Now Hear This

JESS DENNIS, Chairman
3053 Birchfield Dr.
Memphis, TN 38127-7403
(901)357-0263

WADE CUNNINGHAM,
Secretary and Chaplain
22723 Hockaday Dr.
Katy, TX 77450-2310
(281) 392-2053

COMMITTEE

Leon Cooper
Sheran (Frenchie) Fontenot
Robert (Bob) Hill
James R. (Bob) Nuzum
Tom Wheeler

Cecil (Buzz) Butterworth
Historian

October 1, 2003

The 2003 USS Pennsylvania Reunion came off well - I didn’t hear anyone complain about anything, so I have to assume everyone had a good time. Our numbers of people were not as high as we would have liked, but we have to realize we have lost a lot of our people, and must be thankful for the ones that are still with us.

Over the years, I have been asked a number of times, “do I have to wear a coat and tie?” I thought this over, and thought I should bring it up at our committee meeting, and get an answer from them. After discussion, it was decided that the dress code should be optional, so come to the banquet dressed casually if you like. I know sometimes, we’ve gone on a tour and it really pushes us to get back, shower and change clothes for the banquet.

Service at the hotel this year was lousy, and I have found us another one for 2004 in the same general area. It is another Holiday Inn, which I think is nicer than the other one. This year, when we went into the banquet room for our dinner, our banner was hanging by one corner, and the rest of it was laying on the floor and they were walking on it. We had no dance floor, table and chairs at the podium and no wheel chair access. At the breakfast, there was no microphone in place, and they had a buffet breakfast instead of a sit-down meal. It was also no fun being awakened at 3:00 AM by a black man yelling “fire, fire, everybody out”! The bad thing is, on weekends, the people I worked with to get it all right, are off, and I have no one to complain to.

The old Pennsy spirit is still alive and well. Our Shipmates Jim Askew and Harry Jackson, again made a generous donation of beverages and snacks for our Reunion. A big thank you from all of us to these two men.

The Battleship New Jersey is collecting pictures of ships’ bells to put on permanent display aboard ship. Luckily, Secretary Wade Cunningham, came through on that one for us with a picture of the BB 38 bell that he took while it was sitting on the deck of the Submarine Pennsylvania, and we mailed it to the Chief who is putting it together. A month later, he wanted the nickname of each ship. I wrote to tell him that we had been called “The Big P”, “The Mighty P” like all battleships, but our crew simply, affectionately called her “Pennsy”. Then it got interesting, because the next month, July 2003, it’s said that according to RADM Ed Snyder, the Pennsy was called the “Rattlesnake” when he was a young ensign and served on her. The same ensign said when he was asked, and he volunteered, to be greased up, have lines tied to his arm and his feet, so that he could he could be pulled in and out of each of the 14" barrels to take measurements. Anyone ever hear of that? If it is true, he had to be a very small man.

Secretary Wade Cunningham informed me recently that Ken Munro has about 30 of the Pennsylvania History Books that we had Turner Publishing Company do for us, so if you would like another one, or know someone who would like to have a copy, there is your source. Ken can be reached at 40641 Alondra Dr., Murrieta, CA, 82562. His phone number is (909) 698-7180, and his website address is NoSpam_ken@usspennsylvania.org

My old Shipmate Lee Bates, called me several times recently, and he has some good news about his telephone company he would like to share with his shipmates. He found a long distance company that allows him to call anywhere in the states for 1 cent per minute. If you would like to check it out, the phone company number is 1-866-218-8305.

As you know, the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. will be dedicated May 29, 2004 at 2:00 PM, and my advice to those who plan to be there is to take plenty of money. Our Nation’s Capital stands ready to welcome us old vets with open arms. I have a State American Legion newspaper that lists three Marriott Hotels that they plan to use, and the room rates are $95.00 to $104.00 per night, and hotel parking is $10.00 to $20.00 per night. Secretary Wade has expressed the desire to attend, and told me he would handle it for any of our Pennsylvania people who want to go, so give Wade a call if you plan to go.

Word from the Sick Bay: Rudy Millen is at home recovering from back surgery; Tom Wheeler has had bypass surgery; Lillie Gilbert, wife of Roy, had bypass surgery; They are all doing well and are still in the stage of recuperation.

