THE SCUTTLEBUTT
The Newsletter of the
USS Buchanan (DDG-14) Association
Spring, 2008
Vol. X. No. 1 http://www.uss-buchanan-ddg14.org Editor: David B. Malone
______________________________________________________________________________
Well,
the reunion is over, and pretty much everyone who attended agrees that it was a
great success. This year’s reunion was
held in San Diego at the Holiday Inn Bayside Hotel, just down the road a piece
on North Harbor Drive from where NTC stood before it was closed and torn
down. Arrival was on the afternoon of
Wednesday, March 12th, followed by welcome reception that
evening. Most of those who were
traveling a long distance (including yours truly) made their appearance by the
time of the reception. A few notables
that should be mentioned were Frank Torres, former GMM1 who was only able to
show for that night, and his buddy…both living right there in San Diego. This was their first reunion. With Frank it seemed as if a dam had burst
holding back years of sea stories, and he kept several of us entertained for a
few hours. Another person that should be
mentioned was former BMC Donald Price, who recently retired from the Navy as a
Captain. He now works for the Navy as a
civilian and just happened to be in San Diego on business. He knew the reunion was occurring, so stopped
over to say hello. I served with Chief
Price, and in all these years (29, to be exact), he really hasn’t aged that
much. If only we all were the
well-preserved.
The
next day (Thursday, March 13th) had been set aside for a tour of the
city, which included Coronado, Balboa Park, the downtown gas lamp district, and
Old Town. It was noted by many that we
had the same tour guide that we had for our city tour during out last reunion
in San Diego in 2002, and he would be our tour guide for all of our tours
during this reunion. It had only been
six years since I had been in San Diego, but the city has changed so much! And it hardly resembles at all the city I
knew as a young blue jacket. The tour
ended with lunch at Tom Ham’s Lighthouse restaurant on Harbor Island. As we finished lunch, some of us wandered out
to the deck that overlooked the bay and saw that a carrier was standing into
port. It turned out to be the USS Ronald
Reagan, and within 15 minutes it sailed right past us, giving us a front row
seat. She was a behemoth, compared to
the carriers we knew in the ‘60s and ‘70s.
After that, it was back to the hotel and we were on our own for the rest
of the day until 1700 at which time our business meeting took place.
I
should mention here that the business meeting had originally been scheduled for
Saturday, as is our practice. However,
we were supposed to go to the Bali Hai restaurant for lunch on Saturday, and it
would have left little leeway time for the meeting, so the meeting was
re-scheduled to Thursday. As it turned
out, the restaurant isn’t opened on Saturdays, and so our visit there was
rescheduled to Friday at the last minute and we ended up having the box lunch
we would have eaten Friday on Saturday.
These last minute changes upset some folks who either felt cheated
because they missed the business meeting, or because they missed the trip to
the Bali Hai restaurant. My humblest
apologies for these schedule changes.
I’ve already asked in the future we should try, if at all possible, to
hold the business meetings on Saturday when the most members are likely to
attend.
Friday,
March 14th was the day for our tour of the Midway (CV-41), now a
museum ship moored at the Navy pier in downtown San Diego. The ship is wonderfully restored and
well-maintained. As you come across the
ship’s brow, you are handed a head set with a transistor-like device attached,
along with a tour map. At specific
points along a marked out tour route through the ship, numbered stops are
posted. At those stops you simply key
the number into the device and receive a one to two minute narration, often
accompanied by an oral history from a former crew member. In addition, there were several short 25-30
minute guided tours you could take. I
personally took a tour of the pilot house, Primary Flight Control (Pri Fli) and
the chart house, but there was also a tour of the flight deck. The self-guided tour went through many spaces
below, including berthing spaces, a mess deck, officers country, ward room,
dirty shirt ward room (which was less formal), ship’s store, and even main
control. Of special interest was the
brig. Greg Broekhuizen took a bit of
ribbing here. Midway was his first ship,
and apparently his secondary rack tended to be found in the brig. There were several cells there, and an
office. In the office was a desk with a
mannequin seated behind it dressed as a Marine Corps officer dressed in
camouflage. Standing before the desk was
an enlisted Marine and a sailor in dungarees in handcuffs. So help me, the sailor looked like he had
been in a brawl with his left eye swollen.
