The USS TICONDEROGA Veterans' Association NEWS
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CV / CVA / CVS-14 CG-47 JANUARY 2018 The USS TICONDEROGA Veterans’ Association NEWS VOLUME 45 NO 1 Join us MAY 17-21, 2018 in New Orleans, LA! PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE GREETINGS SHIPMATES, FRIENDS AND FAMILY, With the holidays behind us it's time to start looking forward to the coming year. I hope you and your families had a wonderful holiday season. May the New Year bring you joy and happiness in all you do. We have been working hard on the upcoming reunion in New Orleans. Plans are going well. Hopefully everyone is planning on joining us there. There are a lot of great things in the works. Details for making your reservations and tour information is included on page 6 in this Newsletter. Please remember that if you need handicap rooms you should book them early. I welcome any ideas or comments that you have in regards to the reunion. E-mail your thoughts to add or improve what we do, or something new you might want to include. It is always nice to have fresh input from others. Thanks in advance for your comments and ideas. I want everyone to have a great time and to feel you are a part of the planning. This is a good opportunity for us to get together, remember the past, enjoy the present, and plan for the future. The opportunity for us to have a new ship named in honor of the USS Ticonderoga are in the works now. Sample letters are in this newsletter, and downloadable ones are at the bottom of the main page of our website. The more requests that are sent the better the chances of this happening. Please encourage family and friends to help us get this done. Fundraising efforts have began for the Mississippi Maritime Museum. This is a great for us to support our CG-47 shipmates. Be sure to mark your calendars for May 17th - May 21st 2018. Hope to see everyone there. God Bless, God Bless America! Steve Codding PLEASE SEE LAST PAGE OF THE ROSTER FOR A MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR. PAGE 2 USS TICONDEROGA REUNION ACTIVITY REGISTRATION FORM May 17-22, 2018 Listed below are all registration, tour, and meal costs for the reunion. Please enter how many people will be participating in each event and total the amount. Send that amount payable to ARMED FORCES REUNIONS, INC. in the form of check or money order (no credit cards or phone orders accepted). If a valid email address is provided, a receipt will be sent electronically. Otherwise, your cancelled check will serve as your confirmation. Returned checks will be charged a $20 fee. You may also register online and pay by credit card at www.afr-reg.com/ticonderoga2018 (3.5% will be added to online credit card transactions). All registration forms and payments must be received by mail on or before April 12, 2018. After that date, reservations will be accepted on a space available basis. We suggest you make a copy of this form before mailing. Please do not staple or tape your payment to this form. Armed Forces Reunions, Inc. OFFICE USE ONLY 322 Madison Mews Check # _________ Date Received __________ Norfolk, VA 23510 Inputted _________ Nametag Completed _____ ATTN: USS TICONDEROGA Price # of CUT-OFF DATE IS 4/12/18 Per People Total TOURS FRIDAY, MAY 18: NATIONAL WWII MUSEUM $65 $ FRIDAY, MAY 18: NATIONAL WWII MUSEUM (WWII VETERAN PRICE) $37 $ SATURDAY, MAY 19: NEW ORLEANS CITY TOUR $48 $ HOTEL MEAL SUNDAY, MAY 19: BANQUET (Please select your entrée choice) 8oz Herb Marinated Top Sirloin $48 $ Dijon Mustard Crusted Airline Chicken Breast $48 $ Pan Seared Red Drum with Crawfish Etouffe Sauce $48 $ MANDATORY REGISTRATION FEES Armed Forces Reunions Registration Fee (mandatory for all attendees) $ 10 $ Group Registration Fee (waived for shipmate’s guests if only attending one event, i.e. banquet) $ 65 $ Total Amount Payable to Armed Forces Reunions, Inc. $ PLEASE PRINT NAME AS YOU WOULD LIKE IT TO APPEAR ON YOUR NAMETAG FIRST ___________________________________LAST _______________________________________ YEARS ON BOARD 19___ - ___RATE/RANK______________________ DIVISION _________________ SPOUSE NAME (IF ATTENDING)_________________________________________________________ GUEST NAMES________________________________________________________________________ STREET ADDRESS____________________________________________________________________ CITY, ST, ZIP_________________________________________PH. NUMBER (______)______-_______ EMAIL_______________________________________________________________________________ DISABILITY/DIETARY RESTRICTIONS_____________________________________________________ (Sleeping room requirements must be conveyed by attendee directly to hotel) MUST YOU BE LIFTED HYDRAULICALLY ONTO THE BUS WHILE SEATED IN YOUR WHEELCHAIR IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN BUS TRIPS? ❑ YES ❑ NO (PLEASE NOTE THAT WE CANNOT GUARANTEE AVAILABILITY). EMERGENCY CONTACT________________________________ PH. NUMBER (_____) ____-________ For refunds and cancellations please refer to our policies outlined at the bottom of the reunion program. CANCELLATIONS WILL ONLY BE TAKEN MONDAY-FRIDAY 9:00am-5:00pm EASTERN TIME (excluding holidays). Call (757) 625-6401 to cancel reunion activities and obtain a cancellation code. Refunds processed 4-6 weeks after reunion. PAGE 3 WRITE MORE LETTERS TO: YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES, AND POSSIBLY YOUR GOVERNOR (Especially NY Because of the Battleground, Fort, Town and original USS Ticonderoga!) Edit this letter as you like (instead of saying as a TICONDEROGA sailor you would say: As the parent, relative, friend of a TICONDEROGA sailor) or send it as is. Be sure to insert your personal information, remove these instructions. YOUR NAME ( Change to Black & remove this remark) YOUR ADDRESS ( Change to Black & remove this remark) YOUR CITY STATE ZIP ( Change to Black & remove this remark) DATE: ( Date you send & remove this remark) Dear Senator:, Representative:, or Governor: ? ( Replace with name & change to black) I am writing to ask the Secretary of the Navy, The Honorable Richard Spencer, to approve an event that would be unique in Naval History. The first AEGIS ship was the USS TICONDEROGA, CG-47. It had the new AN/SPY Radar. The opportunity now exists to allow another AEGIS ship, this time with the new AMDR Radar to also be named USS TICONDEROGA. This would be any ship after DDG-127. This opportunity will probably never be available again. As a relative of a TICONDEROGA sailor (or as a TICONDEROGA sailor) I am deeply desirous of seeing another ship carry that name and for it to have the new AMDR Radar would be doubly rewarding. I realize that the naming schema for DDGs is not that of battles, but I think an exception could be made in this case (as was made by Secretary Lehman when he named CG-51 USS THOMAS S GATES). It would be nice if it was homeported in Norfolk, VA as was CG-47 or homeported in San Diego, CA, the homeport of USS TICONDEROGA, CVA/CVS-14. It would be great to see USS TICONDEROGA sailing with the DDG-106, USS STOCKDALE, as James B Stockdale was XO and CO of VF-51 flying off USS TICONDEROGA, CVA-14 in 1963 and then again in 1964 during the Gulf of Tonkin incident and sailing with the DDG-108, Wayne E Meyer as RADM Meyer was the Father of AEGIS and USS TICONDEROGA, CG-47 was the first of those AEGIS ships and with one of the Navy’s newest ships the DDG-116, USS THOMAS J HUDNER, as Thomas J Hudner was the XO of VF-53 flying off USS TICONDEROGA, CVA-14 in 1964. I am sure there are many others in our fine state that have ties to USS TICONDEROGA and would also appreciate anything you could do to help us in this effort to make Naval history. Thank you for your consideration of this request. Sincerely, ______________________________________________ TYPE YOUR NAME HERE ( sign above and change to Black & remove this remark & below.) You should be able to get state representatives from local newspaper or on line Here's the link for the Representatives addresses. In order to search for your local Representatives address, just type in your zip code and their addresses will come up: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find/#listrep Here's the link for the Senators addresses. In the link you can choose which state, Senator, and class you'd like to search for: https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/ THIS FORM CAN BE PRINTED FROM: WWW.BIGT.NET BOTTOM OF MAIN PAGE. PAGE 4 Letter to the Secretary of the Navy Edit this letter as you like, (instead of saying as a TICODEROGA sailor you would say: As the parent, relative, friend of a TICODEROGA sailor) or send it as is Be sure to insert your personal information and remove these instructions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- YOUR NAME ( Change to Black & remove this remark) YOUR ADDRESS ( Change to Black & remove this remark) YOUR CITY STATE ZIP ( Change to Black & remove this remark) DATE: ( Date you send & remove this remark) The Honorable Richard V. Spencer Secretary of the Navy 1000 Navy Pentagon Washington, D. C. 20350-1000 Dear Mr. Secretary: Congratulations on becoming the 76th SECNAV. It would be great to see you start your career by making Naval History. I am writing to ask you to approve an event that would be unique in Naval History. As you may know the first AEGIS ship with the AN/SPY radar was the USS TICONDEROGA, CG-47. The opportunity now exists to allow an AEGIS ship on which the new ADMR radar is installed to also be named USS TICONDEROGA. That would be any ship after DDG-127. This opportunity will probably never be available again. As a TICONDEROGA sailor I am deeply desirous of seeing another ship carry that name and to be one with the new AMDR radar would be doubly rewarding. I realize that the naming schema for DDGs is not that of battles but I think an exception could be made in this case so that a little Navy History could be made.