Recently I received a letter from the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans, and since I don’t know who they were mailed to, I want to share with you what was sent to me, so I’m sending you copies of what I have. Should you want to get involved, mail your check to the Washington, D.C. address.

Make a note of our Reunion dates - they will be April 29, 2004 to May 2, 2004, and give it your all to be with us. At our ages, we don’t’ know how many more we have left, and since this is our last letter to be mailed this year, it is my last chance to remind everyone that our dues are due the first of next year, so why not go ahead and mail your $10.00 to Wade Cunningham now and you won’t forget.

Wade, Ruby and I want to thank all the nice people who helped us at the Reunion, and to thank those who sent so many nice cards, letters and for your phone calls.

Memphis had a severe storm July 22nd which caused much damage and power outages. Then we had a second storm on August Memphis had a severe storm July 22nd which caused much damage and power outages. Then we had a second storm on August 27thwhich caused some damage. I want to thank all of the people who called to check on me. I also want to thank those who came to help me when I had my accident at the picnic. You are all great people to me. My best wishes for good health to everyone.

Memphis had a severe storm July 22nd which caused much damage and power outages. Then we had a second storm on August 27thwhich caused some damage. I want to thank all of the people who called to check on me. I also want to thank those who came to help me when I had my accident at the picnic. You are all great people to me. My best wishes for good health to everyone.

U.S.S. PENNSYLVANIA BB-38

Nebraska 2001

The U.S.S. Pennsylvania western reunion will be held at the Clarion Executive Center 3650 south 72nd Street, Omaha, Nebraska. From Sunday September 23, 2001 to Wednesday September 26. Enclosed you will find a brochure on the hotel and a map of Omaha. The hotel is located off I-80. Each person is responsible for making his or her own reservations with the hotel before the deadline on August 23. The room rate is $69.00 (includes full buffet breakfast) for a double room. The phone number to make reservations is 1-409-397-3700 or toll-free 1-800-446-6242. Airlines into Omaha are United and Midwest Express with the hotel providing free shuttle service. Map, Registration Form, Contacts,

A tour has been planned for Monday the 24th. The tour includes a trip to Boys Town, wildlife safari, and the Strategic Air Command museum. Lunch is included in the tour with a buffet at Mahoney State park. The cost of the tour is $35.00 per person.

Tuesday will be a free. A day for participants to go the old market, the mall, other museums or the casinos. The hotel will furnish a shuttle bus but needs to know twenty minutes in advance about your destination and departure.

The traditional banquet will be held on Tuesday night September 25th. The dinner includes a rib-eye and shrimp dinner accompanied by the Lenny Four Orchestra featuring songs from the forties, fifties, and sixties. The cost is $40.00 per person and reservations must be made by September 1st.

If you are interested in having a permanent nametag engraved with your name and a picture of the U.S.S. Pennsylvania, we can still get them at the cost of $6.00. I must have your order by September 1st in order to give the nametag to you at registration.

This reunion will be held in Moline, Illinois on October 22-28, 2001. If you are interested in attending this reunion please let Bud Taylor know right away and he will mail you the information, call him at 1-903-849-3277.

January 31, 2000

It's that time again - time to start making your plans to attend our twentieth Reunion. It doesn't seem possible that we've been having our Reunions for 20 years, but we have, and let's all mark our calendars and plan to be together again to have another wonderful time. As we go into the new Millennium, and think back to days gone by and all the friends and faces of our shipmates we once knew, we realize a number of them are no longer be with us, which is sad, but all the more reason to make it to our Reunion.
This year I received requests from three Associations to pass on information to you about them and to invite you to join them, so if they appeal to you, or you are a part of them, here's how to get in touch with them:

1. U.S. Navy Cruiser Sailor's Association - Contact Ronald J. Maciejowski, Membership Chairman USNCSA, 55 Donna Terrace, Taunton, MA, 02780-2824, (508) 824-0789.