I don’t know if the exhibitor wanted you to think this was from a
barroom brawl, or from the treatment he may have received from the Marines...
but regardless, I thought it was at least realistic. All in all, I thought they did a fantastic
job on the Midway. Speaking as someone
who works in the museum field (some of you know I work for the National Park
Service), I thought the ship worked well, both as an interpretive tool and as a
memorial. Our stay was only two hours at
the Midway, but we could have easily used three. However, we loaded back onto the bus and
departed sharply at the appointed hour of noon and departed for our lunch at
the Bali Hai restaurant, again on Shelter Island. That is… all but one. Former GMGC Jim Taylor “missed bus’s
movement”, and spent the rest of the reunion living down his tardiness. The Midway was just too much of a draw for
the Chief. In an irony of fate, the fare
for his cab ride back to the hotel where he was able to meet up again with the
bus before heading off to lunch cost him exactly $14.00… Buchanan’s hull number. After lunch, we were scheduled for a cruise
of San Diego bay. The cruise took us
under the Coronado bridge to a point where we approached the 32nd
street Naval base before we put about and headed up channel again. It was a standard tour, with the Captain
pointing out land marks and points of interests. We rounded North Island and passed a DDG that
was standing into port, which turned out to be USS Pinckney (DDG-91). She was of interest to us because we were due
to visit her the next day. The tour went
passed the refueling pier and past the sub base before turning around and
headed back to the pier in downtown San Diego, thus concluding our touring for
the day. From there, it was back to the
hotel and liberty call.
Saturday
was the tour of USS Pinckney (DDG-91) at 32nd street. This was the same DDG that had passed our
tour boat the day before. We were met at
the gate by a young Ensign named Alysha Haran who was the ship’s CIC officer,
and she guided the bus to the entrance to the pier. 32nd street isn’t exactly like it
was during our day. Now, the piers are
enclosed with chain linked fence, and you must past through a gate guarded by a
marine to gain entrance, which we did.
At the foot of the brow was a LT, who turned out to be the ship’s OPS Boss,
a LT jg who was the CDO, and two CPOs, all decked out in their dress blues as
was Ensign Haran. From here we were
divided up into four groups and toured the ship. We all saw the focsle, CIC, ward room, the
pilot house, and the the fan tail. Being
a former OS who served on a non-NTDS Buchanan, CIC was quite simply Star Wars…
plain and simple. As a special treat,
they opened up their ship’s store for us.
Today, money is not used in the ship’s store. You carry a debit card, and money is simply
withdrawn from an account. But, they
stocked a cash fund so that we could purchase items, which we did… from ball
caps, to patches, to coffee mugs. Some
of the guys got a reality check when they saw Tampons being sold. For those who still may be unaware (or didn’t
bother to read above about the officer who met the ship at the gate), women
have served in US warships since 1994.
They looked squared-away to me.
Ensign Haran certainly was, and the young OS I met in CIC appeared to be
as well.
I
think it was agreed upon by everyone that the tour of the Pinckney was the
highlight of the reunion. As a bit of
touching respect, our members who had achieved the rank of commander or higher
were gonged aboard and ashore. We had
toured a ship the last time we were in San Diego in 2002, but the Pinckney
really treated us like royalty. We were
made to feel welcome, and were told that we were THEIR highlight of the
day! We suspected that our tour guides
were part of that day’s duty section, but never knew that until we pressed them
for it. Otherwise, we would never have
known it. I think I speak for others
when I say that I feel pride in knowing that I once wore the same uniform that
these sailors proudly wear now.
After
our tour of the Pinckney, we visited Old Seaport Village for two hours or so
and had a box lunch there. For those who
don’t recognize it, Old Seaport Village was built in the early ‘80s along the
downtown waterfront just south of the Navy pier. Back in the ‘60s and ‘70s, Chief Taylor tells
me it was the Navy athletic field, but I remember it being graded in ’79 or ’80
in preparation for the building of Seaport Village, which is really a large
touristy shopping district, filled with shops of all kinds, and street
performers and musicians in between. It’s
a pleasant place to eat your lunch and sit by the harbor, if you don’t wish to
shop.
As always, the last evening of the
reunion was our banquet night. We had
quite a showing of members and their wives and quite filled the hospitality
room. A photographer was brought in, and
reunion photos were taken before the event.
Door prizes were given before dinner, and an emergency meeting was
called for the purpose of voting for a donation of $250.00 to the recreation fund
for USS Pinckney for the outstanding reception and tour we received that
afternoon. The meal was a pleasant one,
and fellowship was enjoyed amongst shipmates.
But, as always, the banquet ushered in the end of the reunion. The next morning was checkout time and we all
headed off in different directions to our homes, looking forward to our next
reunion in two years time in Jacksonville.
