Newsletter

If you would like to contribute an article, a piece of Navy or Plymouth Rock history, photo, memory or anything that might be of interest to you or members, you can sent it as an e-mail to:

After numerous e-mails between Norm Jepson, Harry Andersen, Tom Wagner, Bobby Nichols and myself it has been decided that I will temporarily take over the position of Secretary and Harry Andersen will be Reunion Coordinator planning the next reunion to be held in June 2003. Bobby Nichols will continue as Ships Association Treasurer.
One of our objectives at the 2003 reunion will be to elect a President, a President Elect, Reunion Coordinator, Secretary and Treasurer. Any individuals who are interested in filling any of these positions, please contact Harry Anderson at 847-336-2151 or by e-mail at andycporetsnipe@aol.com
I will endeavor to publish a newsletter every 4 months (3 times a year). Our plan is to e-mail the newsletter to all Crew Members who have e-mail and to mail the newsletter to all paid association members. The newsletter prior to the reunion date, we will mail the newsletter to all Crew members either by e-mail or regular mail. If you change address or e-mail address be sure to let me (Bill Provencal) know so we can update our Crews List.
It would help us if those of you who receive the mailed copy of the newsletter and who have e-mail to let me know what your e-mail address is.

Harry Andersen, BTC from Waukeegan, IL has agreed to organize and run the next reunion to be held at Great Lakes, IL on June 5-7, 2003. Harry can be reached by phone at: 847-336-2151 or by e-mail at andycporetsnipe@aol.com As more details and events unfold, we will inform you through this newsletter or through the website. Anyone willing to provide Harry with some help, I am sure you won't be turned down.

As you can imagine any group or association such as ours requires funds. Our primary source of revenue are the bi-annual dues of $20.00. For those of you who are not paid Association members, any support in the form of dues would be appreciated. To become a member complete the Application for Membership which can be found in the Ships Website on the Links Page and mail to Bob Nichols.

                    Bob Nichols, EM2
                    24 Geraldine Rd.
                    N. Arlington, NJ   07031
                    201.998.5778
                    E-mail: enichols24@aol.com

**Paid Association Members**
Allaire, Bob	Andersen, Harry	Balf, Jim	Bello, Ralph	Bena, Joe
Bierce, George	Bullington, Calvin	Casilllas, Greg	Chappel, John	Conboy, Bill
Crowl II, Martin	Cyr, Dennis	Dussault, Andrew	Edwards, R. A.	Eldridge, Margurite
Forton, Andrew	Freeman, James	Gregory, Peter	Guertin, Jerry	Hartson, George
Hopper, Richard	Jennings, Seeley	Kuhns, Jimmy	Lamay, Roger	Luttrell, James
Madell, Shorty	Mathis, Richard	McAvoy Sr., John	McCully, Wade	Mohawk, Paul
Moyer, Larry	Murtha, Jerry	Musella, Rocco	Nichols, Bob	O"Neil, Marty
O'Neil, Thomas	Provencal, Bill	Purvis, Anthony	Pyle, Ted	Raniszewski, Louis
Rhine, Don	Robinson, Jim	Rose, Chris	Scott, Bill	Shanahan, Robert
Shewchuk, Richard	Simon, George	Smith, Larry	Stull, John III	Tacinelli, Jerry
Verhagen, Mike	Viaene, Robert	Wagner, Tom	Ward, James	Watkins, Richard
Wessels, Gary	Ziemba, James

Any paid Association members (2001-2002) who are not on this list and who have paid their dues, please contact Bob Nichols.

