FEBRUARY 2012 Volume IV Issue VII

Prez Says

USS PRICHETT DD-561

REUNION ASSOCIATION

LOOK OUT

Hello Shipmates and Friends,

I hope the rest of you have had a mild winter. From photos some of you sent, it

looks like you had a lot of snow. Our long range forecast was for a very severe

winter but it turned out pretty mild, just very cold.

We can almost see spring just around the corner. And just in time as our furnace

has about had it.

We are looking forward to the next reunion in Mobile, Alabama. Don, Maria, John

and Carol have been there to check things out. The hotel is picked out and the

tours are coming together. Mary Ann can’t wait for some fresh sea food!

Everyone please make sure we have your current mailing and email address. I

recently tried to contact a group of twelve by email and it came back with five bad

email addresses.

Dues are also past due, please get them in. Remember we have several levels of

dues to fit everyone (see the back page of this publication for that information).

For those who have not heard, Terry Manges, MM3, 1966-69, PO Box 112-806

Rockville Rd., South Fork, PA 15956, has been in the hospital since the last reunion.

He has had several surgeries and more to go. Drop him a line when you get a

chance. His wife, Shelby, has to drive a 100 mile round trip to see him every day.

I’m sure they both would like to hear from fellow shipmates.

We wish everyone well and hope to see many of you in September, a few we will

see before that and your reunion officers will have a meeting in the spring,

location not decided on yet.

Smooth Sailing,

Terry Crawford

528 Mildred, Wood River, IL 62095 618-259-3007 prichett@charter.net

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ATTENTION VIETNAM VETS!

USS PRICHETT (DD561) OPERATED ON MEKONG RIVER DELTA AND SAIGON

RIVER DURING AUGUST 1969. If you were on board the Prichett in August 1969,

you are now eligible for Agent Orange benefits, which includes screenings. At

this time, that is the only approved date. For more information, go to the website:

http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/shiplist/index.asp

THE CAJUN CORNER

Just a few words to say, “thank You” for all of you that attended the reunion in Albuquerque,

NM this past September. There was the problem of a water boiler break-down during the last

2 days, and it did affect some of our guests, however, everything else went as well as a

reunion can go……Thanks to Don and Maria. “Hats off to you two!”

I would also like to thank those of you that took something from your hometown or state and

donated the items to our auction and raffle. As ya’ll know, these monies, that are generated,

help to keep our dues from going up. If you have never taken anything to the past reunions,

let me encourage you to give it some consideration for the next time you do attend a

reunion…just a little something from your hometown or State that would make you proud.

Some of the attendees even do hand made items that make a big hit. So put it on your new

calendar for the month of September for Mobile, AL.

Now, as for those of you that will be driving from the West of the State of Louisiana, and you

use the I-10, you will have to try to remember to contact either Carol or myself, before you

reach the mile marker 100, (we live 1/4mile North of the 104 marker). When you do contact

us, we will see what we can do to remove whatever Gri-Gries that await outsiders….you

don’t want to be stuck with a Gri-Grie hanging over you. And another thing…….if you

happen to run across a “gator” down here, just do like Troy Landry and the other “swamp

people” do…..CHOOT-EM….we would appreciate it, very much!

Until next time, remember…Laisse les bons temps rouler!! John B----V P

CHANGE OF ADDRESS

Jim Basham new email: jbasham@montanasky.tv

Fred Gragg new email: fdgmsg3848@triad.rr.com

Bill Rinck 12225 W. St Omaha, NE 68137 (402) 896-9560

Jim Shealey new email: jim561@verizon.net

Jim Simms 106 Green Gables Dr Wentzville, MO 63385 (636) 327-0391

P a g e 3

I am sharing the following email correspondence with the permission of both Lynn

Dorrell and Jim Fernandes: RE: BROWN WATER NAVY

12 Dec 2011: I want to thank you for putting me in contact with Jim Fernandes,

Commanding Officer, USS Prichett (DD561) during the “Last Cruise” in 1969. I

suffered a myocardial infarction (heart attack) in March of 1987. It has been

estimated that I have lost 30% of the muscle. After reading an article in the

American Legion magazine noting that the VA was presuming that Agent Orange

was a possible cause to ischemic heart disease, I immediately applied for

compensation. Initially this request was denied. After contact with Captain

Fernandes and his testimony of the Prichett’s involvement with “in-country”

service having cruised up river on 11 April 1969 [my case was re-examined].

Soon any shipmate will find the Prichett listed as “in-country” on the VA’s list.

