www.ussfrancismarion.com

President / Treasurer: Vice President:

Bob Martin Curtis Stone

16 Staples St. 16331 Rangerider

Melrose, MA 02176 San Antonio, TX 78247

(e-mail) tinman61@juno.com (210) 490-3544

(781) 665-9222

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Committee Members:

Wayne Rogers Tom Clossey Steven Forgeron Dick Gagnon

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Hi Shipmates!!

I'm back on this old computer again. My knee replacement went very well, I should be at 100% by the time we get together again in San Antonio.

OK, our reunion is all set up for San Antonio, TX - October 18 - 21, 2001. Since there is so much to do in San Antonio, October 17th.is an "Early Bird" Special for those who would like to come a day early! Linda and I are planning to arrive in San Antonio on October 17th to help Curtis set up the hospitality room; we would love to see all of you a day early!! I went there back in June; what a great place, but I don’t think you can see everything San Antonio has to offer all in 3-4 days! Maybe a week would be good, but that would get expensive. Curtis and I tried to pick the sites that we thought you all would enjoy in the 3-4 days. We are looking forward to seeing all of you again and to meet a lot of new, old Shipmates!!

There will be ( 25) rooms available for the 17th. and (50) rooms available for the nights of the 18th, 19th, and 20th. When those rooms are filled, the Hotel will have rooms available on a first come first served bases only. Don’t hesitate! As soon as you get this Newsletter, contact the hotel and book your room. Be sure to let the hotel know that you are with the USS Francis Marion Reunion group. You can book your room with a credit card; your card will not be charged until you check in to the hotel! Make sure that your room rate is $74.00 a night, single or double, plus tax! Do not send!, the Reunion Registration Form to the hotel; fill out the reunion registration form and mail your check to me with your deposit at the above address; (cost is $50.00 per person), but you may choose to pay it in full. It would be greatly appreciate if you are able to send full payment at this time! (Full payment will be due on September 1, 2001)

Enclosed in this Newsletter you will see that I have done something for you that I didn't do for the last reunion in Charleston. I have totaled up the total cost of both a 5-day and a 4-day reunion stay. I hope this will help you easily determine your stay with us. Please read it thoroughly before you put this Newsletter down.

So as not to send reminder letters, please take some time to fill out and send the registration form to me. All of the money has to be collected for payments to be sent to the tour company and hotel as they need total numbers in the next 2-3 months; Please also be advised that food and tour tickets will need to be bought ahead of time. Thanks Shipmates!

Attention New Members!

Please pay your dues so that you can receive all of the upcoming year’s Newsletters. This letter will be sent to all Crew Members on the full mailing list. The next three letters that will be sent out from now till the reunion will only be sent to those that have paid their dues! With the increase in postage and printing costs, we have to cut back on our expenses. I do all the printing, but the cost of maintaining the printers is increasing.

I am sure no one wants the yearly dues to increase. The committee strongly feels that $10.00 a year is enough to carry us through to the next reunion.

Please try to send in you dues, thank you.

“Our Web Page”

Good News!!!!!

We are rebuilding our Web Page at the moment. LT Richard Pugh, USN built and maintained our Web Page; since he is on active duty “Navy”, LT Pugh doesn’t have the time to make changes at the time I request them.

Please join me in thanking him for a job well done!! As you probably know, the World Wide Web is amazing because it has helped to reunite all of us!!! If it wasn’t for Lt. Pugh, the Web Page might not be in existence today. Luckily, I have found another volunteer who lives nearby and has time to help us with the Web Page.

Our Web Page is very well linked to other Navy and Veteran Web Sites, and we want to keep it that way! Here are some of the things that will be on the new page .

& A Guest Book will be available for everyone to read and sign.

& A Ship’s Store list. (you can print it out and mail it to me with your payment)

& Up-to-date full Crew List with Name, Rank or Rate, and time served aboard. (We cannot list addresses or phone numbers on the page unless you give us your permission to do so.)

& With time, we will have a “Member’s only” page.

I didn’t realize how much work went into making a Web Page. Now I do!

Addresses & e-mail

If anyone is planning on moving in the near future, or changes their e-mail address please notify me as soon as possible so that I can keep the files updated. Too many letters are being returned with the notice of, “Unable to Forward” We don’t want to loose you . I have lost e-mail contact with some crew members; please send me your new e-mail address as soon as you can. Thanks.