US Navy History Buffs

[kent]

Dec 23, 2010 14:46:50 GMT -5 floridayankee said:

Dec 23, 2010 14:17:21 GMT -5 kent said:

Neat site RDT. I found my first ship but not the second one. Maybe it's because we went up in flames in the Bermuda Triangle in late 1963 - quite an experience to say the least.

If it was a commissioned ship, you'd think it would be listed.
Try this one.....My old man is even listed on one of the ships he served on though they have him in the wrong state.
www.hullnumber.com/

Thanks Florida! Not only did I find my second ship, just prior to that I got an e-mail from someone who's name I new but couldn't place him. Bingo! I saw him on the roster and now we are communicating and catching up. I also sent an e-mail to another old shipmate and waiting to hear back. Thanks again - BIG TIME!

[reformeddaytrader]

Mollymouser Here's A Poem For You & Military Wives...A WARRIOR’S WIFE


A Warrior’s Wife - a rare breed indeed,
she stays at home to mind the store,
takes care of children - does all the chores,
and seldom gets her just rewards.

She starts each day at crack of dawn,
she cleans and washes, and feeds them all,
she rarely stops - her work’s never done,
and only rest when the day is done.

A Warrior’s Wife can’t settle down,
like the other wives in other towns,
she follows him - from shore to shore,
and shares his live and even more.

A Warrior’s Wife - sometimes she cries,
for she knows fear when cannons roar,
for warriors march when called upon,
to fight in battles on distant shores.

A Warrior’s Wife - so brave, so true,
to God and country, and her call,
she made this choice without regret,
yes, A Warrior’s Wife has a warrior’s soul.

Thus, she marches from store to store,
she does the shopping, prepares the meals,
and when their sick its her they’ll call,
for A Warrior’s Wife does it all.

So, if I were a general this I know,
I make a medal for them alone,
for wives have done what we could not,
they deserve this honor, and so much more!
top

[floridayankee]

Dec 23, 2010 15:22:03 GMT -5 ❤ mollymouser ❤ said:

Florida Yankee ... I like your disclaimer

Thanks...I started using a "standard disclaimer" signature back in the old usenet days...before Al Gore created the real internet...but I lost my original way back too.

I saw this place had a signature line so I decided to revive it. I just copied bits and pieces off a similar one from some random site on the web.

[floridayankee]

Dec 23, 2010 15:52:16 GMT -5 kent said:

Dec 23, 2010 14:46:50 GMT -5 floridayankee said:

If it was a commissioned ship, you'd think it would be listed.
Try this one.....My old man is even listed on one of the ships he served on though they have him in the wrong state.
www.hullnumber.com/

Thanks Florida! Not only did I find my second ship, just prior to that I got an e-mail from someone who's name I new but couldn't place him. Bingo! I saw him on the roster and now we are communicating and catching up. I also sent an e-mail to another old shipmate and waiting to hear back. Thanks again - BIG TIME!

Not a problem...thanks big time for keeping us civvies safe!

You can also check out organizations like the VFW, American Legion and Am Vets. I'm sure these organizations have more resources on finding old shipmates.

A Warrior’s Wife - a rare breed indeed

Indeed. Another thankless job......

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Thanks for the poem, RDT. (Though I must confess that I don't always rise at the "crack of dawn!")

I did just get a quick 10-minute phone call from my wonderful DH, currently deployed to Iraq. It was just after midnight (his time) on Christmas Day ... and he wanted to get his call in early since so many want to be making calls, and he wanted to save time to call his dad, as well. Even at the best of times, there can be quite a wait for phone and internet/computer access ~ so I was glad that I was home for his call! This is his 7th deployment to Iraq with the USAF, and I know I'm growing weary of all of this.

[traelin0]

My God molly, his SEVENTH tour in the Big Sandbox? I am so sorry about that, I'm sure he's missing you...

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Yes, 7th. The USAF tours are shorter than Army/Marine tours, though ... but they occur more often. He is already on calendar to deploy again later in 2011.

[deziloooooo]

Post 27/28...Amen

[warsaw (banned)]

Happy Holidays and thanks to all our servicemen-

Fascinating stuff RDT-agree with everything but wish to say that hippy artist was no doubt a protestor- I blame the politicians, certainly not the servicemen for that one, esp. Nixon as his secret plan was a sham just to get elected... I tried to join the Navy in1978 but was too old for my plan...should have anyway...Merry Christmas to all....