2. MARINE CORPS ASSOCIATION - Box 1775, Quantico, VA, 22134: (800) 336-O29l or
(703)640-6161.

3. US KOREA 2000 FOUNDATION - 4600 Duke Street, 416,Alexandria,VA, 22304-2517
(703) 212-8128.

Welcome New Members

Louis H. Farra - 5' Division
Andy Munsenreder
Forest S. Reed, Jr.
James Stewart
Barney Strandstra - M Division
B.R. King - L Division
James L. Nix - Cook
Ralph Ring - 6th Division
Arnold Stevens - F Division
John D. Walker - 1st Div
Ron Middleton - 4th
Jesse Rameriz - 4th Division
T. Edward Snyder, Jr.
Dean Stovert

Lt. McShan tells me he has been visiting the history of the USS Pennsylvania on the Internet, and he has found some interesting things there. Ken Munro, the son of Kenneth A. Munro, became very interested in the Pennsy's history after finding and going through some of the things his father had kept all these years, and since he had experience with computers, he built a web site dedicated totally to the USS Pennsylvania. The name of the web site is www.usspennsylvania.com. Ken needs our help to add to what he now has, in the form of stories, memories, thoughts and pictures of the ship. He is doing all of this in the interest of all of us, so let's pitch in and help out. Ken's mailing address is Ken Munro, 40641 Alondra Drive, Murrieta, Ca, 92562-5869: His phone is (909) 698-7180.

In our last letter, I asked if any of you had an E-mail address you would like to share with the rest of us. In addition to the 2 in the last letter, I received 5 more, making a total of 7, and I suggest you put them in your roster for future use.

I assume that most of you already have the address for the Navy Memorial, but if not, it is WWW. LONESAILOR.ORG. You can get lots of information with it.

I received a nice letter from Bud Nease, telling me that they have a nice web site for USS Arizona, and invite everyone to check on it. The web site address is WWW.HOMESTEAD.COM/IBNEASE/ . To view these stories, just click on the button for Arizona Reunion Association.

Thanks to all of you who ordered one of the pavers for the Veteran's Walk of Honor at the Nimitz Museum. Orders for 15 of them were sent to me, and I'm sure there are more there. When your grandchildren and mine visit the museum, they will know that the old Pennsy was there and did that.

For many years we have continued to mail letters to all the widows of our shipmates, and hope to be able to continue to do so. Many of the widows we never hear from, and we have been asked by a few to remove their names from our mailing list. At the rate we are now losing our shipmates, we could find ourselves with more widows than men, so if you are a widow and would like to continue receiving our letters, please drop us a card and tell us so. If we fail to hear from you, we will discontinue our mail-out to you.

I received a nice letter and a $50.00 check from William C. Hamerstat, who is the son of Lt. John R. Hamerstat who was an engineering officer on board the Pennsylvania from 1943 through 1945. William would like to hear from anyone who knew his father. Some of you must have known him. Please get in touch with William at 2502 Stoner Rd., LaGrange, KY, 40031-9497 or phone him at (502) 241-5050.

Now for the reunion. It will be held April 13^th – 16^th , 2000 at the Memphis Marriott Hotel at 2625 Thousand Oaks Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee, 38118. Our room rates are $62.00 plus tax; those of you who come in early can get the same rates starting April 11, 2000. The cut-off date for guaranteeing this special rate is 3/27/00. Check-in time is 3:00 PM, and check out time is 12 noon. There's free parking and airport pick-up, Call the hotel direct for reservations at (901) 362-6200, or 1-800-627-3587 and tell them you're with the USS Pennsylvania group to get our special rate. All requests must be made no later than 3/27/00. After that, reservations will be subject to availability and higher rates. All reservation requests must include a first night's deposit, which can be either a major credit card or personal check. All deposits are refundable up to 48 hours prior to check-in time. In the past, some people have had trouble making reservations with the 800 number, so if that's the case, back up and try their direct number.

Blues City Tours will have a representative at our registration desk from8:00 am to 2:00 pm on Friday and Saturday to book tours for those of you who would like them. On Friday, we have planned something like a picnic at the Island, where you will be able to go through the museum over there and we will have a box lunch. For the ladies, Wade and Ruby's daughter Linda has come up with a good idea. She wants to get a group of the ladies together to car pool and go around and do a lot of antique shopping. Saturday, we have a trip planned to the Sam's Town Casino, for which there will be a $10.00 fee per person charged. $5.00 will be refunded upon arrival at the Casino, along with a ticket for a buffet dinner. This year, I'm trying to get you something new in the way of a nametag, something you'll be really proud of, and something you can use every year. It will take me a little time, because I have to mail the information off to South Carolina after I get it from you. If you can, mail your registration forms in early. I am sure you will love this nametag! I've arranged transportation for all the events we will take part in and the cost is included in the price of each function.

