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. . . . and a grand time was had by all!
That pretty much describes the 2005 reunion in San Diego in September. The ship was everything everyone remembered it to be; the setting in downtown San Diego was as fantastic as we all remembered from 40 or 50 or XX years ago; the hotel accommodations were as good as it gets; the weather couldn’t have been more cooperative; and “ship’s company’ was as wonderful and congenial and full of BS as the day we all walked (or crawled) off those steel decks.
‘When we stepped aboard the ship on Friday morning, we stepped back in history to a time when we were all young and invincible – we were sailors in a world still recovering from World War II and the Korean War and deep into a “Cold War” – in a Navy that you wouldn’t recognize by today’s standards. There were many watery eyes as we moved onto the hangar deck. You could still smell the JP-5 and Av-gas of air operations. While there have been monumental changes to the ship over the years, it’s still that same grey lady with the steep ladders and cramped quarters that we all lived with 24 hours of every day we served aboard.
But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. A lot happened to get us to that Friday morning in September of 2005. Back in ’03 in St. Louis, it was decided that our 2005 reunion would be in San Diego, regardless whether the ship was there or not. And it wasn’t until late 2003 that we actually learned the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum (SDACM) had received their final approval that allowed the Navy to actually release the ship for movement to it’s new home in San Diego. It was finally going to be a reality – to have a reunion onboard the ship we had all served aboard. We are the fortunate ones – to have our ship preserved as a memorial to the Carrier Navy and to all sailors, wherever they may have served.
Between Chuck Peters, Oscar Granger, and Ron McPhail, the reunion really began to take shape more than a year earlier. Ron was adviser to the reunion ‘committee’, based on his years of experience and knowledge. While there were a few of us that were pleased to part company with Mr. McPhail back in the early 1960’s, nevertheless, he is an integral part of the OI Division Reunion group and was missed by virtually everyone. Without his participation over the past 8 or 9 years, there would be no “OI Division Reunion Group”. He will be at the 2007 reunion!
Chuck and his wife, Maddie, took control of the logistics for the reunion and negotiated a great contract with the Red Lion Hanalei Hotel in San Diego for hotel services, the hospitality room, and the banquet. The hotel accommodations were great and their staff bent over backwards to make sure everyone was accommodated. The hospitality room, poolside, was great and was enhanced by the great weather that allowed us to have tables and chairs set up outside all three days.
On the first day of the reunion, Maddie jumped in and took charge of the registration table and the registration went without a glitch (as long as Chuck and Oscar stayed away). Maddie kept Chuck in line with the entire registration program and managed all the sales (shirts, hats, pins, patches, etc.) that occurred during all three days.
There were the early arrivals that found their way to the bar - George and Claire Fowler, Carl and Karen Burke, and Oscar and Karen Granger. While this was Carl and Karen’s first reunion, it is expected that we will see them at all future reunions. As always, nobody’s changed!!!!
By Thursday evening, most of the participants were checked in and ready to party. The hospitality room was up and running by early afternoon Thursday and was fully stocked with all the libations and snacks that kept people there late into the night.
By Friday morning, the whole group was there and ready to tour Midway. All told, this was our most successful reunion to date with about 45 shipmates and their family members and friends joining the festivities. We filled the banquet room on Saturday night with almost 90 celebrants joining in the fun. From the comments we heard throughout the three days, the reunion was everything everyone expected it to be.
Friday morning was the first major event – touring the ship. Oscar had worked with Scott McGaugh, Director of Marketing for the Museum Association, and arranged for an early (9:30am) entrance to the ship and a sneak-peak at where CIC had been moved to during the 1965 – 70 yard period. We were met by one the docents, Joe Ciokon, and got a private tour for the entire group of CIC. Suffice that it is not yet restored and won’t be open to the public for some time. Thanks to Dick Hallowell for his assistance in keeping this part of the tour on track.
