United
States Submarine Veterans, Inc.
Pocono
Base – Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, 19 July
2006
Meeting called to order at
1903 by Base Commander Rich Holmes at the Marine Corps League Museum in
Scranton, PA.
The Purpose of the Organization was read. The Base Bell was tolled once
for
each of the following Boats and their crewmembers that were lost during
the
Month of July:
30 Jul 1942 USS Grunion
SS
216
70 Men
04 Jul 1944 USS S-28
SS
133
50 Men
26 Jul 1944 USS Robalo
SS
273
84 Men
A moment of silence followed and
an invocation was given by Bob Vaughan. The Base Commander led the
members in
reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
Roll Call: Members present
were: Rich Holmes, Frank McDevitt, Mike Smith, Bob Vaughan, Gerald
Zeman, Bill
Hannon, Tom Crosby, Steve Vergalito, Jim Dickson, John Saeli, Oliver
Nordmark,
Jeff Owens and Bill Klose. The members present introduced themselves
and their
respective boats.
Guests: We had one guest.
We welcomed Mr. Merv Werst to our meeting. Mr. Werst worked for
Westinghouse
and helped design the power plants for the USS Nautilus, USS Skate and
USS
Skipjack.
The secretary confirmed that a
quorum was present.
The Minutes: the secretary
read the minutes for the June meeting. The following corrections were
made. The
Swedish Sub is the ‘Gotland’ not the
‘Gottlieb’ class. John Saeli made the statement that the lost boat list
is
incorrect. I acknowledge the error and stated that the list is
currently a work
in progress from multiple sources including the USSVI website. Jeff
Owens
stated that the Legion was not listed as having attended the Flag Day
ceremony.
A motion was made to accept the
minutes as read and corrected by Rich Holmes.
1st motion made by Bob
Vaughan, 2nd motion made by Gerald Zeman.
Treasurer’s Report: The base
treasurer reported and ending
balance of $3470.48 on 5/31/06 and an ending balance of $3340.48 on
6/30/06.
A motion was made to accept the
treasurers’ report by Rich Holmes.
1st motion made by
Frank McDevitt, 2nd motion made by John Saeli
John Saeli read from Submarine
Operations of WWII, an account of the loss of the USS Grunion (SS 216),
which
occurred on 30 Jul 1942.
Committee Reports:
Membership: John Saeli reported
that we have 41 members,
including our newest member, Tom Crosby. John wants to try and get Mr.
Werst
signed up as an associate member.
Ways
and Means: Rich is looking for someone to take aver the ways and
means
committee. Rich does not want to do this and be Base Commander at the
same
time. He stated that the current initiatives for the ways and means are
for
boosters and ads to be inserted into the newsletter. Ways and Means is
a
creative idea position in which the base can raise money.
Parades:
There is no information on parades as of this meeting.
Speakers
Bureau: Rich would like to get the speakers bureau up and running
again. Ed
Barr was on the committee but does not want anything to do with subvets
at this
time. This would fall in line with getting some publicity for our
group. We
should be getting some request from the school districts within a
couple of
months. Rich also spoke with the Veterans Liaison for Monroe County
during the Pocono Parade and informed him of our address.
Correspondence:
Welfare: Bobs’ wife contacted Swede Schedin and
says that he is feeling quite well and is enjoying his new home in Pine
Grove.
Swedes’ main problem is bad night vision. Swede wanted to come to the
last
meeting but couldn’t due to an emergency that came up.
Grover Kiick spent the last month in and out
of the hospital and only came home a couple of days ago. Grover stated
that he
used up his nine lives a while ago but says that he is still here.
Fair: No business.
Old Business:
The
name in the hat was passed around during the reading of the minutes to
those
members present. Rich would like to continue this so we can get some
feedback
from those members who have not attended a meeting for a while. Rich
basically
wants this to be a ‘Hello, how are you doing’ type of thing. The idea
is to let
these members know that they are not forgotten. Bob Vaughan brought up
the
point the Grover is 93 and Swede just turned 90, so they are our senior
members. Don Malkames lives in New York and has had health problems
as well.
As
of this meeting, Bob Vaughan will be stepping down as base chaplain. He
and his
wife need to work on getting ready for their move to New York at the
end of August. Rich Holmes
has stated that he would like to approach Joe O’Hara to see if he would
become
our new base chaplain. Rich is looking for someone to take over the
chaplain
duty before he talks to Joe.
Rich also hopes that if Joe does accept to be our
chaplain, that he could come to our meetings, but Jeff brought up that
Joe is a
chaplain at a senior house in the Wilkes-Barre
area and that it coincides with our meeting. Joe stated that he would
like to
do this, but we would need to change the day of our meeting.
Rich
received the e-mail from John Saeli concerning the bugle. Rich stated
that he
would like the paperwork back because it has the contact info on it.