As always, the people working at the registration desk and hospitality room are volunteers, so give them a nice handshake, a good smile, and a word of thanks.

Wade, Ruby and I want to thank all of you who sent us such nice cards and letters, especially around Christmas time. There were too many for us to respond to, but we do want you to know we appreciate them and we treasure your kind thoughts.

Annette Fontenot - Wife of Cline - Had her hip replaced for the second time.

Abie Hunter - Has pulmonary fibrosis; irregular heart rhythm and is on oxygen about 20 hours a

We wish the best of luck to these fine people, and hope better things are soon to come for them.

Mike Hewlin, who handled the USS Mississippi Reunion, is trying to put together a Reunion of the six battleships that took part in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and he had some letters printed for me to include in this mail-out. We will talk more about it at the Reunion or if you need to know more about it sooner, call me.

From: "LeRohn D Deysher"
To: "USS Pennsylvania (BB-38)
Subject: Re: The Band
Date: Sunday, March 05, 2000 4:17 PM

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the plug. To briefly bring you up to date -- We were the group that provided the entertainment? at the Tucson reunion. While there, our westerners said "We've seen enough cactus now, we would like to see some dogwood." So, Tony Gerace , Tony Wyhopen, (Who wasn't at Tucson) got together and went to work. All our guys are coming, staying at the Wyndham Valley Forge at a good rate, spending Friday on a bus trip into the Historic section of Philly and winding it out at Valley Forge National Park (lot's of Dogwood trees and they should be in bloom). Saturday, we will go to the botanical gardens called Longwood Gardens, a lovely site established by the Dupont family. Saturday night we will have a banquet with entertainment provided by First UCC Brass, which plays a lot of Canadian Brass music. We are all enthusiastic about it and wish the entire crew would give consideration to a similar plan. Once again, thanks and it was good hearing from you!

NOW HEAR THIS

Our 1999 USS Pennsylvania Reunion went off without a hitch, and everyone seemed to enjoy being together again. A trip to Coors Brewery was interesting - it is amazing to see how fast they can brew and bottle beer, and as you watch it, you realize how much beer is consumed in this country every day! You have to wonder how their brew masters stack up against the ones we had on the old Pennsy. Those who went to the Casino had a good time I didn't hear any one claim they had won a million, and I did hear a number of them say they didn't lose any money. Could it be the old Pennsy's luck still hasn't run out!

Plans for next years reunion are already underway, and we will again be at the Marriott Hotel in Memphis from April 13 - 16th, 2000, so make a note of it and plan to be with us. Wade and I have just heard from a few men who have just found us, and they plan to come to the reunion. It seems we have reached the point where we lose a few, and are lucky to still find a few people.

Shipmate LeRohn Deysher volunteered at our 1998 reunion to blow taps at our memorial this year, but was unable to make it because of illness I was told. We hope things are better for him now, and wish him well.

Some of you are aware of an accident that Gloria, the wife of John Dennis, had when she fell from an escalator at the Casino. A card from John at the end of April said she is mending well after surgery for a broken arm, and he felt sure she would be back to normal routine in time, and they are looking forward to next years reunion. We wish Gloria a speedy recovery.

Last year, at the end of our General Meeting, someone came up to our table with a picture of the Pennsy. Rudy Millen was there and saw the picture, and asked the man if he would be kind enough to have a copy made for him, and Rudy gave him some money for it, but failed to get the picture, and he also failed to get or remember the man's name. We know the man forgot, and maybe this will be a reminder to him, or maybe the man forgot to get Rudy's name and address. If that's the case, the name is R.J. Millen, 6642 Acacia Court, Northport, Florida, 34287-2652.

