this some time ago from Bill Hargraves.� I�m sure you all can relate to it.
There was a time when everything you owned had to fit
into your seabag. Remember those nasty rascals? Fully packed, one of the
suckers weighed more than the poor devil hauling it.
The damn things weighed a ton and some idiot with an
off-center sense of humor sewed a carry handle on it to help you haul it. Hell,
you could bolt a handle on a Greyhound bus but it wouldn't make the damn thing
portable.
The Army, Marines and Air Force got footlockers and
we got a big ole' canvas bag.
After you warped your spine jackassing the goofy
thing through a bus or train station, sat on it waiting for connecting
transportation and made folks mad because it was too damn big to fit in any
overhead rack on any bus, train and airplane ever made, the contents looked
like hell. All your gear appeared to have come from bums who slept on park
benches.
Traveling with a seabag was something left over from
the "Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum" sailing ship days. Sailors used to
sleep in hammocks. So you stowed your issue in a big canvas bag and lashed your
hammock to it, hoisted it on your shoulder and in effect moved your entire home
and complete inventory of earthly possessions from ship to ship. I wouldn't say
you traveled light because with one strap it was a one-shoulder load that could
torque your skeletal frame and bust your ankles. It was like hauling a dead
linebacker.
They wasted a lot of time in boot camp telling you
how to pack one of the suckers. There was an officially sanctioned method of
organization that you forgot after ten minutes on the other side of the gate at
Great Lakes or
Within six months, every fleet sailor was down to one
set of dress blues, port and starboard undress blues and whites, a couple of
white hats, boots, shoes, assorted skivvies, a peacoat, and three sets of
bleached out dungarees. The rest of your original issue was either in the
peacoat locker, lucky bag, or had been reduced to wipe down rags in the engine
room. Underway ships were not ships that allowed vast accumulation of private
gear.
Hobos who lived in discarded refrigerator crates could
amass greater loads of pack rat crap than fleet sailors. The confines of a
canvas back rack, side locker and a couple of bunk bags did not allow one to
live a Donald Trump existence. Space and the going pay scale combined to make
us envy the lifestyle of a mud hut Ethiopian. We were the global equivalents of
nomadic Mongols without ponies to haul our stuff.
And after the rigid routine of boot camp we learned
the skill of random compression packing...known by mother's world-wide as
'cramming'. It is amazing what you can jam into a space no bigger than a
breadbox if you pull a watch cap over a boot and push it in with your foot. Of
course it looks kinda weird when you pull it out but they never hold fashion
shows at sea and wrinkles added character to a salty appearance. There was a
four-hundred mile gap between the images on recruiting posters and the actual
appearance of sailors at sea. It was not without justifiable reason that we
were called the tincan Navy.
We operated on the premise that if 'Cleanliness was
next to Godliness', we must be next to the other end of that spectrum... We
looked like our clothing had been pressed with a waffle iron and packed by a
bulldozer.
But what in the hell did they expect from a bunch of
jerks that lived in the crews hole of a 2250 Gearing Class can.
After a while you got used to it... You got used to everything you owned
picking up and retaining that distinctive aroma...
You got used to old ladies on busses taking a couple
of wrinkled nose sniffs of your peacoat then getting up and finding another
seat...
Do they still issue seabags? Can you still make five
bucks sitting up half the night drawing a ships picture on the side of one of
the damn things with black and white marking pens that drive old master-at-arms
into a 'rig for heart attack' frenzy? Make their faces red... The veins on
their neck bulge out... And yell," Jeezus H. Christ! What in god's name is
that all over your seabag?" "Artwork, Chief... It's like the work of
Michelangelo...My ship... Great huh?" "Looks like some damn comic
book..."
Here was a man with cobras tattooed on his arms... A
skull with a dagger through one eye and a ribbon reading 'DEATH BEFORE SHORE
DUTY' on his shoulder...Crossed anchors with 'Subic Bay 1949' on the other
shoulder... An eagle on his chest and a full blown Chinese dragon peeking out
between the cheeks of his butt.
If anyone was an authority on stuff that looked like
a comic book, it had to be this E-7 sucker.
Sometimes I look at all the crap stacked in my
garage, close my eyes and smile, remembering a time when everything I owned
could be crammed into a canvas bag. Maturity is hell.
Contact
Information
J.W. "Bill" Siler, Jr. BTC USNR Ret Tel:�
540-483-5727 Email (Bill): [email protected] Email (Pat): [email protected] Website
http://www.hwtucker2000.com |
|
Baseball
Caps
Baseball caps are available.� They are US made, Navy Blue with the ship's
name and hull number in gold.� Ship profile
is in white. They are available in solid cloth and mesh back.� Please specify when ordering. To
order, send a check for $12.00 (covers postage) payable to: � Henry W.
Tucker Send the check to the address at the left. |
USS
Henry W. Tucker DD/R 875
|