USS Benjamin Stoddert DDG-22 USS Jupiter AVS-8

Summer 2021 San Antonio, Texas 2021

The iconic Tower of the Americas at 750’ was built for the 1968 World's Fair, HemisFair '68. The downtown area is beautiful and colorful at night when the lights are shining.”

— Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad / Roughing It National Museum of the Pacific War – Fredricksburg, Texas The Admiral Nimitz Foundation was established in 1964 ( Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Naval Museum, Inc.) to support a museum honoring Fredericksburg’s native son, Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces, Pacific Ocean Area. The hotel owned by Nimitz's grandfather Charles Henry Nimitz was restored to its original design and renamed the Admiral Nimitz Museum by an act of the Texas legislature in 1968. The original intent was to focus only as a memorial to Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz. In 2000, the complex was renamed Admiral Nimitz State Historic Site - National Museum of the Pacific War and is dedicated exclusively to the Pacific Theater battles of World War II. The conning tower and foc'sle of USS Pintado (SS-387) is at the main museum entrance. The Pacific Combat Zone is a re-creation of a Pacific island battlefield, and includes a Quonset hut hospital, a PT boat and base, Japanese tank, palm trees, and machine gun placements. Re-enactments, called Living History exhibits, are held throughout the year. The Veterans' Walk of Honor and Memorial Wall can be found within the Memorial Courtyard The plaza is a tribute to the ten United States Presidents who served during World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt (Commander in Chief), Harry S Truman (Commander in Chief), General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower (Army), John F. Kennedy (Navy), Lyndon B. Johnson (Navy), Richard Nixon (Navy), Gerald Ford (Navy), Jimmy Carter (Navy), Ronald Reagan (Army) and George H. W. Bush (Navy). Not pictured: Harry S. Truman, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford. San Antonio 2021 Reunion -- Registration Form Double Tree by Hilton Downtown 502 W. Cesar E. Chavez -- San Antonio, TX 78207 Reservation # 210-224-7155 M-F 9 AM – 5 PM Ask for Code: BSJDDG228 September 22 -- September 27, 2021 Registration Cutoff Date – August 17, 2021

Special Rate: $119.00 per room/per night for single occupancy (one guest per room) (with applicable fees and taxes = $140.67 per room/perUSS night Jupiter Un-reps the $129.00 for double occupancy (2 per room) (with applicablUSSe Lexingtonfees and tax CVes-16 = in $152.49 per room/per night Korean Waters · Rate is inclusive of breakfast in the Restaurant · Group rate 3 days prior to arrival and 3 days after departure · Self and/or Valet Parking is $29.00+taxes per day with in/out privileges Motor Coach parking is at $40.00+taxes per day and reservations associate must be informed during time of booking Reserve early as any reservations after this date cannot be Guaranteed available at our special rate.

Please note that you must be a member, the spouse or descendant of a member, or the guest of a member to attend our reunion. Remember: You are responsible for your own Transportation Reservation as well as your own Hotel Reservation! Questions? Call Ron Zorn at 619-402-5523.

Name

Home Address

City ST Zip

Phone Cell Phone E-mail Address

Department / Division Years Aboard To

Spouse Name ______Guest(s) Name ______

Emergency Contact______Phone ______

Above Information needed for your name tags. Please indicate if you are a first time attendee. Members Name: ______

Registration Form – San Antonio September 22 -- September 27, 2021 Registration Cutoff Date – August 17, 2021

Membership Dues: $20 x ( ) $______50/50 Tickets $10 for 15 tickets x # Sheets ( ) x $______Date & Activities

Day 1 – WEDNESDAY, Sept. 22 Registration Fee: $25 x ( ) $______Hospitality Room Open - 1000 -- 2200 Beer & Snacks included Officers Meeting 1730 - 1830

Day 2 – THURSDAY, Sept. 23 FREE DAY TO ROAM Business Meeting 1900 – 2030 Social Hour 2030 till Closing (Beer & Snacks included)

Day 3 – FRIDAY, Sept. 24 TOUR 10 Hours Fredricksburg – 0800 – 1800 (Meet in Lobby) $80 x ( ) $______Hospitality Room Open - 1000 -- 1700 Beer & Snacks included

Day 4 –SATURDAY, Sept. 25 Free Day Hospitality Room Open - 1000 -- 1700 Beer & Snacks Possible Tour not yet set up