Thank you! Lynn Michael Dorrell / Prichett Fats (Editor of the Prichett Skinny 1969)

13 Dec 2011: This is the forth Prichett sailor who contacted me with this sort of

problem. Each was resolved in the Prichett sailor’s favor after I wrote a specific

letter detailing where and when he was “in-country” in Vietnam during his service.

In this specific case, I corrected an incorrect assumption that the ship had been up

the Saigon River. It is true that we were headed toward Saigon, but we were

actually in the Nha Be River which turns into the Saigon River about eight miles

downriver from the city. The document that the VA was using listed only the ships

that actually went up to Saigon as having been “in-country”. Since we provided

our gunfire support (to the Army in the Rung Sat Special Zone) while we were in

the Nha Be River (and were fired on while doing so) we were never considered to

be in the Saigon River listing of ships that qualified for designation as having been

“in-country”.

The Military Officer’s Association of America (MOAA), printed an article in it’s

monthly magazine “Military Officer” several years ago in a column called “Ask

Bud”, that stated the following: “The Institute of Medicine’s 2008 Update on Agent

Orange provided sufficient evidence of the link between Agent Orange exposure

to allow Parkinson’s Disease and ischemic heart disease to be added to the list.

Veterans who served in Vietnam during the war (Jan 9, 1962—May 7, 1975) and

who have a “presumed” illness don’t have to prove an association between their

medical problems and their military service.”

Warm regards, Jim Fernandes

From Tom Chaudoin: Any of you remember Yokosuka Club “Windjammer”? This ought to

bring back a few memories! Some old times reminiscing...thought this might be of interest. I

think Prichett sailors always took advantage of Happy Hour when prices were 10 cents for a

beer!! Check out these prices. 365 yen to the dollar if you went on in town. Burgermeister

Beer! Good God what swill! Back in the day when you could afford to go on liberty. Those

were the days. I can even remember getting cigs for 10 cents a pack, grilled ham and cheese

25 cents! That was the late 50s, early to mid 60’s.

WE ARE ON THE WEB

www.ussprichettdd561.org

Wedding day, Sept 1979 Boot Camp, 1956

Early 50’s

Westpac 1958-1959 1958

CONTEST: The first

person who correctly

identifies the people on

this page will win a free

membership for the year.

To make it fair, I will only

accept entries via snail

mail.

P a g e 6

AUGUST 17, 1951—WILTON SKY ROOM, HOTEL WILTON

LONG BEACH, CA

Ens Bob Hackett, Ens W.H. Hart, Ens John M. Draddy, Lt(jg) Bob Huth,

Lcdr R.J. Maddox, Cmdr James G. Thorburne Jr, Lt(jg) John McCann,

Lt(jg) Stan Cecil, Lt(jg Virgil Ashbough, Lt William Simcox, Lt Elmer Frasch,

Lt Mike Caldwell, Lt C.W. Staples, Ens Merrit Schuman, Lt(jg) Robert Tompkins

P a g e 7

SUBMITTED BY DON CALVIN: The HONOR FLIGHT mission is to transport America’s

veterans to Washington D.C. to visit those memorials dedicated to honor their service

and sacrifices. Top priority is given to WWII Survivors and any veteran with a terminal

illness who wishes to visit their memorial.

Many of the Honor Flight hubs are now accepting applications from Korean War Veterans

and will later offer services to Viet Nam Veterans and other veterans that served. The Tri

State Honor flight departs from St. Louis and their bus in our area departs from Hannibal,

MO. They have five flights scheduled in 2012: May, June, August, September and

October.

There are hubs located throughout the United States. There were 365 veterans on five

flights from our area that took advantage of this great opportunity in 2011. They were

accompanied by 10 to 12 chaperones that paid their own expenses. You may have a

relative or friend that would like to apply to be a chaperone. For more information on the

flights from your area and to get an application, check out the following websites:

www.honorflight.org or www.honorflightnetwork

There is absolutely no cost to the veteran for the flight and visit. The cost to transport

each veteran is $400 to $500. This is raised through donations and we are happy to

report that the USS Prichett Reunion Assn. donated $300.00 in 2010 and $1000.00 in 2011.

This is another example of the good that comes from being a member of the Association

and attending your reunions. So, put MOBILE, AL on your calendar for this September!!!

The Honor Flight motto is,” WE CAN’T ALL BE HEROES.

SOME OF US HAVE TO STAND ON THE CURB AND

CLAP AS THEY GO BY”. – WILL ROGERS

From The Horse’s mouth.

