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USS McMorris (DE1036) Volume 3, Issue 2 / Website Edition (Spring/Summer2002) |
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In This Issue: · Editors Note · New Arrivals · Reunion Information · Tour of the Website · Dues · Wrap Up · Contact Information |
Defender of Liberty! |
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Editors Note The Summer of 2002 is almost upon us. Spring clean up in the yard and house cleaning are traditional chores that we all do. Thinking about shedding those pounds that accumulated during the winter, are you? Possibly, you are planning your vacation time, and hopefully you are planning to join us in Las Vegas, NV for our Third reunion at the Tropicana Hotel and Resort. The third reunion has the potential to be our biggest turnout to date, partly because Las Vegas is relatively inexpensive to get to and stay in. It also has great potential because our ranks are growing by the day, which provides us a greater percentage of people who will attend. We will do our traditional "Welcome Aboard" for new arrivals later in the newsletter. However, the biggest reason why I think this will be our best turnout, is because of the great time all of you have been experiencing at the first two reunions. Charleston 97 was a blast because it was the first and it was simple. Charleston was the place where life on the Mac began. Young men stood on the dock in 1960, assembled for the first time, ready and able to board the ship and give it life. What was nice, was to see a good handful of those "Plank Owners" come back and renew their bond once again. It was so great to see friends for the first time in 30 plus years, but also to meet new people with something in common, who have become lifelong friends. We have shared in our joys and our sorrows long after the party was over. San Diego 00 was a wonderful assembly of even more shipmates who came together for the first time and mixed in well with those who had attended the first reunion. A good time was had by all, with the festive atmosphere of a Tropical Hawaiian evening as the capstone to the week's success. Pictures of the San Diego reunion are posted to the website. We still need to identify some of you so we can add your name to the caption. Las Vegas 02 is designed to provide some group activities, which are fully described in the Reunion information section of the website, but also allows you plenty of free time to mingle with old and new friends in the city that never sleeps there to play as you wish to your hearts content. We are going paperless as much as possible with the on-line newsletter. The newsletter is traditionally mailed out quarterly, but in an effort to reduce costs and the time it takes to prepare for mailing, it is posted on-line ONLY, for your convenience. There will be one more newsletter prior to the reunion posted around August/September. Hopefully, by then, there will be many more of us who have checked in, and planning on attending the Las Vegas reunion. While all of this stuff is going on, many other things have been happening that require mentioning. There is no doubt, we are a family of friends who either served together, or who have a common link by having served on the McMorris during her fourteen year history. I have mentioned many times how much the friendship of people like yourself meant to me, and when someone has fallen down, you are there to help. I need to mention that one of the distinguished members of our ranks and a true friend of mine, and yours, recently suffered a stroke. I would ask that you keep Captain Ralph Spencer in your thoughts. I understand from his wife Mary, he is doing fine, but has been unable to speak. He is up and around from what I gather, but I know that Ralph has real fighting spirit and will recover from his difficulties. I also want to mention that Mr. James Pike, my Boatswain mate buddy, has had recent surgery and is doing well. Your thoughts to Jim are also appreciated. Jim tells me, he is getting back to fighting weight and is as feisty as ever. Our best to him. I was saddened to learn that one of the Plank Owners and two time attendee of our reunions, RMC James Maxwell lost his wife Dolly some time back. Dolly attended Charleston and while I wasn't at San Diego, I believe she was there as well. Your thoughts to Jim and his family. I know there are probably others who have suffered loss or experienced difficulty, and if I am kept abreast of these things, we will certainly mention them. I am pleased to note that many of you are doing quite well, and have family members, such as sons and daughters, who have made you quite proud. As a final note, I want to mention that as an organization, we personally donated one thousand dollars to the New York City disaster relief fund and the McMorris Reunion Group, was personally thanked by the Governor of New York, George Pataki. I know that this money was needed and went to a good cause. |
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New Arrivals
