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January 2000
Welcome
to 2000
The new year came and went and now we find ourselves in 2000 without an
England on the seas! I know allot of you might
disagree but I think there was still some life left in the old girl. Sadly
the Navy disagrees. "There will always be an ENGLAND in the
United States Navy" said CNO Admiral E. J. King 1944. This was
meant to honor the crew of DE-635 who has sunk six enemy submarines in just
twelve days in May of 1944. "May there always be an England"
said Admiral Halsey in his communication to the ship on May 29, 1944. I am
proposing we start Operation Return to the Sea, an effort to have one of the
new ships named England. Perhaps one of the new DD-21 class or another to
honor Ens. England, DE-635 and the 30 years DLG/CG-22 gave to protecting our
nation and its interests. Let me know what you think.
Are
you A Writer?
Are
you? Would you like to try? You can add your stories to this site to
preserve and share them. Stories can be about the ship and/or crew,
significant events in which the ship was involved and/or . . . well you be
the judge. Stories submitted can be newsletter articles or essays that will
become part of the on-line archives. All you have to do is write! To submit
your stories see the FAQ for how to send them.
Supporting
Vets
I
have seen numbers from the American Legion that membership is down. This is
likely true for other veterans groups. I ask that you who are eligible for
membership, please join. Check these out:
Operation
Boarding Party
A letter has gone out to the Department of Transportation requesting more
information and assistance. The letter asked to visit the ship in the
late June/ early July time frame. There are costs involved that each
of those visiting the ship will need to split. We'll know more when a reply
is received. If the trip is possible, I'll then get the list of attendees
together and finalize the plans. I'll keep you all updated here or by
e-mail.
The
visit would necessitate that those not in the area stay at least the night.
Visitation days are usually Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. We would meet up
in the morning, possibly car pool to Suisun Bay as I am told parking is an
issue. We could have a mini-reunion! Allot of people have shown an interest!
The group would likely be limited to about 15 but more details are yet to
come and there is no guarantee today.
Operation
Reunion
We need volunteers to step up and help organize the reunion. A few folks
have stepped forward and I'll be organizing us in the next several weeks.
Needless to say, this is too large an effort for me to do on my own. If you
can be of assistance please contact me at dennis@obriens.net
so we can organize our efforts.
It has
been suggested that perhaps we have the reunion on a cruise ship. These
leave from San Diego and LA. They head down the coast to Encinada, Mexico.
Others like the idea of a land based reunion with a tour of 32nd street,
banquet with speakers, local San Diego attractions and such. Feedback
on this would be great.
Operation
Remember
Allot of items have been added since the last
newsletter! Many pictures. The commissioning programs form both
commissioning ceremonies. The DE-635 section has fist hand accounts of the
events of May 1944 and much more. The web site has over 900 images! Thanks
to all those who have submitted items we have by far the largest on-line
repository of any of the ship sites! England proves to be the best again!
Myself I have been able to contact many from the old OD division group of
the early 80s of which I was a apart.
A new
FAQ has been added that offers answers to questions about the web site, how
to submit items and such. Please read this information from time to time.
Communications
List
Serv
Along with this web site and all it has to offer, there is now
a List Serv that can be used 24 hours a day to communicate with other
members of the crew that have subscribed. Using e-mail to communicate,
messages to the List Serv are delivered to all who are subscribed to it.
These can be fun and useful since they allow for open communication
between all subscribers. Go ahead and sign up today!
Web
Based
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NOTICE! |
| The USS England Forum was
retired on 02/03/07. |
The on-line forum is also an excellent place to share stories and add
content to the web site! Many have asked for the return of the crew log -
this will return shortly so you can leave contact information for your
shipmates to find!
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