CIC was moved to the 02 level forward during the 1966-70 decommissioning and was totally dismantled at the time the ship was decommissioned in 1992. Efforts are underway to locate equipment and hardware to restore the working environment of CIC and ECM. Antenna’s are also being restored and remounted as they are located and become available. The large air search antenna existing on the after structure there today was mounted just days before the reunion and will be restored to a condition where it will rotate.
Most everyone spent the rest of Friday morning and into the afternoon visiting those parts of the ship that have been restored and opened to the public. The museum association had just recently opened sick bay on the 3rd deck, below the mess deck. They’ve also opened engine room spaces down on the 5th and 6th decks. Most of us never had occasion to ever go that far down in the ship, so this was a first!
On Saturday morning, the entire group again met at the ship just before noon. Again, with the assistance and cooperation of Scott McGaugh’s Marketing group, we were invited to have our Service Awards ceremony aboard the ship. We were set up on the forward edge of the angle deck with about 110 chairs, a podium, and a sound system. At 12:00 noon, everyone was seated for the ceremony. The weather couldn’t have been any better and we managed to attract a few interested observers from among those visiting the ship that day. The backdrop for the ceremony was the USS Ronald Reagan, berthed at Coronado Island, across San Diego Bay. All told, if we had worked to make the ceremony any more memorable, it wouldn’t have made a difference.
It was a dream come true! Oscar had been working on putting the Awards Ceremony together since before that first reunion in Branson, MO. In 1999. It always seemed just a little beyond our reach – to get everyone’s service dates and records and then complete the Navy’s paperwork to get the actual medals that would symbolize our active Naval service. When it was finally realized that we would not be successful in pulling all that information together, we settled for getting all the service dates and matching those up with the awards eligibility and then present those representative award ribbons to the ‘company’. It took a few months and several trips to the Navy Exchange to get all the awards, but it finally happened.
Captain Neil Hunt (US Navy, Ret.) joined Oscar at the podium to do the honors. We started with the Pledge of Allegiance. Oscar then began the ceremony thanking all of the people that worked to make it happen. He talked about the service awards in general and how and when they came about. He also talked about each of the awards that were being presented and their importance to each of us, our families and our legacies.
Captain Hunt spoke about the importance of the awards and of the service each man gave that qualified him for this recognition. Captain Hunt also provided a key element to the ceremony that would not have been there without his presence – that being in his capacity as Captain, US Navy (Ret.), he represented the Navy and the Nation in saying “thanks for serving”.
Captain Hunt then presented the awards to each man as Oscar and Chuck read the names of each recipient and the awards they were eligible to receive. Of particular significance were the medals presented to Charles Girolamo, Fire Controlman 3rd Class, for his service aboard the Midway in 1945 and 1946. Charles is a Plankowner of the Midway and received the World War II Victory Medal and the American Defense Medal. These were the only actual medals that were presented during the ceremony.
It is a proud moment for every person that has served his Nation when they can finally step up and be recognized for their service and sacrifice. September 24, 2005 was an especially notable day for the Sailors of the USS Midway, OI Division Reunion Group, when we were finally recognized for that service. Nothing can diminish the importance of those awards in the eyes of the men that received them. Those in attendance that already had their awards were also recognized for their service.
Saturday night was the final event of the reunion – the banquet. As noted, Chuck and Maddie did a Yeoman’s job in putting all of those logistics together – and the banquet was the fitting culmination to a wonderful three days. At the end of the banquet, the mike was opened up for anyone with a story to tell. Several members had some funny stories about their service. Chief George Fowler, though, had the crowning commentary when he reminded us that as hard as we had all worked to get aboard the ship there in San Diego, he could vividly remember when, as young sailors, we couldn’t wait to get off the ship!
Thanks to every person that attended the 2005 reunion and from that single Vietnam Era veteran that handed a flag to each veteran during that 4th of July ceremony, “Thanks for Serving!”
Dues to the large amount of pictures that were taken at the Reunion. I decided it would be better to copy them all to a CD Disc and provide it free of charge to any active member that wanted one. A questionaire was in the last newsletter sent out asking if one was wanted. If you missed it and still want one, please contact me.
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