There is no doubt the McMorris website has become well read by many of our own ranks and by others interested in the Traditions of the US Navy. More on our website in the next section. The real exciting thing is that we continue to see more and more of our crewmembers find us an check in on the website guestbook. Our tradition in the newsletter, is to "Welcome Aboard" new arrivals. What we hope is that one of your old shipmates has checked in and you are able to reconnect with them. That is one of the main things this group is meant to do, which is to provide a way for you to find your friends and hopefully meet up once again and lift a glass in drink for friendship and camaraderie. Here are the latest arrivals: Sancho Mendoza (SN 73-74), Dennis Jose (HTFN 73-74), Mike Milligan (GMGSN 73-74), Bill Walker (EN3 64-65), Richard Mason (BM2 68-69), Duane Baumgartner (ENCS 69-71), Thomas Springer (FT2 and now CWO3 60 Plank Owner), William Croft (PN2 64-66), Tom Lyons (RMSN 64-65). Welcome aboard to all. While I continue to suffer database problems with my roster, I would have to guess our current ranks are close to 300 people. This is in no small part due to our website presence, giving us the opportunity for your shipmates and mine, to find us on the worldwide web. We will take a tour of the website shortly, so you know what is new and to make sure you know where to find things. |
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Reunion Information We already have about 21 early birds registered to join us in Las Vegas, and it is still early. The opportunity to join us is still yours for the choosing. Complete reunion information, itinerary and on-line registration form is located under the Reunion Information bar on the website. Simply click on the high lighted "featured" item and you will then be instructed on what to do. Our friend and my "Ace" in the whole who gets me out of trouble, Ruby Otto, called recently and advised me the Tropicana spoke with her and was inquiring about hotel registrations. I advised Ruby that we have a brisk registration of shipmates as I mentioned above, and wasn't certain why the hotel did not have but one registration on file for the McMorris reunion, but I would check around. The one thing I want to make certain is that when you register with us on our "On-Line" registration form, this simply indicates to me that you plan to attend the reunion, and I have correct information for name tags, activities, and ordering our dinners. You still have to make reservations directly with the hotel. We do not do that for you. You of course must make your own travel arrangements to get to Las Vegas. Hopefully, you are staying at the Tropicana so that we can be close. We also have room block commitments as well. It is still early to say the least, but if you have registered with us, take a minute to call the Tropicana and book your rooms. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me, or email me anytime. I will be happy to assist you with your questions. Unless something should change, which I do not anticipate, all reunion information is posted on the website. We are locked and loaded for our reunion in Las Vegas. See you there. |
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Tour of the Website I cannot tell you how proud I am of the McMorris' website. Both Scott Vliek and myself, spent the last 5 years putting this together piece by piece, while both of us worked very busy schedules and both experiencing personal crisis. No thanks please, we simply want you to enjoy what is presented. Many of you made contributions that clearly make up the heart and soul of the website. Thanks go to you for allowing us to share your special memories. There is plenty more to come. Patience is what we need. In addition to more pictures being posted, with contributions by William "Iggy" Ignarski, ENCS Duane Baumgartner, and Nelson Miller, we have two additional reading/pictorial sections, that represent significant moments the history of USS McMorris, your ship. William Ignarski, was one of many sailors who were aboard the McMorris when a tragic collision occurred between the Mac and the Gas Tanker Tombigbee. Bill was severely injured, but survived. Today Bill is a Graphic Artist in the Chicago metro area and was very kind and gracious to provide transcripts, deck logs and pictures, to help us piece together the events of that evening in 1967. I know that you will fascinated by what we have that depicts a moment in the McMorris' history that many of you asked to hear about. You can find this section on the blue side bar buttons (Collision) on the home page of the website. Another significant event in the McMorris' history was one that spelled her final days in service of the Navy, and that was the decommissioning of the ship. Dennis Jose, was kind enough to provide a complete accounting of this event, that lends a critical piece of history to the great life of the Mighty Mac (Decommissioning). We thank everyone for their contribution. There are many other pictures still to be posted, along with other articles for viewing. Look for these in the coming days, and please help us by providing your own pictures, documents, and anything that can be scanned for viewing. This is your website, and your participation is wanted and appreciated. Just ask myself or Scott how you can help to become a part of the "Living" history of the McMorris. Speaking of living history, we have a section on the website that has been around from the beginning, called just that, the "living" history section. This was intended for you to talk about an experience aboard the Mac that is part of your memory today, and that you want to share with others. You don't have to be a writer or a poet, we can help you. We simply would like more contributions to help us piece together the times and events of the life aboard the Mc