Memo To: All the Tired Vacationers

Received a call from Cliff Willis who said that he was in an auto accident.  He was driving his truck at a speed of 53 mph carrying a load of molasses when a truck going about 93 mph caught up with him and sent his truck flying.  When he came to a short while later he noticed that vehicles were skidding all over the road slamming into any thing they could hit.

This skidding was caused by his load of molasses being crushed by the accident and other vehicles running over the containers crushing them with resultant overflow of liquid.  This put a layer of slippery molasses over the road surface which hindered other vehicles from stopping.

He ended up with damaged ribs, a damaged rib cage, sore hip and some time spent in the emergency room.  Followed up by having to maintain a supply of oxygen for his system usage.  At the time of talking he was off the oxygen.  Despite the pain he managed to squeeze in time to carry on with his business operation.

John Siergiewicz says hello to all.  John was interested in the remarks about George Washington Julian that appeared in one of our newsletters and he happened to be browsing a book written by Carl Sanburg on Lincoln.  George Julian was mentioned therein and at one time was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana.  The situation then and now are still similar he reported.

Heard from Jim and Mary Jane Lewis.  They are both alive and mostly well, are getting better and things are looking up.

Mary Jane went through a lot of misery while awaiting surgery which included taking a lot of pain killers.  After an extended operation which included time to come out from the anesthetic she awoke and there was no pain.

She has been walking without a walker or cane and not taking any medications.

Jim has started to eat more food than usual which has helped him to put on a little weight.  He still has to walk carefully, walking too fast causes him to come tumbling down.  So far no broken bones just bruises.

During their recovery stages they had a lot of family members present which really cheered up the abode.

Jack Schwertfager says hello to all.  They didn't receive any weather difficulty from the hurricane in their neck of the woods.

Jack has been able to continue playing golf and recently while playing he hit a ball a little  off center which landed on an island in the middle of a creek.  Without any hesitation he waded out to the island and hit the ball towards the fairway.  Then he strode off into the water to get back to the fairway and stepped on a rock that swivelled under his weight and into the creek and mud he went.

He endeavored to get rid of the mud and water but wasn't too successful.  The players let him continue even though the air wasn't too sweet with the odor of mud and dirty water.  Even though that event was a couple of weeks old he can still smell the effects of nature.

Homer Anderson sends his best to all.  He recently hit another milestone in his career and his daughters gave him a birthday party at home.  He is now 80 years of age.

DC Clay finally arrived home from the reunion and sends his regards to all.  He took his usual drive to visit with family along the way which gave him a chance to RON in St Louis for a spell.

On the way back he really traveled with limited stops and made the trip in about two and one half days.  This required alertness for twelve hours per day of driving. 

The desert temperature has remained high in Twenty Nine Palms and it was 104 in the shade as he was writing.

Heard from JD Garls who sends his regards to all.  In going through his Kwaj Album he came across a shot of the main squadron area with the barracks, office buildings, outdoor theater and the like. 

This picture is part of the newsletter and some of the building will be identified so that one can quickly find and remember which was his barracks, as well as, the mess hall, sick bay and the like.  We say thanks to JD for sending it along for a mental revisit to the island.

In reviewing the picture if any member can identify a building or edifice that isn't already identified send us a note with the information so that the files can be updated.

Heard from Harlan and Mary Jason who send their best to all.  They are all settled and living peaceable in their new abode.  They are fighting away to stay healthy.  Their sicknesses remain about the same which means they continue to pour the pills into their system.

Jason did have a serious fall in the home which resulted in bruises to the body and his hips have bothered him since the fall.  He maintains an extra careful approach now when he walks and makes sure that his walker is at the ready at all times.

Frank Noland says hello and regards and hopes that all are well.  He reported that he has lost most of his hearing and part of his eye sight.  This hasn't stopped him from walking two miles every day though.

Lou Ramsey sends his best to all.  He reported that he is fully retired from the pharmacy and has been for several years.  To keep busy he belongs to several local civic organizations and endeavors to take in some of their events.

He mentioned some names of Radar personnel such as JD Garls, Sam Summers, Edgerton, Max Cobby, Casey Coleman, Rabon A. Hargrove, and Wilbur Watson just to mention a few.  These squadron members names brought back a lot of memories to him.

Jim and Buzz Patrick send their best to all.  They continue to stay active in their warm beach climate atmosphere and go on short trips to stay alert.

Doc Protheroe reported that they had been at a hectic pace at Hilton Head headquarters putting up storm panels in anticipation of the hurricane Charlie possible hitting their area.  They had the help of two of their children and one of their daughters arrived just prior to the airport being shut down.

Fortunately for them the storm veered off and went up the coast so their anticipated problems didn't materialize.  Punta Gorda was another story.  That is where they have their winter home and all they heard on the TV and radio was disasterville for the area.  Than a neighbor of theirs in the area called to say that their area was blasted with 145 mph winds and took many of the roofs off in the area of their condo.

Their condo apparently is still in one piece but they do have some leaks.  They were planning to get down there to inspect and perform required maintenance.

I haven't heard from Leonard Delvecchio who lives in Punto Gordo.  Hopefully they haven't been  totally destroyed by the hurricane.

Another hurricane/storm  story from Florida.  Sandy Hudspeth reported that the weather reports were that the hurricane would miss their area.  Suddenly around 5 pm on Thursday Charley arrived with 120 mph winds.