Pulls alongside USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2) for refueling, during operations in the Atlantic, February 1979.
Photographed by PH2 Alexander and PH3 Kent from on board the Iwo Jima. CH-46 "Sea Knight" helicopters of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 261 (HMM-261) are parked in the foreground.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

I would like to thank all Crew members who have made photo contributions to the website. We are still in need for more photos as they do make the website more interesting. Would also like to thank all those who have e-mailed us with Mail Call requests. We are averaging about 450+/- hits per month and now have a total of 15,773 visits since the site was created back in March 1999.
Would like to hear from anyone as to any page problems on the website, ideas to make it more interesting, and items/pages you feel should be deleted.
The ships website address is: www.worldpath.net/~billinp/index.html
My e-mail address is billinp@metrocast.net

After 60 years with little change in their uniforms, the United States Navy will now move ahead with several significant alterations in the department's program.
Perhaps most notable is that bell-bottoms are out. The wide-leg denim utility look--which the Navy invented for sailors--and the civilian world copied for years--is scheduled to be replaced with an updated, straight-leg version. The pants, commonly referred to as dungarees, will resemble a blue version of the khakis worn by officers and chiefs, with the traditional flared appearance giving way to a tailored, straight twill trouser.

Hear my voice, America! Though I speak through the mist of 200 years, my shout for freedom will echo through liberty's halls for many centuries to come. Hear me speak, for my words are of truth and justice, and the rights of man. For those ideals I have "spilled my blood" upon the world's troubled waters. Listen well, for my time is eternal -yours is but a moment. I am the spirit of heroes past and future. I am the American Sailor. I was born upon the icy shores at Plymouth, rocked upon the waves of the Atlantic, and nursed in the wilderness of Virginia. I cut my teeth on New England codfish, and I was clothed in southern cotton. I built muscle at the halyards of New Bedford whalers, and I gained my sea legs high atop mizzen of yankee clipper ships. Yes, I am the American Sailor, one of the greatest seamen the world has ever known. The sea is my home and my words are tempered by the sound of paddle wheels on the Mississippi and the song of whales off Greenland's barren shore. My eyes have grown dim from the glare of sunshine on blue water, and my heart is full of star-strewn nights under the Southern Cross. My hands are raw from winter storms while sailing down round the Horn, and they are blistered from the heat of cannon broadside while defending our nation. I am the American Sailor, and I have seen the sunset of a thousand distant, lonely lands. I am the American Sailor. It was I who stood tall beside John Paul Jones as he shouted, "I have not yet begun to fight!" I fought upon the Lake Erie with Perry, and I rode with Stephen Decatur into Tripoli harbor to burn Philadelphia. I met Guerriere aboard Constitution, and I was lashed to the mast with Admiral Farragut at Mobile Bay. I have heard the clang of Confederate shot against the sides of Monitor. I have suffered the cold with Peary at the North Pole, and I responded when Dewy said, "You may fire when ready Gridley," at Manila Bay. It was I who transported supplies through submarine infested waters when our soldier's were called "over there." I was there as Admiral Byrd crossed the South Pole. It was I who went down with the "Arizona at Pearl Harbor", who supported our troops at "Inchon", and patrolled dark deadly waters of the "Mekong Delta". I am the American Sailor and I wear many faces. I am a pilot soaring across God's blue canopy and I am a Seabee atop a dusty bulldozer in the South Pacific. I am a corpsman nursing the wounded in the jungle, and I am a torpedoman in the Nautilus deep beneath the North Pole. I am hard and I am strong. But it was my eyes that filled with tears when my brother went down with the Thresher, and it was my heart that rejoiced when Commander Shepherd rocketed into orbit above the earth. It was I who languished in a Viet Cong prison camp, and it was I who walked upon the moon. It was I who saved the Stark and the Samuel B. Roberts in the mine infested waters of the Persian Gulf. It was I who pulled my brothers from the smoke filled compartments of the Bonefish and wept when my shipmates died on the Iowa and White Plains. When called again, I was there, on the tip of the spear for "Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm". I am the American Sailor. I am woman, I am man, I am white and black, yellow, red and brown. I am Jew, Muslim, Christian, and Buddhist. I am Irish, Filipino, African, French, Chinese, and Indian. And my standard is the outstretched hand of Liberty. Today, I serve around the world; on land, in air, on and under the sea. I serve proudly, at peace once again, but with the fervent prayer that I need not be called again. Tell your children of me. Tell them of my sacrifice, and how my spirit soars above their country. I have spread the mantle of my nation over the ocean, and I will guard her forever. I am her heritage and yours. I am the American Sailor. Author/date unknown