BUSINESS MEETING
NOTES
The
Business Meeting was called to order by President Dave Malone at 5:10 pm on
Thursday, April 13, 2008. Members
present (22) were Bill Backer, Bruce Baile, Bill Batterman, Phil Beinke, Greg
Broekhuizen, Robin Browning, Ted Cameron, Dave Casmier, Dan Connell, Tom
Crosser, Ken Kane, Dave Malone, George Mezori, Dean Myers, Tim Nightingale, Bob
Otis, Dave Pope, Lou Proctor, Terry Rudisill, John Saylor, Fred Shortreed, and
Phil Thacher.
Dave
Malone thanked Tim for organizing a great reunion and appreciation from the
membership was shown with an enthusiastic round of applause.
Rob
Browning summarized the minutes of the Branson Reunion and stated that a
decision had been made not to issue membership cards. It was stated that the goal to add attendees
at the San Diego reunion had been met.
Tom
Crosser gave an update on the procurement of the USS Adams that is now
scheduled to be relocated to Jacksonville, Florida, and put on the south side
of the St. John’s River. He stipulated
that they were looking for volunteers (electricians, painters, etc.) and tech
manuals.
Rob
Browning made a motion to donate $500.00 from the Association to the Adams
Project. The motion was seconded by Tim
Nightingale and carried 100% by the membership.
Rob
Browning read the Treasurer’s Report submitted by Dick Zimmerman stating the
list of paid members and the financial status as of 12 March, 2008 being $4,624.19. The official Treasurer’s Report will be in
the next newsletter.
The
next order of new business was the location of the next reunion in 2010. Dave Malone asked for nominations from the
floor stating that the bylaws indicate the reunion is to be held on the East
Coast. Jacksonville, FL; Charleston, SC;
and Savannah, GA were suggested. With 10
votes the site selected was Jacksonville.
It was noted that it is unlikely that the Adams will be relocated by
then and that the reunion should not happen during spring break.
Rob
Browning made a report on the availability of items in the Ship’s Store. There was an interest in Navy Blue Polo
Shirts with embroidered logo/words. It
was stated that the link to the wind breakers along with other items are on the
website. Caution was given that if you
buy something from a link on the website that you should report problems.
The
next order of business was the election of officers. Tim Nightingale made a motion to keep the
current officers; Dave Malone, Dean Myers, Robin Browning and Dick
Zimmerman. The motion was seconded and
unanimously carried.
The
meeting was adjourned at 6:10 pm.
Post
Meeting: Rob Browning made the motion at
the Saturday night (3/15/08) banquet that $250 be given to the Assistance/Rec and
Welfare fund of the DDG 91 Pinckney for an outstanding job welcoming the
Buchanan sailors to their ship. The
motion was seconded by Ken Kane and unanimously approved by the membership.
Respectfully
submitted by
Robin
Browning, Secretary
USS Buchanan Association
TREASURER’S REPORT
Submitted by
Dick Zimmermann, Treasurer
PAID MEMBERS (73)
Acosta, Javier; Alexander, Ted; Andrew,
Randy; Backer, Bill; Baile, Bruce; Bartleson, Don; Batterman, Bill; Beinke,
Phil; Bomar, Rick; Borg, Gene; Boyle, Tim; Brinley, Bill; Broekhuizen, Greg;
Brown, Michael & Jacqueline; Browning, Rob & Marian; Boyle, Tim;
Bussey, Robert; Cadia, John; Cameron, Ted; Casmier, Dave; Clark, Jere; Connell,
Dan; Copeland, Nelson; Craig, Tom; Crosser, Tom; England, Carl; Falkenhan,
Marc; Fitzroy, John; Gant, Charlie; George, David; Gerrard, Gerry; Gilbert,
Joe; Glidewell, Mel; Gloyd, Elmer; Gray, Bill; Hararas, John; Heffernan,
Michael; Henley, Ron; Herrman, Larry; Holden, Wayne; Howard, John; Hubner,
Leon; Hummel, Gary; Jones, Bobby; Kane, Ken; Kupec, Cole; Looney, Glenn;
Malone, Dave; Marak, Ron; McDonald, John; Mezori, George; Myers, Dean;
Nightingale, Tim; Norrod, Michael; Otis, Bob; Pope, Dave; Probus, Ed; Proctor,
Lou; Re, Joe; Rivenes, John; Rudisill, Terry; Saylor, John; Sena, Pat; Shortreed,
Fred; Taylor, Jim; Thacher, Phil; Ursich, Al; Walla, Bob; Walsh, William;
