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Bits and Pieces
Bill Lack (Vice President/Midrats Editor)
Welcome to the Fall 2021 edition of Midrats.
As of this writing, we're just over 50 days until our 69th annual reunion at the Downtown Inn Historic District in Mobile. (Can we still say "annual" since we missed last year? I vote "yes".)
There are a lot of reasons that I'm looking forward to this year's reunion. I've never been to Mobile and am always excited about visiting somewhere new. I'm also excited (and a bit nervous also) because this is the first time I've "hosted" reunion, and of course, I'm looking forward to renewing old friendships and making some new ones.
Check the full article below for the latest on the upcoming reunion. Hope to see everyone in Mobile.
Speaking of the reunion, I do want to thank Brad Senter and Ed McCready for the hosting advice they've given me over the past months. They were invaluable and made the job much easier.
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I want to do a little "fundraising" here, no guilt or heavy handedness, just want to plant a seed.
To those of us that are "life members", just because we don't owe "dues" to the Association any longer, doesn't mean that you can't continue to contribute. (Same goes for dues paying members.)
Donations to the Association and also to the Scholarship Fund help to keep alive the legacy of the Saratoga as we work to bring the name back to active duty status. It also allows us to keep both membership and reunion costs as low as possible for our members. Donating to the Scholarship fund helps a worthy member of our Saratoga family with the cost of their secondary education.
And donations are tax-deductible. (Donations, not dues.)
And now, with the new website, you can not only pay your dues, renew your membership and/or become a life member, you can make donations on-line via credit card.
It's quick, simple, and easy.
So, the message here is, if you can afford it....consider throwing one of these worthwhile funds a few bucks.
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I wanted to thank Jerry Church for stepping up to take over the bi-annual newsletter. He did the one in June and I thought it was great. He's got an idea for a new feature that he was kind enough to unveil here in this edition of Midrats, you'll read about it later.
Also was thrilled to spend a few minutes chatting with Jerry on our "A Few Minutes with...." feature. Always interesting to hear our shipmates Navy experiences and what their post- Navy lives were like.
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I love playing with numbers, looking at trends, etc. So, in early 2020 when, like many of us, I was housebound, I started looking at our membership numbers. (So, these numbers are not completely current...)
At that time, about 80% of our Association members were CVA/CV-60 sailors, 20% CV-3.
About 84% of our membership is from the eastern 2/3 of the country (I used the western border of Texas/Colorado as my basis.) and of that 84% - 86% of those members are CVA/CV-60 members.
15% of our members are from that western part of our country (west of Texas/Colorado) and of that 15%, 61% of those are CV-3 members, 39% of that 15% are CVA/CV-60.
1% of our members live in Canada or somewhere overseas.
Ed recently put together this map of our membership in the US.
I don't know that any of these number or percentages mean anything, but I thought it was interesting. I always enjoy learning about our members and the Association.______________________________________________________________
In wrapping up, I'll say the same thing I say every Midrats, if there's something you especially like or if you have an idea for something you'd like to be included, please let me know. I'm always looking for new content and ideas.
Thanks, see ya in Mobile._____________________________________________________________________________________________________
President's Message
Brad Senter (President)
Shipmates & friends,
Seems just like yesterday, in our June newsletter, I said I was hoping that by the time Mobile got here covid-19 would be history. Appears that's not going to happen. It's mutated and now we have another strain to worry about. I'm sure the hotel, this year, will have some restrictions for us, but we can live with it. My only advice is, get your shots and mask up.
I don't have a lot to say in this issue of mid-rats, but I do want to share a piece of trivia with you, that not a lot of people know about.