In the new world of electronics, E-mail has become more and more popular. Some of our shipmates have E-mail addresses now, so we thought we should add them to our roster and share them with everyone, so if you have one, please send them to us. Here's a couple I already have:

Howard W. Hudson in Hawaii - hwhbb38@worldnet.att.net

Ken: I have many more email address, if you are looking for someone and you think they may have an email address please contact me .

The Nimitz Museum needs money to operate on, as do all museums. They are building a Veteran's Walk of Honor, and for a donation of $ 100. 00, your name and a brief message will be placed on a brick paver for the walk. Several of us have already made a donation. I have talked with Helen McDonald over there, and she said the battleship West Virginia already has a large block of bricks, and they will do the same for us if we have enough bricks. Think about it, and if you care to take part in this , make your check payable to them and send it me. I will mail all the checks to them so all of our bricks will be in the same block.

Shipmate Dave Graham who handles the American Battleship Association, needs our help in getting a good address for Fred A. Metz who we think is in Naples, Florida. His mail has been returned to Dave twice, he thinks because he doesn't have an apartment number. If anyone can help Dave with this, please do. If you're not already a member of the American Battleship Association, you should think about joining it. It only costs $5.00 a year, and Dave puts out a mean, spicy "Old Salt's Digest" twice a year. At the rate our generation is leaving here, that may be all we have to belong to in the future. Think about it - the address is the American Battleship Association, P.O. Box 711247, San Diego, CA, 92171.

Shipmate Nat Lieberman lucked out, his daughter found a Model kit of the Arizona on the Internet for him, and says he can't tell the difference between it and the Pennsy. Nat sent the information to me to share with anyone who wants a model. His cost was $13.60, and you can order one from Timeless Hobbies, 75 Danada Square East, Wheaton, Illinois, 60187. Ask for Model #H302. While I was looking for a place for Nat to get his model, information came from Lewis Hartshorn Ship Models, 73 Monroe Street, Norwood, Massachusetts, 02062. He has a model of the Pennsy that's about 18-inches long, and he will sell it for about $80.00 if anyone is interested. I do not know what it looks like.

Lost your medals and stars? Want to put them in a frame for your children? You can get just about anything you want from Medals of America, 1929 Fairview Road, Fountain Inn, SC, 29644. You can order toll free at 1-800-308-0849.

I got a nice note from Bill Schaefer, telling me there was an overcharge on his and a couple of other men's hotel bill this year. I was not aware of anything like that, and prefer to think it was due to errors made by the hotel's employees. All of the people at the hotel have been so nice to us over the years. My advice to everyone is to always check all bills, since those things do happen some times.
I called Mike Hulen, who was trying to put together a reunion of the six battleships that took part in the Leyte Gulf or Surigao Straits battles and found that he hasn't firmed up anything on it. This concerns me, because right now, hotel arrangements should be made. At first, he thought the reunion would be held in Memphis, and now he's thinking about Austin, Texas, so I don't really have anything to pass on to you at this time.

Word from the sick bay: Homer Grounds wife has been ill with some type of bone problems, and he has been afraid to leave her to come to the reunion, which is the reason we haven't seen him. Jim Bolar and his wife have been having health problems also. Buzz Butterworth has had far more that his share of health problems, and he is now on oxygen and has lost both feet, and word comes that our old friend Carl Burhoop is still not doing well. Wade Cunningham had his second hip joint replacement and I'm happy to report he seems to be doing great. We wish the best of everything to all of these people.

Crew Member	Division	Date
James M. Berry
William "Happy" Blake	R Division & The Band	2-22-99
Edwin L. Conry, Jr.	MAA & 2nd Division
Hollis B. Francis
Alfred E. Gallant
Gillis 0. Goodson
CL, "Pat" Goodwin	10th Division	1-18-99
Norman W. Hailicka	5th Division	8-24-98
Henry J, Heinz
Carl Holmes
IT. Jines
Elton C. Keifer
Henry A. Lachenmayer	R Division & The Band
Don Lark
Paul H. Maul
Charles M. McDermend
Ottwell Meader	C & R Division
Homer C. Nefzger	C Division	2-3-99
Ralph W. Palmer	A Division	12-17-98
Stanley Parrish	C & R Division	12-27-98
Milton Travis Shirley	2nd Division	8-7-99
Robert J. Sholtis
Howard J. Skehan
Floyd Stamps
Ike Tallman	5th & 10th Division	4-16-99
Ernest Wiebe	6B & 9th Division	6/99
Alex F. Zawila
Rosie Bremer-Wife of Harry	6th Division	12-98
Added By Ken Munro
Marshall M. Platt (78)	Charlette, Please contact me	9/15/99
Sam Sandell *	R Division	10/99