[warsaw (banned)]

USS Olympia, one-of-a-kind steel cruiser, battles for survival
USS Olympia either will sink at its moorings on the Delaware River, be sold for scrap, or be scuttled offshore without a major refurbishment.

In this 2008 file photograph, the cruiser USS Olympia sits at her mooring at Independence Seaport Museum.

Clem Murray/Philadelphia Inquirer/MCT/Newscom/File
Enlarge
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Joann Loviglio, Associated Press / September 7, 2010

Philadelphia
The USS Olympia, a one-of-a-kind steel cruiser that returned home to a hero's welcome after a history-changing victory in the Spanish-American War, is a proud veteran fighting what may be its final battle.

Skip to next paragraph Related Stories
Opinion: Memorial Day 2010: Don't let the USS Olympia sink from memory Japanese subs found off Hawaii could have changed World War II Time and tides are conspiring to condemn the weathered old warrior to a fate two wars failed to inflict. Without a major refurbishment to its aging steel skin, the Olympia either will sink at its moorings on the Delaware River, be sold for scrap, or be scuttled for an artificial reef just off Cape May, N.J., about 90 miles south.

The 5,500-ton Olympia's caretakers monitor every inch of its deteriorating lower hull and deck, already covered with hundreds of patches. Independent inspectors have concluded that the ship could decay to a point beyond saving within a few years if nothing is done.

"It's an absolute national disgrace. It's an appalling situation," said naval historian Lawrence Burr, author of a book on Olympia. "She is a national symbol, and she marks critical points in time both in America's development as a country and the Navy's emergence as a global power."

Olympia, which gets about 90,000 visitors annually, closes to the public Nov. 22 to await its fate. Visitors to the museum pay up to $12, which includes the chance to board the warship.

Since taking stewardship of the floating museum from a cash-strapped nonprofit in 1996, the Independence Seaport Museum has spent $5.5 million on repairs, inspections and maintenance. But it can neither afford the $10 million to dredge the marina, tow the ship to dry-dock and restore it to fighting trim, nor the $10 million to establish an endowment to care for it in perpetuity.

"She's an icon," said Jeffrey S. Nilsson, executive director of the Historic Naval Ships Association in Smithfield, Va. "She's worthy of being saved."

Efforts to secure private or public funding have been unsuccessful, a stark reminder of recessionary times. Museum officials are reluctantly mulling whether to scrap the National Historic Landmark, said to be the world's oldest steel warship still afloat, or have the Navy sink it off the coast of Cape May.

The 344-foot-long protected cruiser ideally should have been dry-docked every 20 years for maintenance. Instead it has been dutifully bobbing — and quietly wasting away — in the Delaware since 1945 without a break from the wind and waves.

The waterline is marked with scores of patches, and sections of the mazelike lower hull are so corroded that sunlight shines through. Above deck, water sneaks past the concrete and rubberized surface layers, past the rotting fir deck underneath, and onto the handsomely appointed officers' quarters below.

"She generally looks good for her age, but her expensive pre-existing conditions make it daunting," said Jesse Lebovics, longtime caretaker of Olympia. "We're still hoping someone will step up. We're hoping for an 11th-hour reprieve."

Two local nonprofits — Friends of the Cruiser Olympia and The Cruiser Olympia Historical Society — are striving to drum up money, manpower and publicity from other historic preservation groups, veterans organizations and corporate sponsors.

"We don't want to see the ship reefed and the museum doesn't either," said Jay Richman, president of Friends of the Cruiser Olympia. "We're optimistic that a bunch of small groups working together for a common cause can save the ship."

Olympia steamed out of San Francisco in 1892 and served most notably as flagship of the Asiatic Squadron in the Spanish-American War.

Its vertical reciprocating engines, refrigeration system and hydraulic steering previewed the technological advances to come; its vestigial sails and oak-paneled, parlor-like officers' quarters marked the passing Victorian era.

From Olympia's bridge on May 1, 1898, during the Battle of Manila Bay in the Phillippines, Commodore George Dewey uttered the famous command: "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley." The Spanish fleet was decimated, making Dewey — and the Olympia — national heroes.

In a letter home after the victorious battle, Capt. Charles Gridley wrote: "We did not lose a man in our whole fleet, and had only six wounded, and none of them seriously. ... The Olympia was struck seven or eight times, but only slightly injured, hardly worth speaking of."

The ship later was active in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Mediterranean, served as a Naval Academy training vessel, and took part in the 1918 Allied landing at Murmansk during the Russian Civil War.