We were in the Mediterranean during the Med Cruise in 1963, and had just left Cannes after 10 days of some great liberty. We hadn't been underway very long when we received a distress call from a boat, dead in the water, just a few miles from us. We headed in that direction and arrived, seeing 4 people standing on the bow waving at us. It was about a 50 foot yacht. From where I was sitting on the fantail one of the folks on the yacht looked like Johnny Carson. It was...Hmmmm., but It didn't look like either of the females on the yacht appeared to be Ms. Carson. We dropped a liberty launch into the water, threw them a tow line and towed them back to Cannes. This was never mentioned in the "Fighting Cock" and I never heard that this news made back to the states. Wonder why? Anyway, now you know what I know.
At this year's reunion, we'll be voting on the reunion site for both 2022 & 2023. If anyone feels like hosting a reunion, now's the time to get your information together and present it during the business meeting in Mobile.
Also, just a reminder. 2022 will be election year, so if you've been thinking about getting a piece of the action, 2022 will be the year. We've had to fill two board spots between reunions, the ship store and the memorabilia manager. A big thank you goes out to Terry Greer & Gene Cottingham for stepping up and assuming these positions.
Looking forward to seeing everyone in Mobile. Have a great day and be safe._____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Secretary's Message
Ed McCready (Secretary)
Shipmates, the Association recently acquired a new resource that will make future directories more accurate. We can now edit the directory file directly year-round and not store hundreds of changes for 2 years between publications.
Please take a careful look at your roster entry in the directory and ensure that your information is correct.
If there are any changes needed, go to the Membership Section of the Association website and click on the "Update Existing Membership Info" button, which will take you to the Contact Information Change Form and make your changes. When you submit your new information, I will receive these changes in real time and can make the changes immediately in both the roster and directory. If you have already notified me of changes I have (probably) already made the correction.
I want to thank Jerry Church for stepping up to take over the duties related to organizing the printed newsletter. The June newsletter was created by Jerry. We received a lot of positive feedback on the new format and the attention to detail. Similarly, I am hoping I can get some fresh ideas and new pictures for the directory.
Right now, I'm still putting it together - which I will continue to do - but I can use some help in freshening up the "look". We've had many of the exact same pages in literally every directory, maybe it's time to think about it a little differently and get some new eyes helping with the directory. Particularly interested in some of you photographers out there who might want one or a few of their shots in the directory. If you have any interest, just let me know.
Stay safe - I hope to see everyone in Mobile!_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Scholarship Committee
Stephen Katz (Scholarship Committee Chair)
The Scholarship Committee is very pleased to announce the names of the 2021 Scholarship recipients:
Madeline Koul
Megan Phelps
Marian Rempola
On behalf of your Scholarship Committee, we want to reach out to all members and donors to express our most sincere THANK YOU to each and every one of you for your generosity in your donations to the Scholarship program.
Your donations are the heartbeat of this wonderful program and, they are so needed and appreciated.
Please be aware that you may now make your donations on-line, with a credit card by going to the Association website and following the donations instructions.
Our application time period was extended again this year to allow for students to obtain the required information from their various sources. The period ended on July 31st.
We congratulate each of the recipients and wish them all the best in the next chapter of their lives.
Please remember, our children are our future._____________________________________________________________________________________________________
2021 Donations to the USS Saratoga Association and to the USS Saratoga Scholarship Fund
Bill Lack (Vice President / Midrats Editor)
Below is a list of all those that have donated to the USS Saratoga Association and/or the USS Saratoga Association Scholarship Fund in 2021.
We thank everyone who has made a donation to either of these worthwhile funds. Donations to the Association enable us to keep dues cost sand the cost of reunions as low as possible for our Association members. Donations to the Scholarship Fund helps members of our Saratoga family with the cost of their secondary education. Both allow us to continue the impressive legacy of the USS Saratoga name.
Thanks again.