Sandy sent along seventeen photos of the wind damage in the area.  Charley left a lot of unhappy people.  Sandy and Marie did not receive any damage.  They send their best to all.

Randy Clow says regards to all.   He has been talking to Jerry Gutshall and said that he was feeling pretty good.  Recuperating from his medical problems and continuing to move about with little or no problems.  He also has been in touch with Jim "Red" Nelson who is doing well except for his continued eye problem. 

Lloyd McDaniel sends his best to all.  He was recently given a book entitled Leatherneck Bombers (Alan C. Carey author) and reported that it was a good book with a great deal of information including photographs of PBJ's.  The front cover of the book and rear cover had VMB 613 aircraft pictured.

Pictures in the book show MB-5, Bu No 35725.  The book also shows Lt Love's aircraft and Lt Hunt's and their run on the airfield which is visible below the aircraft, bombs being released are also visible.  Lt Love's aircraft was hit and crashed before he reached the airfield and prior to releasing any bombs.

Carmine Nasta sends his regards to all.  He has been recuperating form surgery wherein he had to have a pace maker installed. He was glad to get home primarily because the hospital's air conditioning system was freezing him.  The operation was a success and his blood pressure has gone down along with that of his pulse rate.  Everything is back to normal except that he has to use a cane to move around.

The after effects of the hurricane were very slight in his area.  Mostly a heavy rain fall but no winds to create problems.

Vern Beggs reported that Inverness was in the projected hurricane path early on.  After passing Key West it made a slight veer to the East, coming ashore near Ft Meyers and than went over Punta Gordo.  From there it was projected to go out into the Atlantic.

They followed the directions from the Advisors and stocked up with water, food, flashlights, radios etc.  Reports that some residents in the actual path of the hurricane lost everything were distressful. 

Jack and Trish Brotherton send their best wishes and warm regards to all 613 personnel.

Jack stated that he really enjoyed the letter written by Colonel Jack Fessender about the ACLU criticizing the Marines for praying for their fellow Marines - "The Letter Is A Classic."

Bob Litzau says hello and regards to all.  Although he doesn't have a computer he will be visiting with his daughter and son in law who do have a computer and will take in the VMB 613 website.

Recently he had reason to reflect on the Kwaj sun exposure - he remembers many of the line maintenance personnel and their browned bodies.  He had to have minor surgery to remove a "lump" and skin cancer surfaces from his back shoulder.  With the medical treatments, anti- biotics, pain killers and a considerable projected recovery time which will destroy what is left of the summer will leave him moving slowly but will not destroy his sanity.

Bob sent along a newspaper write up "Reflections on War".  Tom Clancy, AUTHOR OF SEVERAL WAR ACTION NOVELS and Anthony C. Zinni, General USMC (RET) were the focus of the article Reflections on War which criticized the Iraq War.  I will endeavor to get this article enclosed to this newsletter so that all can read what some considered experts in this field have to say.  There will also be a couple of pages from the book.

He also sent along a picture of a PBJ which might have been a G or H model. His comment was I would like to know where this picture originated not on Kwaj.  Hopefully I can get this into the newsletter also.

This picture also brought back a memory to him in regards to the canon.  The only time that he flew with Jim Cunningham over Ponape they tried to lob a shell at a target of opportunity and the shell jammed in the breech.  They didn't try to make a second attempt just in case it would be a repeat.

Art Navarre says hello to all.  Things are continuing at the same pace for him which means limited track time to run the 220.  He can move about but a pace slower than he appreciates hopefully he says things will improve.  The weather has remained good in their area and also no forest fires, hence no smoke or neighborhood confusion.

He was moving some boxes around that he hadn't touched for quite a spell and opened one of them.  He was astounded when he saw that they contained pictures of the San Diego Reunion and to make things even better he had written the names of the people in the pictures on the back.  This helped in the memory check to remember who the individuals were.

Herb and Susana Haroldson send their best to all. They were in Gig Harbor, Washington visiting with their daughter during the month of May.  They had a slight change in the weather while there a little chilly compared to the hot summer temps.

They are now looking forward to the VMB 613 Reunion in Eastern Washington next month.  Smiley Klingeman is the Host for their reunion.  A great setting in the tri cities area and along the Columbia River.

Herb also enclosed two articles, one entitled FREEDOM IS NOT FREE which will be in one of our future news letters.

The other article covered facts on American history which included the fourth of July and some tips on saluting the flag.  It was interesting to read that saluting the flag should only be done when one is in uniform.

This article will also appear in one of our future newsletters.

The article covered facts on American history which included the Fourth of July and some tips on saluting the flag.

Robert Yanacek reported that they were in the path of Hurricane Alex but that it stopped about 60 miles south of them.  They survived but did get wind gusts of 90 mph with a sustained wind  velocity of 35 mph.

The most damage came after the hurricane when he slipped on one of his children's skateboard and suffered a twisted ankle and bruised ribs.  Then along came Hurricane Charley which at first report appeared to be heading toward them and then it degraded to a tropical storm.  They had a lot of rain and some wind gusts to about 40 mph with no apparent damage.  It became Pizza Run time so he and the wife went out on the pizza run and while driving through the parking lot on the way home a truck turned the corner in front of them.  Robert was able to stop in time to avoid a collision but the truck kept going  until it ripped the bumper off his van.  No injuries just metal and plastic damage.

Interest from the outside continues with the VMB 613 Web Site and the visitors are from all over the world.

Local interest from members continues as well.