Wihera, Victor; Wood, Ken; Zeranski, Ed; Zimmermann, Dick
NEW MEMBERS SINCE MARCH 2008
Greg Broekhuizen BT1 1981 - 86
Ted Cameron STG3 1966 - 68
Carl England RD3 1967 - 70
Ken Kane SK2 1971
- 73
Bob Otis LCDR 1971
- 72
Ed Zeranski ET2 1967 - 68
LIFETIME MEMBERS
Bruce Baile SH3 1970 - 73
Rob & Marian Browning STG1 1975
- 79
Bill Brinley RD2 1967 - 70
Ted Cameron STG3 1966 - 68
Wayne Holden ET1/EW1 1968 - 73
Lou Proctor FTM3 1963 - 66
Al Ursich FCC(SW) 1987 - 91
TREASURER’S REPORT
|
Balance 12 March 2008 |
$4,624.19 |
|
Dues |
966.00 |
|
Ship store sales, reunion
raffles |
955.00 |
|
Contributions (ACVA,
DDG-91) |
750.00 |
|
Ship store expenses |
0.00 |
|
Balance
31 March 2008 |
$5,795.19 |
PLANNING THE RESTORATION OF CHARLES F. ADAMS –
VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP
The
ADAMS Class Veterans Association (ACVA) is beginning to plan for the
restoration of the CHARLES F. ADAMS with an “advanced sign-up” request to Navy
veterans and other interested individuals who want to help restore the various
areas of the ship and set up museum displays.
We need lots of skilled help from preservation to technical skills in
order to restore the ship’s appearance to that of its operating days of
service. We will not be starting the
restoration work until the Navy awards us the ship. It will be a big help to have an “advanced
sign-up” list that will allow us to build a database of seriously interested
individuals who are motivated to participate in the restoration work. Go to the ”Volunteer” page on the ACVA web
site and register today so that we can begin the effort to “RESTORE THE CHARLEY
DEUCE” as a representative of all ships of the ADAMS class !! www.adamsclassddgvets.org
JIM WALLACE
From Dick Zimmermann
Jim Wallace, MR2, aboard BUCHANAN 1968-69, passed away in June,
2005. His granddaughter is trying to find out if anybody remembers him from his
days on the BUCHANAN. If anybody has any stories about him, or any pictures, or
any recollections at all, I'd appreciate you letting me know at
dzimmerm@dandp.com. I'd like to pass on any information of that nature to the
young lady.
THE
PASSING OF TWO SHIPMATES
The
association has received word from former MS3 Forrest Barnes of the passing of
former EN1 Serge “Sonny” De Somov on Thursday, February 21st. Barnes indicates that he served in Buchanan
between 1981 and 1983, and it is assumed that EN1 De Somov served aboard during
those same years. Condolences are
extended to his family and to his shipmates.
We have also received word of the passing of Michael Haurwitz who
passed away on January 21, 2008. He apparently
served aboard Buchanan in 1973-74. He
was apparently an E-2 and our contact has identified him as Ordinance Mechanic,
from his DD-214. He does not appear in
any of our cruise books, which may mean he served between WestPacs. If anyone has any information about Michael,
you are asked to contact Juliann Perins at bcbarbiedoll@msn.com .
THE DO SON PENINSULA
Sent
to me by Dick Zimmermann. This is from
the US Naval Institute, an article about Buchanan’s role at the Do Son
Peninsula, by CDR John G. Robinson.
SHIP’S STORE
Some listed items are direct to
the manufacture of items and not sold direct from ships store. Please contact
ships store or Rob Browning if there should be any problems with the products
or service from any of these links. We rely on feed back from our shipmates and
customers to list only quality products
for purchase.
WHAT HAPPEN
TO THE "Stew Burners"
New member Butch Brannock
read the article in the last newsletter entitled “What happened to the Navy
when I wasn’t looking”. It prompted him
to offer his version of what happened to the Stew Burner…at least in his case.
After 2 years, 2 tours to
WESTPAC and enough of a certain Chief, I departed DDG14 and the USN on May 8,
1970. I entered the LA county police academy, and became a law enforcement
officer only to be shot within 6 months, and decided that if I was going to be
shot I might as well be defending my country.