Day 5 - SUNDAY, Sept. 26 Hospitality Room Open – 9 AM to 1500 Banquet Dinner (Pictures 1730 Hrs) 1830 -- 2300 $60.00 X( ) $ _____

Day 6 - MONDAY, Sept. 27 – DEPARTURE DAY Coffee & Buns Provided TOTAL $ ______

Please make check payable to: USS Benjamin Stoddert Mail Check and Forms to: Mike Rigdon, 11533 Corte Playa Las Brisas, San Diego, CA 92124-1547 Vice-Admiral Philip Michael Quast May 15, 1939 - September 25, 2019

With sadness we announce the passing of VADM (ret.) Philip Michael Quast who died on September 25 surrounded by his loving family in Annapolis, . Phil Quast was a devoted husband to Peggy, his wife of 55 years, father to five children, grandfather to 12 grandchildren, friend to many, mentor to countless more. His faith, his family, and his country reigned supreme in his life. Phil was born May 15, 1939, in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, the second of three sons. He showed a strong work ethic from an early age, ice fishing on Lake Michigan, earning extra money fur trapping muskrats, collecting minnows for fishing bait, and running a newspaper route. As a teenager, he excelled in basketball, baseball, football, and served as team captain for all three. As a “Wisconsinite,” it was only natural he adopt the Green Bay Packers (which he watched play at his high school) and the Milwaukee Braves, where he watched Hall of Famer’s Hank Aaron and Warren Spahn play in the 1957 World Series season. Phil studied history at Carroll College and began his Navy career in 1961. While serving in California, he met Margaret Barbara (Peggy) Lord and they married in Peggy's hometown of Santa Barbara on July 11, 1964. Their first three children, Tim, Molly, and Gretchen, were born in California; they and their siblings Annie and Thomas had a very mobile Navy upbringing in Newport, Rhode Island, Annapolis, Maryland, Norfolk, Virginia, , , Coronado, California, Pascagoula, Mississippi, and Alexandria, Virginia. Vice Admiral Quast served two tours of duty in Vietnam leading Riverine Forces deep in country, where he earned a Bronze Star with Combat Vs. He served early sea tours aboard USS MATTHEWS, USS KING, and USS TWINING. As XO (Executive Officer) on the USS TALBOT, his subordinates remember with fondness that he said they could address him by his first name: “X.” Subsequently his tour at the US Naval Academy began a lifelong association with officers then serving at the Academy, as well as many classes of USNA Midshipmen. Phil's command tour on the USS BENJAMIN STODDERT (for which he won the Admiral Stockdale Leadership Award) and as commissioning CO of BUNKER HILL were brilliant successes - as were his tours as the NIMITZ Strike Group Commander during Operation Desert Storm and Commander, Military Sealift Command, the worldwide military logistics command. While many ship captains are very successful, Admiral Quast led BUNKER HILL in such a way that he made every crew member feel important and a vital part of the ship's success. He was the first Navy ship captain to choose to eat with his officers in the wardroom, a gesture that endeared him to his crew, fostered strong unit cohesion, and became a Navy tradition. Phil retired from active duty in 1997 as Commander, Military Sealift Command, and as the longest-serving officer in the Navy at the time, the “Old Salt.” From that storied moniker came his family nickname, “Salt.” In 2002 Phil went on to serve as the Navy's Executive Learning Officer, teaching leadership to rising captains and admirals. In his retirement years, he and Peggy turned their efforts to adventuring with their grown children and growing brood of grandchildren (the “dozen cousins”). They took cross-country road trips and gathered in various summer havens—Cape May, Rehoboth, Sheboygan, Chicago, and others, watching his favorite sports teams, and teaching his grandsons how to properly grill a bratwurst. In 2015, the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, Phil was able to take Peggy and some of his children and grandchildren to Vietnam to revisit sites of his experiences and offer stories and amazing history lessons. Phil Quast's courage, compassion, character, faith, and humor are legacies being passed through countless people touched by his leadership, his friendship, and his example, as well as his children and grandchildren, for which they are eternally grateful. Myrtle Claudine Collins November 26, 1955 - September 14, 2020