If everything goes as planned (which very seldom happens) we will have the

contracts signed and all the details of the upcoming reunion in Mobile, Alabama

ready for our members by April first. We will get the final details to you at that

time. The dates for the reunion is September 17th to September 23rd. There will be

a ghost tour the night of the 17th. We will definitely Tour the USS Alabama,

Battleship cove, USS Drum, and the aircraft museum with a short tour of Mobile.

We will have lunch aboard the USS Alabama. Our Memorial Service with full color

guard will be held on the fantail of the Alabama.

We will probably have a tour to NAS Pensacola to visit the Aviation Museum and

lunch. There will more than likely be another short tour but with so much to do and

see in Mobile we have not made a decision as of this date.

Friday will more than likely be a free day with our Banquet that evening. There will

be lots of food, liquid refreshments, entertainment, picture taking, raffle and

auction. We are looking forward to having our auctioneer Stormin’ Norman back

this year. Norman and Evelyn were greatly missed at last year’s reunion.

Many of you will want to go to Bellingrath Gardens & Home. It is beautiful there

and they also have a cruise aboard the Southern Bell on the Fowl River. We do not

plan to visit Bellingrath on a tour because of the walking involved. That can be

something you might want to do on your free day if you are up to all the walking.

Maria and I enjoyed a visit to the Mobile Baseball stadium and the Hank Aaron’s

boyhood home and museum. The baseball club will have completed their season

before our reuion but we can probably get a VIP tour if enough are interested.

Maria is not a big sports fan but she found this very interesting.

Mobile has many historical homes and mansions. There is a Mardi Gras museum

and many other wonderful sights to see. The people of Mobile say that the Mardi

Gras first started in Mobile. Carol Benoit will tell you that that is a down right dirty

lie.

There are also so many things to see in the outlying areas and if you may want to

arrive early or stay over a few days extra.

Mobile is one of the most beautiful and unique cities in the United States and the

Gulf Coast Cuisine is superb.

We hope to see everyone in Mobile for the USS Prichett DD-561 23rd annual reunion.

We try our best to make the reunion interesting, but only you can make it a

success.

This is straight from the horse’s mouth…….

A.K.A.: Don Calvin

All three say life on the USS

Prichett could be boring on

one hand and then exciting in

one instant. “There were hours

and days of boredom followed

by moments of panic when you

got fired at,” Hawley said.

Back in August 2011, an

article by Livi Stanford

was published in a

Florida newspaper, the

Daily Sun about three of

our very own sailors: Bob

Hawley, Bob Hackett and

Jim Klock. These three

shipmates, who served on

the USS Prichett during

the Korean War, now live

in the same neck of the

woods and enjoy getting

together and gabbing

about old times.

The USS Prichett’s job

included shore

bombardment and

protecting other ships

who came through the

area. Hackett described

a time when the ship

was shot at five times,

saying the biggest

challenge of all was

making sure you didn’t

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK:

It has been a busy winter! Went to Tombstone, AZ

for a long weekend in January and had a blast at

Big Nose Kate’s Saloon. Spent a month getting

ready for an estate sale at Ralph’s house...it was a

big success. Made enough money to pay for a trip

to Cancun in April! Celebrated Mardi Gras with a

group of “Red Hat Classy Chicks”. Getting ready

for a visitor from Alaska...Ralph’s granddaughter

Haley will be with us for spring break.

I am asking again...please send me old photos (or

even new ones from the reunion that I may not

have). It was a stretch putting this newsletter to

bed.

Also, can’t say it too many times: Please pay your

dues as soon as possible. See the box above for

the different levels you may choose from.

Sincerely and faithfully yours, Lucy Forcum

President Terry Crawford

Vice Pres John Benoit

Sec/Treas Don Calvin

WWII Rep Leonard Beetstra

Family Rep Verna Stovall

Hon. Bd Mem Harry Galbraith

Hon. Bd Mem Jim Simms

USS PRICHETT DD-561

REUNION ASSOCIATION

C/O LUCY FORCUM

2730 JOHNSON GRASS

SAN ANTONIO, TX 78251

NAVIGANS OPPUGNARE

THEY SAIL TO ATTACK FIRST CLASS MAIL

Contributions for membership 2010-2011 are as follows: Full membership & receive hard-

copy newsletter, $35.00 Full membership & receive email copy only of newsletter, $30. No

membership, but receive hardcopy of newsletter, $15. Please make checks payable to USS

Prichett DD-561 & mail to: Don Calvin 305 Columbus St Coatsburg, IL 62325