USS BELL
ASSOCIATION (DD587)
MAY, 2008
IN THIS ISSUE:
Ø MAILBAG
SAN FRANCISCO
REUNION NEWS – FINALLY!!
The situation with the gasoline and diesel fuel is giving me a
headache in more ways that one. I have
finally found a transportation and tour company that will give me a set price
for our tours while in San Francisco. Up
until today, the ones I contacted would give me a base price with a clause that
depending on the fluctuation of gas and diesel, the price could increase or
decrease. I’m sure there is no way it
will decrease at this time. I am so
happy today that I stumbled upon the nicest person with a tour company out of
Los Angeles with an outlet in San Francisco and he gave me a set price and I
guess he felt sorry for me and my frustrations and not only gave me a set quote
for a senior price but in addition gave me another $5.00 off that price. The listed price for the tour was $68.00, but
he not only gave me the senior price plus an additional $5.00 off.
So, with all that being said, we will have a nice city tour on
Friday, June 10th. The tour
will include the fabulous Chinatown, Victorian Homes area, Presidio National
Park, the Palace of Fine Arts and North Beach.
There will be stops along the way including the Golden Gate Bridge, Twin
Peaks (weather permitting), City Hall, Golden Gate Park and more. We will stop at Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch
(on your own) at a choice of restaurants.
On Saturday, the 11th or Sunday, the 12th we
will view the flyovers of the Blue Angels, the Canadian Forces Snowbirds, and
Team Oracle. The site we will view the
show from is not quite set. I am trying
to work with the National Park Service to get us a place either at Fort Mason,
Aquatic Park, Crissy Field or Presidio to watch the flyovers. All of these locations are operated by the
National Park Service and each one is connected along the water. We will hold our meeting and memorial
service as usual and we’ll have some fun with an auction. This little auction helps out our treasury so
much and provides us with a lot of laughs.
I am so looking forward to this reunion and San Francisco is such
an exciting place, I am sure everyone will have a good time. The hotel is undergoing some refurbishing and
will be complete when October comes. It
is situated in a nice area surrounded by a walking path. The Sheraton has its own airport bus. You will be able to take it to and from the
hotel.
Attached is a registration form.
If you are planning to attend the reunion, please complete and return to
me as soon as possible. My cut off date
for the return of the form is September 10, 2008.
MAILBAG
…..My Dad was on the BELL in WWII.
His name is Howard Gallagher. He
trained and returned from Great Lakes.
He died in 1962 at the very young age of 51. Mom was Ollie Gallagher and she died in
January of the same year. What a rough
time that was. He left for the Navy in
1943. I still can see him walking down
the street to catch the bus. I know he
was in Seattle and assume that is where ship left for the tour. Do you have any information on any ship
members or history that I can obtain? I
am married to a retired USN Chief and my son is active USMC. So Dad must have influenced my adult life
even in his absence! I am a retired
RN. I volunteer at the Jacksonville
Airport USO and absolutely love it! Wow
that USS BELL website is great! I am an
only child and I know somewhere I have pictures and will hunt them down. I also have a phonograph record that Dad made
while on duty and really treasure that.
If I find the pictures, I will send them to you. What a joy it was to see the website. Thank you so much.
…..Suzanne
Gallagher Reynolds – chicagosue@msn.com
…..I am the daughter of Charles Edge (Chubby). It is so good to log on and see that the
reunions are still going strong. Our
family is sorry we have not been able to attend one in a while as my mother
Jean, has had a stroke and has been in a wheel chair for over a year now. She is doing well and improves a little every
day. I just love going through my dad’s
old Navy records and scrap book. I have
an old hand written letter on rice paper of commendation by Captain Gabbert
given to my father in 1945 when he volunteered to rescue sailors from the
OMMANY BAY after a kamikaze attack. My
father always told us that he could have gotten the Silver Star for this but
never bothered with all the details. Do
you know how I would go about finding out about this or obtaining a copy of the
official letter or do you think all those records have been lost. Perhaps someone out there remembers this account
and can correspond with me about what details they remember, or perhaps someone
may have some advice for me. My address
is Jeanne Meadows, 29 Holiday Drive, Hampton, VA and phone number is 757-851-
5890.