So I entered the USAF as a cook, which was good for me because there had
just been a 100% increase in pay. At my first duty station in the Air Force I
ran into another Buchanan graduate, PN2 Rook. He had also got out of the Navy
and entered into the USAF. Small world!!! Right after being assigned to
Hamilton AFB, I volunteered to support
"Rolling Thunder" from Guam.
Twenty five hour days, 8 days a week.
While in Guam, the Buchanan came in for fuel and "stores". So while it was in port, I brought some of my
AF pals aboard to show them what the real military life is all about. Ahhh… that smell of oil and the black smoke
coming out of ole DDG14 was so refreshing. CS3 Hilton was still aboard then and
filled me in on some of the ship’s gossip.
My Navy training in the
culinary arts helped earn 2 Hennessey Trophy's for my Air Force bases. The
Hennessey Trophy is awarded to the best dining facilities in the Air Force.
Having my fill of "stew burning" I retrained into an administration
field, becoming a "First Sergeant" (master-of-arms). I progressed to
the highest enlisted rank before retiring in 1988.
Prior to retiring I received my
Bachelors' Degree in business with minors in accounting and education. Which
lead to my present job. I'm still working for the government, employed by the
Department of Defense (DOD) with the Defense Finance and Accounting Service
(DFAS) in Indianapolis. I'm due to retire again in January 2009.
I belong to a Motorcycle club
with the membership consisting of retired military and police officers. We
often share stories about our times in the military, and my stories (no names)
about life on the Buchanan are always good ones. I actually cherish those
memories aboard the Buchanan as we all do.
That's my Story and I'm
sticking to it.
CS2
Brannock
SEA
STORY OF THE QUARTER
Submitted by John Howard
Board
of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) Inspection - Spring 1973
Buchanan had returned to San Diego from the arduous 72 WestPac and become a Mod
Squad ship in the fall of ‘72. For those of you not aboard during those
Mod Squad years, the CO, XO and department heads were all one rank lower than
normal. This made life aboard Buchanan interesting and challenging for
all of us.
As part of the normal annual schedule we were scheduled for an
INSURV in the spring of ‘73. An INSURV is designed to go over the ship
with a fine toothed comb to determine the material status and readiness of the
ship. There are three INSURV boards: east coast, west coast, and the main
DC board. The east and west coast boards are commanded by captains, the
DC by an admiral. The DC board primarily inspects new commission ships to
determine whether they are ready for the Navy to accept delivery from the
builder. By some stroke of luck - or maybe by design - we were slated to
be inspected by the DC folks. The president of the board at the time was
RADM John Bulkeley. He had retired but was recalled to active duty to
head the INSURV board. His career is one of Navy lore. He was
awarded the Medal of Honor for service as a PT boat squadron commander in
WWII. And he headed the team of crusty old commanders and captains who
would be crawling all over Buchanan in their coveralls to determine what kind
of shape we were in.
In the months leading up to the inspection we spent an amazing number of hours
doing our own pre-inspection. We documented everything that we knew was
not up to specs using 4790/2K forms (I think the Navy still uses them
today!) One for every discrepancy, in every division and
department. By the time INSURV day rolled around we had a stack of 2Kilos
several feet high.
The protocol for the inspection required that the ship was to be steaming
auxiliary and on ship's power on the morning that the board arrived. The
wardroom table was covers with stacks of 2Ks separated by department and
division. The officers and chiefs were assembled in the wardroom awaiting
the arrival of the board for the arrival briefing. All preparations had
been made. Nothing left to do but drink another cup of coffee and wait
for the board.
It was a dreary, drizzly morning and we were at 32nd street nested outboard of
a 1052 class frigate. The brow from the 1052's fantail to our fantail was
at a pretty steep angle - the 1052's fantail being much higher out of the water
than ours. The bus carrying the inspector arrived on the pier and the
inspectors crossed over the 1052. We bonged them aboard. One of the
inspectors, an old LDO commander with a briefcase in each hand, was making his
way down the brow from the 1052 and lost his footing on the wet non-skid about
half way across. His legs go out from under him, he lands on his butt,
the briefcases go overboard and he follows - slipping under the handrail.
The commander and both briefcases landed in the cargo/safety net. The net
held!!! The quarterdeck watch helped the commander out of the net and
retrieved his briefcases. Catastrophe averted!! He proceeded to the
wardroom as if nothing had happened. At least it wasn't Admiral Bulkeley
who went into the net. I guess we broke even on that incident. A
downcheck for slippery non-skid on the brow, but an upcheck for a safety net
properly rigged and up to the task of keeping the commander out of San Diego
harbor.