2021 USS Saratoga Association & USS Saratoga Association Scholarship Donors
| Atkins |
Larry D |
| Balewitz |
Anthony W. |
| Broussard |
Adolph J |
| Chantrenne |
Kimberly |
| Corbett |
Lloyd S. |
| Creech |
William F. Jr. |
| Cutsinger |
Kelly |
| Daniels |
William G. |
| Davidson |
David |
| Donckers |
Frank C. |
| Flanders |
Scott |
| Gill |
Patty |
| Gilleshammer |
Keith A, |
| Gober |
Paula L. |
| Gower |
Fran |
| Harvey |
John F. |
| Hoff |
Gordon W. |
| Hudgens |
Edward N |
| Jaeh |
Capt. Roland H. |
| Katz |
David |
| Killgore |
Willliam F. |
| Klementowski |
Frank M. |
| Kuyon |
Edward J. |
| Marsh |
Gregory W. |
| Medina |
Paul G. |
| Menger |
Pauline |
| Miller |
Earl L. |
| Pitts II |
William M. |
| Poirier |
Robert G |
| Reno |
Tim |
| Ryan |
John J. III |
| Schwab |
Richard A. |
| Senter |
Brad A. |
| Sharp |
Brian T. |
| Shulick |
George M. |
| Smoot |
Charles R. |
| Sullivan |
Cynthia |
| Tague |
Michael T. |
| Thoman |
Terrence M. |
| Thompson |
John M. |
| Zarse |
Robert J. |
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69th Annual Reunion – Mobile
Bill Lack (Vice President / Midrats Editor)
The long awaited 69th USS Saratoga Association Reunion is rapidly approaching. Soon we'll be gathering at the Holiday Inn – Downtown Historic District in Mobile, to once again spend time with old friends and make some new ones. We still have rooms available, but we've already raised the number of rooms in our block above what the contract originally called for, so we're expecting a big crowd. Good food, great tours, lots of stories to be told and re-told (some of which might even be true), and plenty of good times to be shared.
One of the things we're hoping/planning on doing at the reunion this year is to go "Facebook Live" a few times to let those that have never attended a reunion see some of what goes on. We're going to try to do a "Facebook Live" to cover the Taps Ceremony during the banquet on Saturday night. (Our ability to do this will be determined by how good the internet connection is at the hotel, so "stay tuned".)
Important Note if you're going on the Pensacola Tour: The Aviation Museum in Pensacola requires government issued ID's and Ray Casey needs your date of birth (and also your spouse, if they're attending). Please email your DOB to Ray at raycasey@militaryreunionplanners.com. According to the instruction on the MPR website, they also want to know if you have a DOD-ID (retired military), so if you do, please email Ray that information also. (The DOB requirement was on the information from MRP, but was separated from this tour information by a page break and it's easy to miss. (see below))
Complete information for all of the activities, tours, and events for the reunion can be found both below and on the Association's website, as well as how to make reservations.
COVID note: Both Ed and I have gotten a number of inquiries in the last couple of weeks concerning possible cancelation of the reunion.
As of this writing, we have had no word on any restrictions from the hotel, any of the tour sites, or Military Reunion Planners, and the board has had no discussion of canceling the reunion.
Small editorial point..don't let percentages scare you. There are more unvaccinated people in New York City than there are in the entire state of Alabama (and NYC has a much denser population), much less just the city of Mobile. Of course, everyone should do whatever makes them feel most comfortable.
We've all waited a long time for this reunion. We look forward to seeing everyone in Mobile.
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Reunion Raffle & Silent Auction
Fran Gower (Silent Auction/Raffle Coordinator)
One highlight of the Saratoga Reunion is the Raffle & Silent Auction.
With the Raffle, we usually have 3-4 very nice items. Previous items have included: a Ship's Clock, handmade afghans, a Challenge Coin holder, a Basket of Cheer (food and/or liquor basket). Tickets are available during the course of the weekend, ending shortly before the banquet begins. The drawings are held during the Farewell Banquet. Tickets are 1 for $1.00 and 6 for $5.00--quite a bargain!
The Silent Auction is comprised of donated items. Some examples of past items are a blanket, children's items (game, toys, puzzles, models, etc.) , craft items, books, jewelry, coffee mugs, Navy T-shirts, and amazing birdhouses.
