New Pawcatuck Pilot NL.pub - Military Locator and Reunion Service

Official Newsletter of USS Pawcatuck AO-108
March 2015
Volume 22 Issue 1
Pawcatuck Pilot
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Much of the eastern United States has
thus far experienced a very cold winter,
with New England receiving record
breaking amounts of snow, but according
to the groundhog’s forecast we should
start to see warmer weather in a few
weeks.
Our 23rd USS Pawcatuck reunion is in
Charleston, South Carolina this year.
The reunion begins on Sunday, 3 May
and continues through breakfast on
Wednesday, 6 May. Charleston in midspring promises to be a warm and beautiful place.
Premier Reunion Services has arranged for us to stay at the Radisson Hotel Charleston Airport. Each day there is
an optional tour available. Monday’s tour
includes a visit to the Warren Lasche
Center where the Hunley, the Confederate submarine which was found in 1995,
is being preserved. Afterwards there is a
guided tour of Charleston and an opportunity to have lunch and visit the shops in
Market Square. Tuesday’s tour will take
us to Patriots Point, the world largest
maritime museum, and lunch will be
aboard the USS Yorktown CV-10 in the
CPO mess. That afternoon we will be
touring Boone Hall, a working plantation
founded in 1681.
Late Tuesday afternoon we will have
our annual business meeting followed by a
social hour, banquet, and of course the
ever popular auction to raise money for the
USS Pawcatuck Scholarship Fund. Any
relative of a Pawcatuck crew member in
college or applying to college, is eligible to
apply for a scholarship, and I urge them to
do so. The scholarship application is in this
issue of the newsletter.
There is still plenty of time to contact an
old shipmate and encourage him to join us.
Last year we had several first timers attend
with their spouses. After the scholarship
auction, I asked each one if they enjoyed
the reunion and I received a positive response from each one. Come join us! You
will be welcomed by all. Reunion packets
are
available
on
line
at
http://
www.mlrsinc.com/pawcatuck/ or by calling
1-828-256-6008.
If you have a suggestion or an idea to
share as to how to improve the reunion
experience, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am looking forward to seeing
you in Charleston!
Jim Fortune
410-329-8154
JimFortune43@gmail.com
2015
USS PAWCATUCK
REUNION
Sun. May 3 Wed. May 6
CHARLESTON, SC
Radisson Hotel
DON’T FORGET TO
BRING AN ITEM FOR
THE ACUTION TO THE
REUNION!
The Pawcatuck Pilot is
Published by:
Premier Reunion Services
PO Box 11438
Hickory, NC 28603
828-256-6008 (voice)
828-256-6559 (fax)
Dina@mlrsinc.com
Karen@mlrsinc.com
www.mlrsinc.com/pawcatuck
“Our Reunions Work So You
Don't Have To”
Volume 22 Issue 1
Page 2
THREE CHEERS FOR THE NAVY
BY FRANK B.TURBERVILLE, JR.
The USS Pawcatuck (AO-108) was
a T3 class tanker and at the time of
the Korean War when I served on her
(22 months in 1952-53), she served
alternate tours with the Atlantic Service Force and the Sixth Fleet in the
“Med.”
This picture was taken in Naples
on 4 July 1952. (The photo described
is not available. If you have this photo,
we would love to have it for the next
issue.) She is all decked out in “full
dress” with all flags flying in celebration of the 4th of July. You can see
Mount Vesuvius in the background
with the eastern suburbs of Naples at
her stern. Old Naples and the port
area are off the picture to your left and
Sorrento and “Isola di Capri” are off
the picture to your right.
I happened to be away from the
ship that weekend. A lieutenant and I
had taken a group of about 25 men on
a trip to Rome. (It was my first trip
there.) We went by VW bus, arriving
in Rome in the early afternoon on 2
July.
On arriving at our small hotel outside the walls of old Rome, I called
the American Embassy, asking for the
Naval attache, to whom I reported our
presence, where we were staying, the
number of men in our group, the ship
we were from and where it was at the
time. Since many of the guys with us
were Catholic, I asked for assistance
in getting us an audience with the
Pope. The attache, a captain, advised
he would make a request to the Catholic American Club and call me back.