……Jeanne
Meadows – yorichy1@cox.net
…..Received the BELL Newsletter for February and we thank you so
much. We would surely like to take in
the reunion in San Francisco but I just can’t travel that far anymore. San Francisco was special for me when our Ship
came there to unload its ammunition after the war. I had an aunt and uncle living there that I
spent time with. I had never seen the
before and they treated me royally. By
all the plans that have been made everyone will have an unforgettable reunion. In your newsletter, Gordon W. Schley, former
radio tech on the BELL sent me a newsletter in March 1980 with a picture of the
BELL through the efforts of Wally Moore which was taken in China after the war. Thanks to you Gordon and others, I believe
the reunion had its start. I was a
Radioman Striker on the BELL. There is a
request from Harold Hughes the third, for a picture of the BELL. I met his Grandfather at the reunions that we
attended and we became good friends. If
he would send me his address I will send him a picture of the BELL ore any one
else who would like one. We always
considered BELL members a big and caring family. God Bless You All. Here is a small donation to help with
expenses.
…..Byron
& Betty Haskin, 702 Forest Ave, Staples, MN 56479
…..My name is Robert Williams and my father-in-law, Jack Richard
Brace, served as a gunner on a torpedo bomber during the Battle of Leyte
Gulf. His memory is failing and we are
trying to put some information together about his service. He was onboard the ST. LO when it sank. He thinks he was picked up the BELL. Was the BELL involved in this action and was
his rescue by the BELL possible? If the
BELL was involved in rescuing the ST. LO survivors what were the
circumstances? He got his mother to lie
about his age so he could join when he was just 15. He would have been about 17 or 18 about the
time of the rescue. My email addresses
are RWilliams@scc.spokane.edu
or monetpython@juno.com. Thanks.
Robert Williams.
.... Six
VA National Cemeteries Set to Open – The location of the cemeteries is as
follows:
Birmingham,
AL – A 495 acre tract in Montevallo, AL, some 25 miles south of Birmingham is
to be completed summer 2008.
Columbia/Greenville,
SC – A 600 acre tract within Fort Jackson in the City of Columbia is to be
completed summer 2008.
Jacksonville,
FL – A 586 acre site in Duval County near Jacksonville International Airport to
be completed summer 2008.
Southeastern
Pennsylvania – A 200 acre site in Dolington in southern Bucks County is to be
completed in 2009.
Sarasota
County, FL – A 295 acre site (a part of the Hawkins Ranch, to be completed late
2008.
When we were in
San Antonio, our tour guide Mrs. Docia Williams, told us of the Soldier &
Family Assistance Center at Fort Sam Houston.
She has a little basket and she accepts donations from citizens,
churches, groups, etc. and uses this money to help in this cause. The Soldier
& Family Assistance Center serves patients, next-of-kin and family members
of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Many items are needed at Brooke Army Medical
Center and with her donations she purchases phone cards, pens, pencils,
stationery and stamps. She makes up
writing kits consisting of lined tablets, ten stamped envelopes, a pencil, two
ball point pens, and a small address book; disposable cameras, individually
wrapped snack food, such as Fritos, Doritos, cookies, peanut butter crackers,
etc. She also buys magazines, toiletries
such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, disposable razors, aftershave and pocket size
Kleenex packets.
Many soldiers
arrive from the war zone with only the clothes on their backs when they were
wounded. They are furnished nothing, not
even a long distance call to family members, except what has been donated. These men and women need clean underwear,
socks, and toiletries. Docia goes every
week with her basket of goods and gives them to the wounded. Their day room is a pleasant, sunny room and
staffed by one full time hostess and a number of volunteers. The soldiers (many are amputees), badly
burned or blinded and are so appreciative of all that is being done for
them. THEY ARE TRULY AMERICA’S
FINEST! When on our tour we passed the
hat and gave her a donation from the BELL Association. If you would like to help this lady give
these deserving and injured men and women, you can send your donations to Mrs.
Docia Williams, 1319 Vista Del Monte, San Antonio, Texas 78216-2229.
USS BELL ASSOCIATION
REGISTRATION
FORM
ULTIMATE CITY TOUR
- $61.00 PER PERSON
NUMBER ATTENDING -
__________________________
NAME OF ATTENDEES -
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
FLEET WEEK FLYOVER SHOW -___ ___$30.00 PER PERSON (BUS & CHAIR RENTAL)
NUMBER ATTENDING -______________________________
NAME OF ATTENDEES -
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
FAREWELL DINNER -__________$45.00 (INCLUDES TAXES & GRATUITIES)
NUMBER ATTENDING -______________________________
NAME OF ATTENDEES -
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
MAIL TO: ANN POOLE, 3978 ASHLEYWOODS CT, TUCKER. GA
30084