Jeff
stated that the bugle is $500 plus shipping. It would be an expense if
we were
to purchase one, or we could try to get one as a donation. There are no
obligations in getting one, unlike the original ones given out by the
VA.
For
those members who didn’t know, Eugen Rees was killed in a one-car
accident on
Wed. 21 Jun 2006. From what we were able to ascertain, he was supposed
to be on
his way over to our meeting for June when this occurred. We do not know
why he
ended up in Shohola Lakes in Pike County
where his vehicle
was found. We held a memorial service for him on Tuesday, 27 June 2006
at 1900
hrs at the Wilson Fisher Post. Rich stated that it was an inspiring and
beautifully done affair. Rich said that we could have used the bugle
for this
ceremony, instead, “Taps” was sung.
Rich
brought up the discussion about getting together with the western bases
for a
trip to Scranton.
Rich stated that we should leave this issue dead as we have lost the
time
window. John Saeli has not had the time to research room prices due to
familial
issues. There were no objections to this decision.
Frank
said that he obtained the flag box placards and had the replaced on the
Blakeslee box.
Rich
was asking if anyone had any flag stands. The legion is allowing us to
place
our flags in the corner with the others if we have the stands. Jeff
stated that
all we needed was a bucket, a piece of PVC pipe and a bag of Sakrete.
The
legion has changed their meeting time to 1900 on the first Thursday of
the
month according to Bob Vaughan. The only exception is the August
meeting where
the time of the meeting is 1800 due to the installation of Officers.
There are
a couple of positions still open at this time.
Rich
wants to go ahead with the float. Rich is currently waiting for the
plans from
Tom.
New Business:
2006 elections are here, please get them
turned into Rich Holmes by the 27th of August. Those who
have e-mail
received them that way. There are ballots in the new issue of the
American
Submariner. Rich want to get all of our members to return the ballot.
For those
contacting our other members, please impress upon them the importance
of the
election.
The
floor was opened for the endorsement of prospective candidates. The
positions
open in this years’ election include: National Commander, Sr. Vice
Commander,
Jr. Vice Commander, Secretary and Natl. Treasurer.
There
was an e-mail from the District 1 Commander regarding John Carciapolla.
He is
endorsing John as Sr. Vice Commander. John C. wrote back stating that
he is
ineligible for the position and any votes for him will not be counted
for the
Vice Commander slot. John Saeli recommended that we pencil him in for
the
position of Eastern Regional Director. Bob Vaughan read a response
letter from
John C. regarding his decision not to seek election to the Natl. Sr.
Vice
Commander position due to a change in the by-laws in the C&B
stating that a
member has to be on the Board of Directors for at least 2 years to be
considered.
Jeff
Owens offered his opinion that we not vote for any of the members on
the
ballot.
Please submit your ballots to Rich Holmes by
27 Aug.
Good of the Order:
Frank McDevitt will take over the liaison
duties with the American Legion Wilson-Fisher Post.
Rich
Holmes led the members in a three-cheer salute to Bob Vaughan and we
wished he
and his wife well in their move to New York. Bob was one of the
founding members of the
Pocono Base back in Feb 2000 and helped get the base off the ground.
Rev.
Vaughan and his wife will be missed.
I
had the honor and the privilege to go to the Independence
Seaport Museum
at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia
earlier this month with my grandfather, Carl Linsenbach. We were
interviewed
together by students who were helping to generate the video “Students,
Stories
and the Silent Service”. What made our interview unique is that it
offered the
perspective from different generations. My grandfather said that he was
proud
of my decision to become a ‘submariner’, while I said that I was
honored to have
followed in his footsteps. We then took a tour of the Becuna, where I
took a
picture of him standing next to the station he worked on while serving
onboard
the USS Sea Devil (SS 400).
On
the way home that night, I had an idea for thought. The museum is
having
another interview session in August and a wrap up session in October. I
tendered the idea to the base members about trying to get with the PA
bases
about holding a ‘Tolling of the bell’ ceremony for the October session.
The
members present agreed and tasked me to work on this.
Next meeting will be held
at 1900 on Wednesday 16 Aug 2006 at the American Legion Wilson-Fisher
Post in
Pocono Pines.
Rich Holmes entertained a motion
to adjourn.
All in favor to adjourn, motion carried.
Rich Holmes led the recitation of
the Creed of USSVI.
“To
perpetuate the memory of our shipmates who gave their lives in the
pursuit of
their duties while serving their country. That their dedication, deeds
and
supreme sacrifice be a constant source of motivation toward greater
accomplishments. Pledge loyalty and patriotism to the United States
Government.”
Bob Vaughn led us in a closing
prayer.
Rich Holmes declared the meeting
of the Pocono Base adjourned.
The meeting was adjourned at 2023
hrs.
Food and drinks followed.
A 50/50 raffle was held. Tom
Crosby won the raffle and donated the winnings back to the base.
Respectfully submitted
Michael D. Smith
USSVI – Pocono Base Secretary