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NOT TO LEAVE THE SHIP WINTER 2010 EDITION
2010 REUNION ‘BIG’ HIT
The fourth Bi-annual reunion of the USS Hull ASSOCIATION was another smashing success. A total of 83 attended, including 51 shipmates – an increase of 10 over 2008.
The ORLEANS
Hotel & Casino provided a beautiful banquet room, delicious and ample food, and
the best ever Hospitality Suite – a Presidential Suite of two bedrooms and a
full living room with full sized bar on the top (21st floor). It
provided a great view of the lightening show over the mountains. Reunion
Chairman Bob Modell did another outstanding job hammering out an excellent
contract. Many photos including group shots are at MEMORIES OF THE REUNION
2010 at
http://www.usshullassociation.org/reunion10/reunion2010.htm
PRESENTATIONS A ‘HIGHLIGHT’
Nostalgia, Vietnam and the Navy’s future were topics at four Reunion presentations. It was, by far, the broadest array of programs and presentations yet. At the breakfast/business meeting, LT(jg) Gary Jones made an excellent presentation of the efforts by Vietnam Veterans of America to locate the remains of missing POW’s and MIA’s from both sides of the Viet Nam conflict.
LT(jg) GARY JONES DISCUSSES ‘NAM
Additionally during that meeting, LT(jg) Rich Schulman made a musical slide show presentation of the Hull in the early 60’s, primarily the 1963-64 cruise period. Rich provided a copy to all attendees.
BANQUET SEES “The Way We Were”
For the dinner banquet, we heard an enlightening presentation by retired Captain Jim Jefferis of the Las Vegas Navy League covering the aspects of modern ship construction particularly the Arleigh Burke class destroyers. This was followed up with another Schulman production, a motion picture with music covering Hull’s ’61-‘62 time period. Ah yes, we imagine some film gazers re-lived that WESTPAC Cruise!
DD 350 SHIPMATES HOLD COURT
(DD-350) HULL shipmates SO2 Pat Douhan and QMC Archie DeRyckere each kept the Banquet audience riveted with their remarks.
But the real treat was left for the late evening hospitality suite court they held where both "let their hair down" for those of us fortunate to be there to take it all in. Both have repeatedly said how grateful they are to be a part of the HULL Association. Shipmates Archie and Pat, the gratitude is all ours!
2010 REUNION REACTIONS
Nick Dimel said “the Orleans was outstanding” and Bryce Wellnitz echoed it was “the best reunion I have attended.” Noted Carl Decker “it’s always good to see old shipmates.”
Fellows & Prochaska talk ‘70’s
Ken Holtel talked about a “heck of a lot of good work and help from the ladies.” And William Rudolph is “looking forward to 2012!” So are we, shipmates.
REUNION HIGHS AND LOWS
There is news of hope but also sadness in the wake of the 2010 Reunion. Our President Mike Gallegos could not attend. Mike was at the bedside of wife Dora who underwent a liver transplant in Phoenix. Mike says Dora’s recovery is progressing - but please keep the Gallegos Family in your thoughts and prayers.
BOBBY LEWIS WITH JOHN DILLARD
And, though gravely ill with kidney cancer, shipmate GMG2John Dillard attended the Reunion and seemed buoyed in spirit getting together with shipmates again. But GMG2 John Dillard ’61-’64 passed away November 16. John was a member of the award winning sharpshooting small arms team. He was 70. John was a hard-working, selfless shipmate who exemplified the “can-do” spirit of the USS HULL (DD-945). A full obituary can be found in the “Remembering the Fallen” section of the HULL website.
HULL SUCCESSION LINE BEGAN
As we must grow in numbers to become stronger and survive as an Association, so must the line of succession form for Association officers. Though nothing is imminent, two shipmates have volunteered to become Deputy Vice Chairs. LT (jg) Ed Nelson will be Deputy Vice Chair for Reunions and LT Ed Murray Deputy Treasurer. Congratulations Shipmates for stepping up to the plate!
OTHER REUNION NEWS
We also had a highly successful double raffle that netted $550 with the proceeds split among Gary Jones’ POW/MIA Veterans’ Initiative Program, TIN CAN SAILOR and their Museum ship program – USS ORLECK. Shipmate Even Caffrey thanked “HULL brethren for their support” of the ORLECK effort and TCS President Thomas V. Jones added “I thank the USS HULL (DD-350/945) Association for their generosity” in support of the memory of the memory of ORLECK and Typhoon Cobra. The raffles had two items of note from Nick Dimel – a handmade USS HULL Memorial shadowbox and two cases of San Miguel – we had to drink one to make sure it was the real thing. President Mike Gallegos donated a beautiful ship’s clock, three copies of the book, Down to the Sea donated by Bob Modell, and we had TCS donations of memberships and discounts.