Its final mission was bringing home the body of World War I's Unknown Soldier from France in 1921. The vessel was decommissioned in 1922 and was largely forgotten until it was nearly scrapped in the 1950s — and local citizens rallied with donations and labor to bring it back from the brink.

Olympia opened as a museum in 1958 but funding woes and threats of sale or scrap have been part of its history ever since. The Seaport Museum itself has weathered its own share of storms, most recently in 2008, when a former president of the organization was convicted of bilking the institution of more than $1 million.

Meanwhile, two other beleaguered vessels nearby are similarly awaiting saviors: the USS New Jersey battleship across the river in New Jersey and the historic 1950s cruise ship SS United States three miles downriver.

"There's a lot of need out there, and the economy makes it worse ... but we really can't wait," Lebovics said.


Can't believe this idiot calls the SS United States a cruise ship! Sacrilege!!

[deziloooooo]

It was a ocean liner wasn't it, Nuclear powered?? As far as the Olympia..as they did with saving the Constitution, pennies saved and collected by school kids I beleive saved her, possible today, a campaign of say at least a $1.00, sent by internet to a fund, just 10 million hits , your there, and possible some might send more , wonder if they thought of that, I am willing with a buck plus a bit. What do you think?

[warsaw (banned)]

Sounds good! SS US was fastest ever by far- gov't subsidised as troopship, chopping block was only wood aboard...

[warsaw (banned)]

Not nuclear.

[reformeddaytrader]

USMC Museum



Director’s Welcome • Mission Statement • Take a Tour • Exhibit Master Plan • Collections • Heritage Center • Staff Directory • Lore of the Corps • Expansion • Restoration Branch

Semper Fidelis

"Always faithful," a phrase known the world over, is directly associated with the United States Marine Corps. Since our opening in November 2006, we have welcomed more than 1.7 million visitors to the National Museum of the Marine Corps. Many of those visitors who walk through our doors are Marines, past and present, who have faithfully visited and reminisced of days gone by. Accompanying these Marines are family, friends, and comrades of the Navy, Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard. We have also had the honor of welcoming many visitors and dignitaries of foreign nations. The Museum and the nearby chapel, just opened in the fall of 2009, are also being utilized for a growing number of educational forays, weddings, promotions, graduations, and special events. And with the addition of the chapel, we expect to see even more weddings and memorial ceremonies. We have become a home for Marines and a quality destination for all visitor.

In June 2010, we open our newest exhibits. These three new galleries substantially complete the exhibition program for the first phase of the building. Visitors will learn about the Marine Corps' early years, from the first recruiting efforts in 1775 through World War I. Our guests will pass through German lines in France at Belleau Wood, where Marines earned the nickname "Teufelhunden," better known as "Devil Dog." We believe the reality of this immersion exhibit will be better than anything we have done to date! Visitors will see, hear, feel, and smell the battle. Young Marines from Quantico star in a film that recreates the charge through the wheat field, but we see it from the perspective of the enemy.

The National Museum of the Marine Corps is an American history museum. But it's American history seen through the eyes of individual Marines across nearly 235 years. We hope this web site will inspire you to make the trip to northern Virginia, help you prepare for that journey, and provide you even more information about the history of the Marine Corps. We look forward to your visit as we reach the two-million visitor mark. That could be you!



Pls click on the URL isted below for a guided tour of our USMC Museum Website & Semper FI.....




www.usmcmuseum.org/

[reformeddaytrader]

THE MASTER OF MASTERY


He seeth things you cannot, he feelth things you dare not,
he lookth poor but he be not,
for ordinary - he is not.

He trainth daily most his life, not to liveth but to die.
His mind thinkth things far beyond,
the visions of normal men.

His emotions seem not, for seldom does he shed a tear.
Some sayth his heart is dead,
yet, his body liveth on.

Once he fought a bloody fight, killing many throughout that night,
but this was petty as compared,
to one child he had to kill!

Thus, this warrior knows the pain, in darken shadows of unmarked graves.
Still those memories hauntht his sanity,
in strange places of his mind!

As years passed he cast his heart, like tempered steel that cannot feel,
and yet his mind remembers well,
each face, of those he killed!

Thus, quickened from their demise, but sometimes not as he preferred.
For a quicken soul sometimes lives on,
and thus the master becomes their kin.

He mastered all he set to do, and will continue until life is through,
for a master’s life means discipline,
of pain, of love and even shame.

So as death approaches he prepares, for this journey started long ago,
he knows death’s sting for he studied well,
and as he mastered life -
he’ll master death!



