“Swamp Fox News”

“Next Reunion”: Oct.16-19, 2003 – Norfolk, VA.

USS Francis Marion APA-LPA 249

News Letter #8

January, 2003

http://www.ussfrancismarion.com

 

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President/Treasurer:                         Vice President:                             Committee:

Bob Martin                                           Wayne Rogers                                Curtis Stone

16 Staples St.                                       53 Fernandez Cir.                           Tom Clossey

Melrose, MA 02176                            Randolph, MA 02368                    Dick Gagnon

tinman61@juno.com                          wayrog@aol.com                          Steven Forgeron

                                                                                                                  Robert Wright

                                                                                                                  Lin Warren

                                                                                                                  Jim Stafford

 

“Reunion Information”

Our reunion in Norfolk is all set up. We have a good itinerary planned for all of us to do together while we are in Norfolk.

We have a block of 45 rooms per day, reserved at the Radisson. So, don’t hesitate, call the 800 number on the registration form and book your room A.S.A.P.

 

RESERVATION METHOD TO HOTEL:

A first nights deposit in the form of a check, money order or major credit card number and expiration date must accompany all reservation requests. (Personal checks will not be accepted within 30 days prior to the event.) You are responsible for reserving your own room. (Do not send the reunion registration form to the hotel!!)

 

Reservations can be made through central reservations at (800) 333-3333. Please indicate that you’re interested in making reservations at the Radisson Hotel Norfolk with the USS Francis Marion Reunion group.

 

Smoking preferences, special requests and room types, cannot be guaranteed; they will do their best to accommodate you.

 

Check-in & Check-out:

Guest check-in is after 3:00 PM. Guest check-out is prior to 12:00 PM. (Noon)

They will try to accommodate on an individual basis only.

 

Guest rooms must be cancelled by 4:00 PM the date of arrival with no penalty. The penalty for a cancellation, after 4:00 PM on the date of arrival, will be first nights room and tax charge.                           

 

We can get more rooms added to our block before September 1st. After September 1st. it will be on availability only!!

 

If you are planning on attending the reunion; a $50.00 per person deposit is due no later then June 1st. 2003; The reunion registration form is included in this newsletter. (There will be no more forms mailed out.) Please fill out your registration form A.S.A.P.

Make your deposit check out to Robert Martin and mail it to:  Robert Martin,  16 Staples St., Melrose, MA. 02176

 (Please make a copy of your registration form)

(We have paid a non-refundable $250.00 deposit for the banquet from the general fund!)

 

Ship’s Commanding Officers

Since this newsletter is going to the full crew listing I would like to ask everyone to send me their Commanding Officer’s name when they were on board. I would like to have a complete list of all the Francis Marion Commanding Officers. The years are from 1961 to 1979. I have 8 Captains found that are listed on the full crew list. There are still some names missing. The Captains that I have listed are:

David S. Bill Jr. (1961 – 1963)

Raymond Harris (63 – 64) (not listed on crew list)

Stephen T. DeLaMater (64 – 65)

Ralph W. Frame (66 – 67)

Eugene M. Masica (67 – 69)

Lloyd N. Hoover (69 – 70)

Fred Olds  (71 -   )

Lee R. Folgedalen (73 – 75)

Pete Carr (76 – 78)

Help me get the rest of the names and years. And if the years I have listed are wrong, please correct me.

 

Why Have a Reunion?

(A story from our first reunion)

 

Those of us who served in the military know that those years were among the most intense, unforgettable, and influential of our life. The largest part of that experience, the part that keeps coming back time and time again, is the people---those men and women you served with. Served with? What a strange term. That actually meant eating, working, playing, joking, yelling, suffering, and celebrating together, day in day out. Good times, bad times.great times, boring times, and times that scared you to death! At first you were strangers but you became friends, even with some you might have avoided or never met in the “real world.”

 

But it was more than friendship. Your present sense of camaraderie and nostalgia is not really focused around happy and casual memories like those of high school, but on uncommon bonds forged under unusual conditions. You depended on each other to get the job done; you needed each other to survive battles and boredom, and you came away with an experience known only to those who have been there.

 

Then, many of you were catapulted from military service directly back into civilian life. After your discharge, you scattered to towns and cities across America. When you try to remember your military experience and people you served with, there are blank spots and a sense of incompleteness because no one is around to remember with you, and there is a lot you have forgotten. Your experiences and thoughts may not be shared with people you now love and live with. Friends and family may have long ago begun to yawn over old war stories/sea stories, never realizing the subtle yet profound importance to you.

 

A reunion offers you a chance to remember, fill in the blanks, rediscover long-lost friends, compare experiences, ask a friend that important question, spend time with someone you had previously overlooked, be with those who understand, and finally put into proper perspective that most profound and powerful part of your life.

 

The days are passing and October isn’t that far away! This promises to be a “Great” reunion-make plans to attend, get your money in and join us for what may be the best “4th” All Hands Reunion, ever!!

 

“Dues”

Since this newsletter also goes to those who have inquired about our next reunion, I have to talk about dues payments in all the newsletters. If your dues are paid up, please disregard this notice.

 

To receive four newsletters per year there is dues of $10/ per year. That is pretty cheap when you think about it!! If you do not pay dues, you will be missing out on the reunion information that will be in all the letters. So, please don’t hesitate…..keep in touch with your fellow crewmembers!

 

Please make your dues check out to Robert Martin and mail to:

USS Francis Marion APA-LPA 249

c/o Bob Martin

16 Staples St.

Melrose, MA 02176

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“P.S.”

More information about the reunion.

Included in the price of your hotel room:

 

Complimentary airport & downtown transportation services, plus free on site parking.

(When you arrive at the airport, call the Radisson to be picked up – (757) 627-5555)

 

Complimentary Continental Breakfast.

(Served in the hospitality room each morning)

(Please save this newsletter for your reunion information)