Three spouses were unsung heroes in the success of this Reunion. Charlotte Modell, Donna Prochaska and Marilee Tomek kept the Registration Desk moving efficiently and they played a considerable role in the success of the raffle. Congratulations and Well Done Ladies!
MARILEE & CHARLOTTE AT WORK
Also, Neil Baliber has assumed the role of Official HULL Photographer (or Graphic recorder) – remember whatever happens in LV stays in LV.Check the web address above for his and others Reunion pixs.
THE 2012 REUNION WILL BE IN....?
Bob Modell and the Association team have begun a preliminary search for our next Reunion venue. As mentioned at the meeting in Las Vegas, various factors must be considered when selecting a site. It is a long list including: hotel availability and quality, hotel experience with military reunions, room cost, food quality, quality of the hospitality suite/room, transportation availability & cost, the variety and quality of attractions in the selected location, and finally contract considerations.
THE 2012 REUNION WILL BE IN....?
Bob Modell and the Association team have begun a preliminary search for our next Reunion venue. As mentioned at the meeting in Las Vegas, various factors must be considered when selecting a site. It is a long list including: hotel availability and quality, hotel experience with military reunions, room cost, food quality, quality of the hospitality suite/room, transportation availability & cost, the variety and quality of attractions in the selected location, and finally contract considerations.
MODELL AT BUSINESS MEETING
If we want to select a location that is not within a reasonable driving distance for the Association reunion organizing team members, there are two alternatives. One is to utilize the services of a reunion planning organization which is a common practice among reunion groups. However, this adds cost to the members attending, plus we would still want to personally “check out the arrangements” and meet their staff. The other is to obtain Association member volunteer(s) to be on scene coordinators. This would involve checking out the hotel, its food service, hospitality suite, and any other service providers such as tour, and in general be actively involved in the process. Some of the cities whom we have contacted or members have mentioned are: Branson, MO; Norfolk, VA; Atlanta, GA; Nashville, TN; New Orleans, LA. Those members interested in promoting a local city and willing to be an on-site coordinator should contact either Bob Modell or John McKechnie.
YOUR 2010-2012 DUES ARE DUE – unless you paid at the reunion
$20.00 MAILED TO:
USS HULL ASSOC.,
540 Alameda Bl.
Coronado, CA 92118
MEMBERSHIP
Our membership list contains 453 names of which we have only 390 with a street address and/or an email address. Email is our fastest and most cost effective communication vehicle. PLEASE! - keep us posted on any changes to email addresses and help us look for the missing shipmates. Over the life of DD945 we had approximately 2400 shipmates pass over the Quarterdeck so you can see we have a lot of work to locate the UA group. Make an effort this year to find at least one shipmate.
From The Webmaster/Historian:
Thanks to those that have sent-in reunion pictures. If you have reunion pictures sitting in your camera, send them to me and I’ll get them published. Many other items and pictures that may interest you have been added to the web pages. Going to the “What’s New Log Room” located on the home page will give you a link to the various pages.
I invite all to peruse the various pages of the web site and see what you might be able to contribute to. There is so much information and items of interest related to all ships named Hull you’ll be occupied for hours. Imbedded in the pages you’ll find links to many other pages. For those not familiar with identifying links, they will always be underlined and different in text color, or have a (click to view) attached. For example: Memories Of Reunion 2010 will take you to the Reunion 2010 page. Some pages have a ‘Home’ button that will take you to the home page. Using the BACK browser button located in the top left corner of most browsers will take you back to the previous page. If you have any questions about navigating the web pages just drop me a line. lColella@maine.rr.com
Lou Colella IC2 ‘60-‘63
USS Hull Association Webmaster/Historian
http://www.usshullassociation.org/
Contact List- here is a contact list for you to be in touch with Association officers.
President- Mike Gallegos Gmiguel1965@aol.com
Treasurer- John McKechnie john540@juno.com
Reunion 2012- Bob Modell bankrbob@pacbell.net
Communications- George Tomek newhull1@gmail.com
Webmaster/Historian -Lou Colella lColella@maine.rr.com
Thanks to John Deane for this Memorial to GMG3 George Bates ’61-‘64.