On calling me back, he advised me
that we had been given an audience
for 11 a.m. the next morning. He also
told me, “Be sure the men give the
Financial Statement
Balance after 12/14 $342.00
Pope his traditional three cheers.”
After a dumb silence I had to ask the
captain what this was. He told me that
back in WWI, a naval party from a
destroyer had given the Pope three
cheers after an audience; since that
time each Pope has come to expect
three cheers from any U.S. Naval Party. We had our audience with Pope
Pius XII, who gave us a little talk in
excellent English and we gave him his
three cheers.
In the same telephone conversation with the captain at the embassy,
he “invited” us to come to the 4th of
July open house party at the embassy. My thought was, we wanted to see
Rome, we did not want to go to a party. I thanked the captain for his invitation and pointed out that while the
enlisted men were in whites, the officers were in dress khaki and not
dressed for any formalities. Following
another period of silence, I realized
that the “invitation” was an order when
the captain said, “Navy khaki is better
looking than Army khaki anyhow, you
all be there!”
I do not have to tell you that we
went, but I must tell you we enjoyed it
and the captain and Ambassador
Claire Booth Luce were pleased that
the Naval representation at the party
was comparable to that of the Army.
I tell my friends, “If you have to
choose between Paris and Rome,
don’t give Paris a second thought.
See Rome!”
This article appeared in the September 1997 issue of MILITARY and was
submitted by its author, Frank B.
Turberville, Jr.
__________
Received since 12/14
$5.00
Available for 03/15
$347.00
Funds used for 03/15 issue $193.60
Balance for 03/15 issue
$153.40
Contributions for the newsletter
should be sent to Premier Reunion
MAIL CALL
9 MARCH 2015
Shipmates,
Another year and almost time for
another ship reunion. Sorry but this
year Jan and I will not be able to
attend. This would have been my
19th reunion. My first was in 1997,
and have been there every year
since.
I want to thank all of you who
have come to the reunions over
those years. It has been a pleasure
to have been your Reunion Coordinator for 12 of those years. Many
things were accomplished during
those 12 years, and I enjoyed every
reunion. To those shipmates who
were on the committee while I was
the coordinator, I thank you for all
your help. To Mark McPherson who
was my assistant and chaplain and
did our memorial service, a big
thanks.
But now this is to advise you that
Jan and I will not be able to attend
this year’s reunion. The cost between flying and the cost of the reunion is out of reach. So I say
thanks again to all and I hope you
have a great time this year in
Charleston, S.C. Maybe next year
we might come to New Orleans.
Good by and take care.
David Willis
Past reunion coordinator for the
USS PAWCATUCK AO-108
__________
Services using the enclosed preaddressed envelope.
The Pilot is mailed only to
those who requested a paper copy
and do not have e-mail.
Page 3
Pawcatuck Pilot
WELCOME MAT
The following shipmates have
been located recently. Welcome
aboard. We hope to see you at the
reunion and that you will take an
active part in the association. We
welcome:
Glenn Sherwood
gsherwood@cox.net
Lawrence Neal
ljn0184@gmail.com
Frederick Hirtle
fhirtle@yahoo.com
William Cox
(1946)S1/c Navigation
(1947)9027 N 78th St
Tampa, FL 33637
813-988-6675
billcox378@gmail.com
___________
TAPS
The Pawcatuck Pilot has learned
of the following deaths since the last
newsletter. Our deepest sympathy
goes to the families and friends of the
deceased. Anyone who knows or
learns of a shipmate’s death, you are
requested to notify the newsletter so
that person can be listed in TAPS and
also on the Honor Roll at the next
reunion.
Edward Padin
(1971-72) LTJG
Date of death not reported
Keith Mumby
(1953-55) LTJG
Died March 20, 2014
Jack Sturgeon
(1969-70) DCCM
Died July 2, 2014
William Kulhamer
(1948-51) EM3
Date of death not reported
__________
MEMOIRS OF A SNIPE ABOARD USS
PAWCATUCK AO 108 1945 TO 1950
Continued from 12/14:
Even minding your own business, you can get in trouble.
