REUNION 2004 - MEETING OF OLD FRIENDS

Remember that family members are welcome at the reunion.  We have had a good turnout of family members at prior reunions and would like to see this trend continue.

The Pensacola area is bubbling with all the unique ingredients needed to make a perfect site for our 2004 Reunion.  It will be another fun-filled time to meet and greet all our 613 friends.

The Air Museum is one of the biggest attractions in the country and all attendees will really enjoy seeing the various aircraft on display.  A PBJ is still under "rebuild" and hopefully we will be given the opportunity to make a walk by and take a few pictures of it.  Don't know how many will be allowed to enter the aircraft though.  There are also several interesting aviation memorabilia items on display that all would really enjoy observing.

Please keep in mind that for the Raffle we would welcome any and all gifts from members.  In prior years we received many interesting items and would like to see the trend continue.

The squadron has the Yakawich Fund whose primary purpose is to provide some assistance to members in their attendance efforts at reunions.  Any and all requests are considered confidential.

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Received a phone call from RL Marx who says greetings to all.  He and Alice were in the process of packing their sea bags for a departure to Arizona.  They are of the opinion that the weather maybe a little warmer than Iowa for a few months.  Their planned take off is around the 12 of January 2004.

He was intrigued by the book mentioned in the last newsletter that two members had mentioned.  That book title was put on his obtain and read list.  In turn he highly recommends Delivered From Evil by Robert Leckie.  This book covers every campaign of the US Marine Corps during WWII starting of course with the first campaign.

He has obtained a soft cover copy and is in the process of trying to get a hard back copy for his library.  I called the Marine Corps Association Library to see if they had a hard back copy but received negative results.  They did check the NET while I was on the line but didn't have any success in locating a supplier.

Don McCune sends his regards to all and wishes everyone a happy and healthy New Year.  He and Margaret are eagerly waiting for the Reunion in May.

Received a great annual report on the events for Herb and Susanna during the year 2003.  They had already informed us of their trip to Sweden in this report they mentioned all the cities and towns that they visited.  It was like taking a course in ancient European History.  They had a great time visiting with relatives and friends returning home with a lot of memories.

Prior to going on the trip Herb had to have surgery and on his return more surgery.  He survived both of them.  They also attended a lot of family get-togethers and then went to Sue's WWII Flight Nurse Convention with the Society of Retired Air Force Nurses.

Clifford Dotson sends regards to all and says that he will be at the reunion.  His brother who served with 2nd Marine Division as a machine gunner from Tarawa to Japan will in attendance with him.  He hopes that Tom Honan will be able to make the reunion also.  They were good buddies in the VMB 613 days.

The past year has been a great one for Patsy and he as they continued to be blessed with good health, friends, and being able to continue their physical routine.  For him this means playing tennis early each weekday weather permitting and then visits to their fitness center at least three times a week plus yard work.  He still gets call for consulting jobs in metallurgical failure analysis which keep his brain power on the go.

Thinking to the future they are giving consideration to building a new home in the year 2004.  This one will have fewer steps to climb for entrance or exit and also they will give up a lot of their gardening space to reduce the gardening effort.

Received an e mail from Robert J. Yanacek son of Paul Yanacek (VMB 613 ORD).  He had found our reunion notice in a veterans magazine from the year 2002 and wanted to check out and see if we were still up and running.  He reported that all continues well with his Dad.

Robert retired from the Marine Corps as a Master Sergeant and is now living in North Carolina.  Over the years he has been endeavoring to locate history items concerning VMB 613 several of which he has e mailed to me. 

In the interim I loaned him my copy of VMB 613 History which he received.  He started reading it as soon as he arrived home from work and was up till 3:00AM reading it.  It was well worth it though he said.  He couldn't believe the amount of information and work that went into the book.  It is really a tribute to the Marines of VMB 613.  He plans to read it through again over the next few days.

He is also planning on setting up a website for 613 and we will be hearing more of it as time goes on.

Robert also sent me a new letterhead for our newsletter which has a front view of the PBJ1H with props spinning and the radar dome on the right wing tip.

Cal Russell says hello and regards to all.  Hopes to see all at the reunion.

Doc Scott says hello and regards  to all.  All is well with him except for some impaired eye sight and hearing loss.  He still drives but limits the driving to familiar roads.  He will be 98 years of age in August 2004.