	*(if anyone can help filling in the blanks above please do)*

Since this is the last mail out this year, let me remind you that our dues are due the first of the year, and it is not too early to do it now. All too often we hear, "I thought I mailed them", or "I put the letter aside and forgot it".

Here's a little excerpt from the "Old Salt's Digest" that you might enjoy!

SOMEONE ELSE IS GONE

I was saddened to learn this week of the death of one of our members; Someone Else. Someone's passing creates a vacancy that will be hard to fill. Else has been with us for many ears. Else did far more than the normal person's share of the work.

Whenever there was a job to do, a meeting to attend, a ritual position to fill, one name was on everybody's list: Let Someone Else Do it!"

It was well known that Someone Else was the largest giver. Whenever there was a financial need, we all assumed that Someone Else would come to the rescue. Someone Else was a wonderful person, almost superhuman: but a person can only do so much. Were the truth known, everyone expected too much of Someone Else. Now Someone Else is gone! We wonder what we are going to do. So when you are asked to help, please remember, WE CAN'T DEPEND ON SOMEONE ELSE ANYMORE!!

We hope everyone makes it into the next Millennium in good health, and that Y2K doesn't bother anyone!

Sincerely,
Jess Dennis
U.S. S. PENNSYLVANIA REUNION ASSOCIATION

Jess Dennis
Chairman

*
This is a personal note about Sam Sandell, he and my father and mother have been friends since before I was born and they stayed in touch for many years. Two years ago after I became involved in this Pennsy web, my father mentioned his name and I asked where he lived and how long had it been since they had seen each other, he said 25 years. I went on the search for Sam and found him via the internet, I was so excited that I actually had found him that I could hardly contain myself when I spoke to him on the phone. I gave him my fathers number and asked him to call, he did and we made arrangements to sit together at the up coming San Diego reunion. I spoke at length with him and Jeanne and watched this long lost friendship between my father and Sam be rekindled. At the Tucson reunion Sam and Jeanne gave my wife and I their tickets to go on the tour of the Air Museum. Here is the pictures that I took of them the reunion dinner:

My deepest sympathy for Jeanne and the family and friends of Sam and for all of the passing crew members and their families, America has lost more Heroes , we have lost more friends and loved ones...., God Bless you.

Our 1998 USS Pennsylvania Reunion was another good one. It was great to see and visit with some of our shipmates again, and after listening to our Chaplain read off the names of our deceased shipmates, I think we all thought it was a real blessing to be able to be together again.

Everything went pretty much as planned, except for our Saturday boat trip. About the time we were to board the bus, we got a real downpour of rain, and the windows of the bus were so fogged up, we couldn't see out of them! It was the same on the boat, but I didn't hear one person complain. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - we have the best people in the world in our Association

Special thanks go out to our shipmate Leo Hamilton for his efforts in getting some of our band members here for the first time this year. It was a pleasure to have them, and one of them volunteered to blow taps for us next year. WELL-DONE LEO!

Our thanks also to Cline Fontenot for his efforts to got more of our E-Division shipmates here. Cline has been involved since day one, and also deserves a big WELL DONE!

Recently, I heard from Bill Ready who is trying to get the CR-Division people together also, and let's not forget our F-Division people. They and the R-Division had a good turnout.

Our shipmate, Bob Nuzum failed to make it to the reunion this year, and I was concerned that something was wrong, so I wrote to him. Bob and Mary Ellen were put through a living hell by, the lowest form of humanity on this earth, who was trying to get Bob's brother's assets when he passed away. Bob's advice to me was to be sure I have a good will. I pass that advice on to all of our people because we never know when an illness will affect our mind, as it did in Bob's brother's case. Because of the unusual weather we have seen this year, I have been concerned about all of our people, who are scattered all over the country. We have had fires, floods, droughts, tornadoes, hurricanes, hail, and temperatures in some parts well over a 100 degrees. I hope and pray that all of you made it through in good shape.