During the course of the Reunion everyone has the opportunity to place "bids" on the items This can create lots of excitement as unique items are "hot" and everyone is watching as shipmates try to outbid each other. This helps to raise the amount we raise and makes more money for the Association!
Once the business meeting & Ladies Luncheon are over on Saturday, we close the Auction and the highest bid is the winner! Then it is time to gather the items for which you had the highest bid and pay for them. Cash or checks are accepted.
To hold these two events, we need to have items donated, especially for the Silent Auction.
Keep in mind, attendees may be flying so it should be an item that can be packed or that the winner might be able to ship from a delivery place.
Once you get to the Reunion, just find me or the Silent Auction Area and we'll get your item in the auction.
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History Corner
Jerry Church (Newsletter Editor)
Shipmates,
Having recently become the Saratoga Association Newsletter Editor, I plan on including a "HISTORY CORNER" page in future newsletters.
But I need your help.
I need your to send me stories of your Saratoga experiences, along with associated pictures from the time you served aboard the Sara.
For example, I have made up my time on Saratoga's first Med Cruise in 1958.
Please send me your story and pictures. Stories should be submitted in Microsoft Word (or some compatible program) and images in .JPEG form. Please do not send the story in .pdf form, as I may have to edit them.
Information can be submitted to me via email at churchgeraldc@bellsouth.net.
As there are only two newsletters per year it might be some time before you see your story, but I'll get to them all as quickly as I possibly can.
Your Saratoga shipmates would love to hear about you experiences aboard the ship. _____________________________________________________________________________________
A Few Minutes With...Jerry Church
Bill Lack (Vice President / Midrats Editor)
 . As of the most recent edition, Jerry Church has taken over the writing and editing of the Association's biannual newsletter. A big tip of the cap to Jerry for agreeing to take over this duty.
I recently spent a few minutes talking to Jerry about his life, his Naval career, his time aboard the Saratoga and his life after.
Jerry was born in Madison Tennessee, right outside of Nashville. He grew up in Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky. His dad worked for DuPont and at the outbreak of WWII, he was transferred to Childersburg, Alabama, near Birmingham, where he worked in a powder factory making gun powder during the war. After the war ended, the family moved to Louisville.
Jerry attended bootcamp in Bainbridge, Maryland, attended Airman school in Norman, Oklahoma and aviation "A" School for Aviation Structural Mechanic (AM) in Memphis Tennessee. He reported aboard the Saratoga (CVA-60) in the fall of 1956, as ship's company Airedale assigned to the V-6 (Airframes) division. During his time aboard, he worked on the flight line as a green shirt, as well as in the metal shop in V-6.
While the directory lists him as a Plank Owner, he doesn't claim that title. He says he came aboard early on, but not early enough to really be a Plank Owner.
The ship was still in the Brooklyn Navy Yard when Jerry reported aboard in '56 and in June of '57, the Sara participated in the International Naval Review in Norfolk, VA in June of 1957, where they were docked next to the HMS Ark Royal.
In the Fall of '57, the Sara made her first Atlantic crossing to participate in the NATO operation "Strikeback" in the North Atlantic. By crossing the Artic Circle, he (and the rest of the crew) became members of THE ROYAL ORDER OF THE BLUE NOSE". Jerry was aboard in February 1958, when the Saratoga left Mayport for her first Med Cruise. In July, Saratoga furnished air support for the Marine Landings in Beirut, Lebanon. The ship returned from his first Med deployment in October of 1958.
In early February 1959, Jerry was transferred to VF-101 in Key West, Florida and was discharged as an AMS2 in 1960 after serving 4 years active duty, 3 of them aboard the Saratoga. Before Navy service he served two years in the Marine Corp Reserves 7th Special Infantry Company in Louisville, along with his two years inactive reserve duty in Navy.