Doc stayed behind after we left for the states and he saw some of our planes partially skidded down on the beach.  In looking through and around the debris he found a magnetic compass which he salvaged and used for years on his boat in Maine for several years. He proved that it could be used on the sea as well as in the air.  He then saw the remains of the PBJs pushed into the ocean.

He was then transferred to Engebi where he was Chief Medical Officer.  Orders were then received to totally strip the island which meant that he had to dump an entire hospital into the lagoon.

Then they embarked on the Anti-Aircraft Cruiser Oakland and shipped to San Diego.  While on the way back he had to perform an operation - gangrenous appendix.  The patient who was a Marine had a full recovery.

Bob Chrisman reports that all continue well in Arizona and he is keeping the temperature turned up for RL and Alice Marx.  He sends his regards to all.

Carmine Nasta called and we had a great discussion over some VMB 613 pictures that one of his sons mailed to him.  The pictures were primarily of the Kwaj Squadron area most of which were in the book that Lt Col O'Reilly had published after we returned to the states.

It was interesting putting names to some of the faces Carmine reported in the departmental pictures and even while talking I was able to add a few more names to some of the individuals in the pictures.

Carmine is going to send me the pictures so that I can bring them to the reunion for all hands to look at. 

Carmine sends his regards to all.

Bob Longenberger reports that he is still alive and kicking but not too high.  His operation is OK and his back is getting better but not as fast as he thinks it should.  As result he has to be do things in low gear for fear of reinjuring himself. 

They got by Christmas without any snow which allowed the snow from the beginning of the month to suffice for the season.  He and Rose Marie are getting along as good as can be expected.

Jim Milhousen reports that all is calm and quiet in Schaumberg.  The weather has been warm for this time of year, no real snow as of the time of writing.

To stay in condition he bowls three times a week.  Even though he has been doing this routinely his average has fallen off a good ten points.  Jim sends his best regards to all.

Bob Litzau sends his regards to all.  He said that his memory never fails him particularly during the Thanksgiving and Christmas periods when he thinks of the George W. Julian and the excitement when we should have been paid submarine duty for the few alerts that we had to undergo.

He is still involved in reading the history of Marine Aviation in WWII in the Pacific and includes the activities of 613 in all of his thoughts. 

Two books that recommends to all are (1) Early Birds by G.J. Halpern ISBN-0-525-93134-1, and (2) Spirits In The Sky  - Classic aircraft of World War II ISBN 0-86101-578-9.

Bob also sent along the following quiz of Sea Lore for the Sea Going Leathernecks:

Word	Origin
May Day	French language of the sea "Maidez" Help Me Became May Day.
Scuttlebutt	Place on deck of old warships where crew could talk without being heard by Officers -or- Butt Barrel was fresh drinking water storage.  The opening was called the Scuttle - the Sailors passed gossip as they drank thus became scuttlebutt.
Slacker	Sailor shrewd enough to grab a SLACK SHEET.  While some one else sweats lines to haul and raise the sails.
Heads	Crew relieves themselves from the bowsprit shroud near the boom figurehead.
Straight Poop	News directly from Captain as he stands above crew on Poop Deck.
Pull Your Own Weight	Pulling yourself up the shrouds.
Three Sheets To Te Wind	Something wrong with the rigging: Square Rigger can be only two sheets - so the sail must have been rigged by a drunk.

Art Navarre says hello and regards to all.  He is feeling well but doesn't dare try to run the 220.  He sent along some newspaper clippings about some WWII Veterans Reunions held in his area and also articles about the Marine families coping with the deployment of family members to Iraq and a few other places in the far off lands.

Additional articles were of the Commanding Generals informing the troops of the need to be sensitive to the natives of the lands that they are going to enter.

In addition there was an article about the Marines tactics being different from the U.S. Army tactics.  The Marine tactics will be laser precise with a maximum effort to avoid endangering or humiliating civilians.  They Marines will be working with the Iraq police and will train and equip an Iraqi force to take on insurgents.

George Comer says hello to all and to remember that A Good Time Will Be Had By All at the reunion.

John Peterson sends his regards to all from the snow covered area of Washington state.  He said that they just got through a brutal snow storm followed by a very brutal ice storm.  It was so bad they had to close the VFW Bar.  If all goes well he and Jane will be able to make it to the reunion.

Ralph McClain sends his regards to all and reports that all is well in Godfrey.