A letter from Mel Girard tells us that he had lobbied hard to get a ship named USS Pearl Harbor, and it finally came to pass on May 19, 1998, with the USS Pearl Harbor LSD 52. I also learned that Mel's wife, Gayle, has been fighting a battle against a rare form of lung cancer. We wish the best to her and her family.

It was a sad day when I received a note and a news clipping from Thomas Jemes telling me that Admiral K.S. Masterson had passed away. He was a real ordinance expert, and was responsible for the Pennsy having the very, latest in weapons at the time we served on her. Admiral Masterson was 89 years old.

We have a request from a man who would like to hear from anyone and everyone who knew his uncle, Robert Edward "Barney" Thomas, Chief Boatswain's Mate, who served on the Pennsylvania from 1940 to 1945. He thinks he was in the l st Division. If you knew Barney, please get in touch with Thomas A. Morgan, 117 M. Roosevelt Boulevard, Brigantine, New Jersey, 08203-2811. Tom will appreciate hearing from you.

A Second request comes from the Eldred WW II Museum in Eldred, Pennsylvania. They would like to get as many stories as possible from the people who were actually a part of World War II. They want this information from us while we're still around to give it to them, so they will have the facts instead of fiction, which will be sure to come as the years pass. Enclosed is a form with the address of the museum to help you. Please don't put this aside and say, "let other people do it", because they may be doing the same thing as you. Just do it - it will only take a few minutes of your time, and you will feel much better after you've done it. To get the form click here

I received a letter from a man who says he has some pictures of ships and that the Pennsy is among them. He has one of the Pennsy off Tulagi from September 6, 1944. How many others, and at what cost, he failed to say. If anyone would like to get in touch with him, he can be reached at: Paul E. Dawson, 10933 Country Road 44, East Liberty, Ohio, 43319. His phone number is 1-937-747-3927.

Mike Hulen, who handles the USS Mississippi Reunion called me and said he is trying to get the men who served aboard all 6 battleships that took part in the Battle of Leyte Gulf together for a reunion from October 23 to October 26, 2000 in Memphis. He asked for my help, and said be chose Memphis because I live here, the transportation is good, and he lives in Swifton, Arkansas, which is a short distance from Memphis and he can drive over so we can work together on it. This would be in addition to, and not in place of, our regular reunion. Think about this one because it will be most important for me to have an exact number for our people so I can make sure we have enough rooms, food, etc. Fill in the form at the end of this letter, and mail it to Wade when you mail in your dues. After being told by a number of our people that they would like a Washington, D.C. trip, I got a good one planned for us, but had to cancel it, because when the time came to mail in a deposit, only very few people did - not even enough to fill up one bus. It would have been a good trip.

Our Shipmates have all been in good health, I guess, because I don’t think Wade or I know of anyone in the sick bay at this time.

Rev. William E. Dudack
Donald Duffy
Harry Happ
S.S. Kienker
K.S. Masterson
Mitchell Raffanelli
Earlen Seaman

May these men have the Lord’s Blessings and Rest in Peace.

Our next reunion will be April 15 - 18, 1999 at the Marriott Hotel in Memphis, mark your calendar now and plan to be with us.

Wade and I want to thank all of you who support us each year, and mail us so many nice cards and letters.

The first of the year is almost here, and this is the last letter you will receive from us this year, so I’ll remind everyone as usual, that our dues become due the 1^st, and that is what keeps us on the mailing list. Why not send it in now, while it’s on your mind, before you forget it. Make your $10.00 check payable to the USS Pennsylvania Reunion Association, and mail it to Wade Cunningham.

Jess, you can depend on me/us to come to the Leyte Gulf Reunion. Should something such as illness or any other emergency cause me to cancel, I will notify you immediately.

Signed:________________________________________________ Date:_________________

No Device capable of playing Wav files.........

October 1, 2003

U.S.S. PENNSYLVANIA BB-38

Nebraska 2001

January 31, 2000

NOW HEAR THIS