Not so a year or two earlier. While
on liberty in Baltimore, I had taken a
walk up to a park that was several
hundred feet above the harbor. It was
a nice place to view the ships, the
town, and surrounding area. There
were some concrete benches scattered about, and I parked myself on
top of one of these, my feet on the
seat and my rear end on the top of
the back rest, kind of like sitting on
the hand rails aboard a ship. They
had been doing some maintenance
work on the sprinklers and there was
quite a bit of dirt and mud around, a
good deal of it on the park benches,
hence my choice of perches.
There were perhaps a dozen or so
sailors from other ships, mostly talking to some girls passing by, and
once in a while, a civilian walking a
dog would go through. I was just enjoying being off the ship and minding
my own business, when this seaman
from another ship wandered over and
started a conversation, and it went
like this: “You know, of all the people
in the world I can’t stand, it’s someone off the Pawcatuck.” (My ship, of
course, and my answer was, “As a lot,
there is something to be desired.”)
Next words. His. “I especially can’t
stand electricians mates from the
Pawcatuck.” (I was an electricians
mate on that very same ship.) My
answer. “I hear they are a pretty sorry
lot.” Next words, his, “The worst of all
is any 2/C EM aboard the Pawcatuck.” (It so happens by an odd set
of circumstances that description fit
me.) Now this badgering had been
going on for about 30 minutes and I
was looking for a way to defuse it,
preferably an escape route. He was
standing to my left and I had slightly
turned my head to the right looking
for a safe exit. There was no one up
there but us and his shipmates. Then
out of the corner of my eye my peripheral vision caught his haymaker
coming at me. I turned my head and
ducked in the process, raising my left
shoulder up. The blow glanced off my
left shoulder knocking me off balance,
off my perch and over the back of the
bench. I landed on all fours, my hand
coming to rest on a 6 ft. piece of 1
inch water pipe, which I supposed
was left over from the maintenance
work that day.
When I stood up, this pipe was
behind the bench and out of view.
This guy had the guts to yell at his
shipmates that I had made disparaging remarks about his lineage and
ethnic background. Now I had been
trying my best to avoid any kind of
confrontation, but it was heading toward me in the form of about a half
dozen of his followers looking for an
excuse to pound on someone. I knew
from school days that when you are
the new kid, especially from out of
town as I often was, being a service
brat, that you are certain to be challenged by the dominant (Alpha male)
bully and his cohorts. The only answer to this dilemma is to take out the
biggest, meanest of the lot and make
him scream. The rest in fashion true
to their mettle will scatter like quail,
every spineless one for himself.
When they got close enough that I
thought I couldn’t miss, I brought that
pipe up and with all my strength took
a swing, would have done Babe Ruth
proud, except for parting some hair
as they ducked. I missed! My chief
tormentor had gone down on his right
(Continued on page 4)
Page 4
Pawcatuck Pilot
(Continued from page 3)
knee, and I, bent on destruction and
with adrenalin still flowing, leaped
over the bench, intent on administering the “coup de grace.” About the
same time, he regained his feet and
headed off in the opposite direction of
his brave followers. Boy, could this
guy run! I was trying to catch up to
him, but then I didn’t have an enraged
person with a 6 ft. pipe, who was bent
on my destruction after me. I drew
back my arm, and with every thing I
had, lunged forward and hurled this
pipe at him, javelin like, and hit him
right between the shoulder blades. He
went down like he had been poleaxed. I picked up the pipe, rolled him
over and had a mind to drive this
through his throat. I was still trembling, but fortunately had burned up
most of what was driving me, so I informed him that because of witness-
es, he was spared, but sometime,
somewhere in the future he was
going to walk around a corner and
I’d be there, waiting to fall down on
him. I never saw him again and never looked for him, but I hoped I had
given him something to think about
the rest of his life; like never pick a
fight, especially with strangers, and
never, never enrage or tease a cornered animal.
___________
STATEMENT OF PUBLICATION
The PAWCAUCK PILOT is the
official publication of the USS PAWCATUCK AO-108 Association. It will
be published quarterly in March, June
and December, subject to receiving
sufficient funding. The Newsletter is
funded by voluntary contributions
from the membership. All members
are encouraged to support the voice
of the PAWCATUCK. A financial
statement appears in each issue of
the newsletter.
The newsletter is intended to be a
vehicle for the members to express
opinions, make suggestions and especially share experiences.
Unless otherwise stated,
the
views and opinions printed in the
newsletter are those of the article’s
writer, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Association
leadership or the Editor of the Newsletter.