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[reformeddaytrader]

Orders To Leave Vietnam

[reformeddaytrader]

Ticket to home and old bar bill from the Hotel Majestic in Saigon

[Value Buy]

Oh my Gosh......
The Majestic
What a beautiful lobby and restaraunt.
Before I was drafted, all I thought was in Vietnam were rice paddies and water buffalo.
After I was sent there, I was amazed at the beauty of the city.
The Cathedral, the Majestic, the National zoo, Cholon, the wide tree lined boulevards.
I was an accidental tourist for 14 months in Saigon. Came home a little embarrassed on how safe I seemed to be while I was there, although there was a war every day, even in Saigon with the rockets coming into the city, and it's suburbs, on almost a nightly basis.
RDT, did you pay in MPC, Vietnamese currency, or illegal Greenbacks?

[reformeddaytrader]

I think these military notes were used just about everywhere ?

[reformeddaytrader]

At the Intercontinental Hotel and Bar we listened to a gorgeous Vietnamese lady sing "La Vie en Rose" to commemorate the anniversary of Edith Piaf's death...she sang in French, English and Vietnamese..So when this lovely and gracious lady finished her beautiful rendition of this famous Parisian song we all stood and yelled "Encore, Encore" and an old Master Chief who was sitting next to me at the bar, and was so drunk he could hardly stand up yelled out at the top of his lunges, "The hell with the encore sweetie just sing that frenchy there song again"

[Value Buy]

I still have some of the MPC somewhere. The one with the astronaut was kind of neat.

Yes, the Vietnamese civilian population trusted the MPC more than their own currency, but Greenbacks, while illegal for military personnel to posess, (not that I had any)were number one with the locals.
Hey, GI, you got Greenbacks? They number one!
Now that I think about it, maybe it was the International Hotel I remember. Was it down on the riverfront?

[reformeddaytrader]

[Value Buy]

I see the picture is from 2006 or later.
The lack of deisel smoke was my first clue, the newer scooters and cars, the second.....
What a different picture from 35 years ago.
I wonder if I can digitize my old photos, if I can find them.......

[Value Buy]

I think we flew Continental Airlines home, but I could be wrong. No alcoholic beverages available.

[warsaw (banned)]

Fascinating memories- keep it coming...I love Edith Piaf- if you do, Netflix La Vie en Rose from a couple years ago- the french acress won the oscar...

[reformeddaytrader]

OK but pls remember we are talking about back 40+ years. Vietnamese loved Edith Piaf. They of course played her music a lot in the fine restaurants and bars in Saigon which as you know is Shit for Brains City now, and excuse my french..I am not a big fan of Uncle Ho.. When the singer at the Continental sang her renditions of Edith's songs; she told the story behind them. Edith's one true love among many was Marcel Cerdan a middleweight boxing champ who died in a plane crash. So every time the Vietnamese lovelies in their Bo Dai dresses with flowers in their hair sang Edith's songs; they would tell the story behind her beautiful songs. Edith Piaf had such a sad life they would cry while they sang....I think that is part of old French culture and traditions.......and they would always finish by saying "Pour Vous Edith"...

[warsaw (banned)]

"Pour vous Edith" ("Vu" is past participle of "to see" )...smiley face...have you been back?

[reformeddaytrader]

Thanx or was it " Pour Vous Edith et pour vous Madames et Messieurs"


and "Non Regrettes" was another Piaf song..>

No! And I don't go to reunions either just don't like to live in the past too much......

[warsaw (banned)]

"Non, Je ne Regrette Rien" love it (the unofficial song of the French Foreign Legion ;D)- my father loved "Milord" - she really was amazing....(I was a French teacher...also History)

"Pour vous, Edith, et Messieurs 'Dames" ;D

[reformeddaytrader]

Dec 27, 2010 17:49:38 GMT -5 warsaw (banned) said:

"Non, Je ne Regrette Rien" love it (the unofficial song of the French Foreign Legion)- my father loved "Milord"- she really was amazing....(I was a French teacher...also History)

There's an old legend or myth in Saigon that a member of the French Foreign Legion visited a hospital to see his dying daughter and as he was about to fall asleep by her bedside he pinned his Croix de Guerre"... Medal for valor and bravery besides her pillow, and the next day as he awoke, his daughter sat up in bed and recovered.....so we would always give a beautiful Vietnamese nurse one of our medals and they would take extra good care of us.. I bought extra medals at the PX and handed them out to the hospital candystipers when the head Nun wasn't around..Needless to say the care and treatment was pretty good..