After the Navy, Jerry worked for Louisville Gas & Electric Company for 35 years before retiring. He also volunteered at his high school's Alumni Association for 22 years. One of his current projects is renovating a Jeep Wrangler with his grandson, Alex Canter. The Jeep had belonged to his son.
Jerry was married, his wife, Jane, passed in 2009. They had three children, two sons , George and Gerald Jr., and a daughter, Rebecca Lynn Canter. Both of Jerry's sons have passed, his daughter, who lives in the Louisville area, calls and checks in on him every morning and every evening. Jerry has two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
He still lives in Louisville, and joined the Association in 2000 after finding information about it on the internet. He attended his first reunion that year in Charleston with his wife and attended many reunions after, making a large group of lifetime friends. He was the Co-Chair of the 2014 Association Reunion that was held in Louisville.
I want to thank Jerry for spending some time with me and allowing me to get his story out to our shipmates.
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Saratoga Half Marthon & 5K
Bill Lack (Vice President / Midrats Editor)
I spent some time recently talking with Sarah Barthelemy of MWR Mayport discussing the 2022 Saratoga Classic Half Marathon & Super Sara 5K. The race begins on the base, with the Half Marathon course traveling off the base and returning, with both races ending on the carrier piers. MWR does plan on having the Saratoga sternplate at the finish line again this year.
Some of the events and activities surrounding the race are really up in the air right now, because the base went back to HPCON Charlie, due to the recent spike in COVID cases due to the Delta Variant.
At this time, Sarah believes that the races will take place as scheduled IN PERSON. If the schedule has to be amended, they'll likely either decide to push it forward a month or two or could cancel it for the year. She doesn't believe that they would hold another virtual race, as they did in 2021.
One of the casualties of the COVID protocols will likely be the Saratoga Museum that they set up for the 2020 race and which was staffed by a number of former Saratoga sailors. Due to the HPCON protocols, this will likely not be possible to do at this year's race.
There will be volunteer opportunities for a limited number of Saratoga sailors to help with the race and at the medal ceremonies. If you'd be interested in doing this, contact Sarah to sign up.
Please be aware that nothing is set in stone and, as with everything else in the world of the pandemic, is subject to change. For up to the minute details on the race itself, be sure to check out the race website.
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Memorial Day Bell Ringers Needed
Bill Phelps / Bell Ringer Coordinator (Gerald B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery)
The U.S.S. Saratoga (CV-3) ship's bell is located at the Gerald B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery in Schuylerville, NY (Saratoga). The bell is rung when a Medal of Honor recipient visits, as well as on Memorial Day, during the annual ceremony.
It has been a tradition since the cemetery opened and the bell installed that it is rung by a shipmate who served on the Sara, either the CV-3, CVA-60 or CV-60. Recent bell ringers including myself, Frank Klementowski, Captain Steve Medina USN Retired, Chip Hayes and John Lipscomb have upheld this tradition.
I am currently the bell ringer coordinator with the Cemetery Director, Scott Lamb. I am looking to prepare a list of shipmates (ships company, air wing, Marine detachment personnel , as well as honorary members) to ring the bell during the Memorial Day ceremony.
The annual ceremony is currently held on the Saturday prior to Memorial Day. If you are interested, please contact me: Bill Phelps at wwp1220@aol.com, cell 518-369-8863 or home 518-664-8074._____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Book Reviews
Bill Lack (Vice President / Midrats Editor)
The Moscow Option by David Downing
I'm a fan of alternative history fiction and tend to read a lot of it. This one was interesting as it uses as its premise an alternative view of the outcome of Operation Barbarossa", the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 and how it's changed outcome rippled out to other areas of the war. It's an interesting read as it spirals out into effects on all facets of outcomes in the future of WWII. It's also interesting that our shipmates on the CV-3 have a very important contribution to make in THIS the War in the Pacific.