All letters and stories submitted
will be considered for publication, except unsigned letters will not be published. Letters requesting the writer’s
name be withheld will be honored, but
published on a space available basis. Signed letters with no restrictions
will be given priority.
Letters demeaning to another
shipmate will not be printed; letters
espousing a political position will not
be printed.
The editor reserves the right to
edit letters to conform to space limitations and grammar.
You are encouraged to actively
participate in the newsletter family by
submitting your stories and suggestions.
__________
Taken from Spring-Summer 1952 Cruise Journal USS Pawcatuck
DECK FORCE
FIRST DIVISION
Left to Right: D.L. Wofford, SN; H.A. Wegener, BM3; A. Izquierdo, SN; R.A. Nenow, BMC; LT P.S. Stuart, Jr.; LT G.P. Robinson; ENS W.H. Nichols; E.L. Tressler, SN; W.E. Woolard, SN; A. Wells, Jr., SA. 2nd Row; W.W. Haataja, SN; W.C. Fisher, BM3;
J.A. Lassiter, BM1; H.J. Wray, SN; G.W. Gordon, SN; W.L. Rau, SN, J.E. Russell, SN; C.J. Livecchia, SN; D.S. Weaver, SN; A.J.
Vayda, SN; R.J. Dowd, SN; Last row: J. Wisnewski, SN; R.M. Cox, SA; J. Blau, SN; G.K. Hambly, SN; C.F. Fager, Jr., SN; B. M.
Gregory, SN; M.M. Whitfield, SN; G.H. Vail, SN; R.T. Berglund, SN.
Page 5
Pawcatuck Pilot
USS Pawcatuck Scholarship Fund
Application
To Student: Please complete the following information based on the current school year. All applicants must be full-time students enrolled at a two or four year or post graduate institution to be eligible. Deadline for submission of this application, must be
postmarked by 15 April for the year applying.
Last Name,
First Name,
Middle Initial
Social Security Number
Date
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
College/University Attending School Street Address City, State, Zip School Phone (Area Code)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Home Street Address
City, State, Zip
E-mail Address
Phone (Area Code)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Student Age:
Date of Birth (mm/dd/yyyy)
Sex: Male
______
__________________________________________________
Female _____
Cumulative GPA (or High
Major Field of Study
Expected Date of Graduation
School GPA if a Freshman)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Educational Goals:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Educational Expenses:
Tuition: $
Room/Meals: $
Text Materials : $
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Other Grants /Scholarships (Source & Amount)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
List any academic awards you have received over the past three years.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
List any school or community activities in which you have been involved during the past three years.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Page 6
Pawcatuck Pilot
Describe the impact you believe this scholarship will have on you.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Additional sheets may be attached as required.
Application Certification and Agreement:
If I am awarded a scholarship award, I acknowledge my responsibility to notify the Scholarship if I fail to satisfactorily complete a school term for which I received an scholarship award, or of other changes in my educational or financial status as described in this application.
I hereby certify the information herein is correct and complete:
Applicants Signature:____________________________________________________ Date:__________________
Relation to Sponsor:_____________________________________________________
Sponsors Endorsement:
I hereby certify the information herein is correct and complete:
Sponsors Signature:_____________________________________________________ Date:___________________
Thank you for your application.
Criteria for the USS Pawcatuck Scholarship
Revised: 14 May 2011
1. Must be a descendant or dependent of a former US Navy or Military Sealift Command Pawcatuck Crew Member.
2. Must be enrolled or accepted in a two or four year accredited college, technical school/institute or graduate program.
3. Complete an application. Please print using blue or black ink. Scholarship Application Forms may be obtained from:
Pawcatuck Scholarship
c/o Margaret Roskoph
1120 Garfield Avenue
Cherry Hill, NJ 08002-1056
e-mail: mroskoph@comcast.net
4. Students must have a hard copy of their Official Transcripts sent from their high school, college, technical school/
institute or graduate program.
5. Application must be signed by the Sponsor.
6. Transcripts and applications must be postmarked by 15 April of the year applying. Send to:
Pawcatuck Scholarship
c/o Margaret Roskoph
1120 Garfield Avenue
Cherry Hill, NJ 08002-1056
7. Amount and number of Scholarships awarded will be based on available funds.