Morris. We are interested in hearing about events from commissioning, from yard periods, the Terne II system, overseas assignments and activities, Viet-Nam tours, Special Ops, and anything else that sticks out in your mind. Just send an email to Scott Vliek, and he will be glad to post it to the "living" history section at your request. Just make a note that the email is for that section. Speaking of the history of the ship. We have many holes in our accounting of Ships activities from the 1960 commissioning to decommissioning in 1974. If you care to, please help us to give accurate accounting of all those years so that we can let everyone know how the McMorris played a vital role in the defense of the United States. Again, your contribution is needed and appreciated. If you have any ideas for future offerings, let us know what you would like to see. This is your website. Enjoy it, and be a contributor. Thanks. |
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Dues Oh, shoot! Thought I forgot about dues huh? One of the things that has helped to make our reunion activities and administrative responsibilities so successful has been your contributions. Many of you have gone well beyond what we asked for, and we thank you for your support. Without funds to operate, we simply could not provide the quality to our group that you deserve. Dues traditionally have been due at the beginning of the fiscal year. A minimum contribution of $25.00 is all we ask for. A check made out to the Harvey Reynolds % the USS McMorris Reunion Fund is all you need to send, in the amount you desire. This is of course voluntary, but necessary for continued success. If you have not made a contribution this year, it is not too late. We appreciate anything you can do to help your reunion group to function and provide the best services we can for the funds we have to operate with. Thank you! |
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Wrap Up I know I have said this before, and I mean this with all my heart. I have been overwhelmed by the love and friendship, many of you have given me and your fellow shipmates. Having done this reunion thing now for quite a while, I have had great pleasure in meeting up with some outstanding people and sailors. My hand salute to all of you for your support to the reunion group, and your participation. I know that I have also said that I wanted to hand the reigns over to someone else for planning and newsletter writing, which I almost accomplished, but wound up back in the drivers seat. I have enjoyed with great pleasure and satisfaction, serving all of you and helping to bring a little joy to each of you through the reunion and the newsletter. It is clearly time for me to step aside and pursue other activities in my life, before I become an old man. I will continue to the end of this reunion process, and provide another newsletter just prior to the Las Vegas reunion, however, after this is over, I will ask that you pardon my leave and allow me to step aside. My wish of course is to continue to be an active participant in future reunions, where ever they may be held. I will also act in any consulting role I can to assist someone or a group as best I can. However, it is time for me to move on. My second wish is that someone in our group, or more likely, a committee of people will form to take over the month to month, year to year activities of keeping this reunion group together. I know there are plenty of highly qualified and better people then myself who are willing to pitch in and provide their creative juices. We will discuss this at our business meeting in Las Vegas, but I bring it to your attention now, so that everyone can think about it. This group has come a long way from the early days, pre-Charleston, and today. The roster continues to grow, and I anticipate it will blossom again before this year is over. We deserve to have our fun and activities with each other, while we share fond memories of our days aboard the Mac. The only way this can happen, is to have more people willing to get involved. I appeal to you now to give this thought. As I write this letter, I cannot help but think about the coming month's of summer and what good things it may hold for me. I hope that we continue to stay in touch, that your summer is full of fun and joy, and before you know it, October will be here and Las Vegas will be waiting for the crew and family of the Mighty Mac. I know from experience that this will be a moment to remember for all of us. See you in Las Vegas. Skip Reynolds |
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Vision To bring a little joy and happiness to our crewmembers and family. To be ever mindful that our culture and heritage while diverse, is the foundation that makes the McMorris Reunion Group so special in the hearts and minds of everyone of us, and to respect each and every member of our group. Our Mission There is no agenda behind our efforts, nor is any intended, other than to keep our Reunion Group members well informed through the newsletter and our website. In addition, the purpose of our group is to find as many former crewmembers and family as we can, bring them together on a periodic basis at a reunion for fun and fellowship. |
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Contact Information: Reunion Coordinator: USS McMorris Reunion Assoc. Tel: (267)664-0536
Webmaster: Scott Vliek
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