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
The passing earlier of this year of Larry McMurtry called me back to re-read my all-time favorite novel, his 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning work, Lonesome Dove. This story focuses on a group of cowboys, near the end of the days of the "Old West", as they drive a herd of cattle from Texas to Montana. Nearly everyone has seen some or all of the amazing mini-series made from this book, but believe me, the novel is even better. My wife, who is not a fan of the western genre by any means, rates this book as one of her favorites as it deals with issues like old age, respect, racism, and especially friendship and loyalty. The book spawned a series of both sequels and prequels. The original tv mini-series is believed by many to be a western classic, which itself spawned sequel tv movies, etc. from the subsequent books. The book is simply an amazing read.
Grant by Ron Chernow
I'd heard a couple of commentators that I admire talk about reading this book, so I thought I'd "drudge through it", but to my surprise, it was very readable and an enormously interesting read. While it shows Grant's military career and his presidential terms in a positive light, it does not shy away from his mistakes and missteps. It's a long book (over a thousand pages), but it read very quickly and made me want to read some of Chernow's other biographies (Hamilton and Washington). If you're a fan of biographies, you really can't do better than this one.
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Chaplain's Corner
Steve Bird (Chaplain)
"FAMILY" REUNION
What is the first word which comes to your mind when you hear "reunion?" Family? School? For me, its family. It is the tradition for some families to celebrate a yearly family reunion to come together and share their joys, accomplishments, and memories of those who are not in attendance.
First, let us look at the definitions of "reunion" and "family."
Reunion – "a social gathering attended by members of a certain group of people who have not seen each other for some time."[i] This can be defined as our personal families, military, church, or civilian employment.
Family – "a group of people united by certain convictions or a common affiliation."[ii] To go a step farther, "family" can include personal family, military "families," church "family," educational "families," neighborhood "family" and the list could continual as far as the imagination can take us.
With the upcoming Saratoga reunion, I felt impressed to focus on the purpose and meaning on both "reunion" and "family." The Saratoga "family" was a group of specialized individuals working together to accomplish an assigned mission in the defense of our great country whether in a time of war or peace.
The purpose in having a reunion is to reflect not only those who are in attendance in sharing memories but also to remember those who have gone on before us and the memories we have of them. The Saratoga Reunion Committee has done an outstanding job in preparing a wonderful time for the "Saratoga Family" to gather in Mobile, Alabama to celebrate together our individual accomplishments, share "sea stories," relive great memories of our past shipmates and to renew and make new friendships. For those who completed a 20-year military career, one could have established six or more military "family" communities!
For the individual "family" the responsibility of parents is to ensure their children become responsible citizens and to be effective within their community. For the civilian "family," to work together in providing services or products making an impact with the local community, State or Country. The local church "family" is a reliable source of strength to meet the spiritual, emotional, and social needs of not only that specific congregation but having an impact upon the needs of others outside of the church walls.
The Scriptures are filled with a variety of exciting, tragic, and heartwarming family stories starting from Genesis with Adam and Eve to Revelation. I believe Christians will have the greatest reunion ever to be with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords at the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19: 9). It will be a glorious time when there will be no more death or tears but eternal joy and excitement.
"Family reunions" are a joyous occasion to come together and celebrate! For the "Saratoga family," it will be a tremendous time to celebrate together! Hope it will be an exciting time for you! I'm looking forward to meeting my "Saratoga family" for the first time this year!
CAPT Steve Bird, CHC, USN
[ii] "Family." Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/family. Accessed 8 Aug. 2021.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ThanksBill Lack (Vice President / Midrats Editor) Thanks to Sara Barthelemy (MWR Mayport), Steve Bird, Jerry Church, Fran Gower, Stephen Katz, Corey Lack, Linda Lack, Ed McCready, Bill Phelps, and Brad Senter for their help with their inspiration, content, advice, and proof reading.
Doing this would be impossible without the help of friends, family, and shipmates.
See ya in Mobile!!
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