Johnny and Myrtle Collins last reunion was Seattle 2013 Memories at links below: Bremerton & USS Turner Joy https://rigdon.smugmug.com/Ship-Reunions/Bremerton-USS-Turner-Joy-2013/ LeMay Auto Museum https://rigdon.smugmug.com/Ship-Reunions/LeMay-Auto-Museum-2013/ Seattle City Tour https://rigdon.smugmug.com/Ship-Reunions/Seattle-City-Tour/ Seattle Highlights https://rigdon.smugmug.com/Ship-Reunions/Seattle-Highlights/ Buffet Night at Reunion https://rigdon.smugmug.com/Ship-Reunions/Buffet-Night-at-Reunion-2013/ Tribute to Herm Chambers, Master Chief USN

No more a watch to stand, Old Sailor. For you are drifting on an ebbing tide. Eight Bells has rung. Dog Watch is done. A new Berth waits you on the other side. Your Ship is anchored in God's Harbor. And though his sailors are of equal rank. There'll be Shipmates on the deck to greet you. And Pipe, as you ascend the Plank. Her boilers with full head of steam. Cargo stowed and Galley stored. Just waiting to get underway. When the last Hand comes aboard. Look sharp! That Hand is you, Old Sailor. Herm Chambers with Shipmates And you'll be sailing out on Heavenly Seas. at the So may the wind be ever at your back. Valley Forge Reunion Fair weather. And God speed.

This poem is made for the great man and sailor, as a tribute to Master Chief Herm Chambers Herm was one of the first shipmates that greeted me on the USS Benjamin Stoddert. He was, at the time, Chief of the ET gang. I was a member of the ET gang. Herm for some unknown reason took a special interest in me. He took time to guide me during my three years on the ship even through my antics and my achievements. At times he was stern with me, at times he was understanding and compassionate. We had a mutual respectful relationship. He gave me my lead and inspired me to move beyond my capabilities. He encouraged me to be all I can be serving the Navy and my shipmates. Growing up I didn't have a father; Herm filled in, at times in a fatherly way. I always said that Herm was a “Gentleman's Gentleman. He had a soft soothing voice but could raise it if needed. When I would go astray, he would bring me back to understand what I did wrong and show me the consequences of my ways. In a way I felt like the returning Prodigal son. One time I remember we were on patrol off the coast of Viet Nam and the Captain was giving out awards and stripes to sailors that were getting promoted. I went up to get my award from the CO and Herm was standing by me at the time. After the Captain handed me my award, Herm turned to me and said, “Now go the bridge and face your Captain's Mast.” At the Mast he did say good things about my work on the ship, but the CO was not impressed. I took my medicine. At the first reunion I attended, Herms first words greeting me was “Basso I thought you were dead. Killed by a jealous husband!” I guess he really knew me. But the long and the short of it is Herm taught me a lot about responsibility, patience, respect, and loyalty. I thank knowing him and the lessons I learned. My life turned out well and I say a large part of my success was because of Herm Chambers. I will deeply miss him, but I will never forget him. He will live in my memory and Herm Chambers with Shipmates I'm at peace with that. John Bassolino at the Seattle Reunion STEVEN CRAIG ANDERSON

GMG2 US NAVY VIETNAM DATE OF BIRTH: 02/24/1952 DATE OF DEATH: 10/02/2020 BURIED AT: SECTION 7 SITE 897

NATIONAL CEMETERY OF THE ALLEGHENIES 1158 MORGAN ROAD BRIDGEVILLE, PA 15017

Steve Craig Anderson was born Feb 2, 1952 and died Oct 2, 2020 in Verona, PA at the age of 68. He is buried in the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies in Brookville, PA, Section 7, Site 897. Cause of death is unknown. Steve was a GMG2 (Gunner's Mate Gunnery 2nd Class) on board the USS Benjamin Stoddert (DDG-22), in the early to mid-1970s. He was a dedicated Gunners Mate who served with distinction during three Westpac cruises to Vietnam. Steve was on board the ship during the ill-fated 1972 Westpac cruise, which included the Mt. 51 gun mount explosion off the coast of Vietnam, while the ship was providing round the clock Naval Gun Fire Support to U.S. Army and Marines in county. Steve was literally steps away from the gun mount explosion that took the lives of fellow GMs Robert Mills, David Larson, Chief Gordon Uhler and Weapons Officer Michael Martin but spared his. Steve was well liked by his shipmates and he took pride in sharing his knowledge with other GMs and FTs in F&G Division. His Navy awards include a Combat ribbon and a Navy Unit Commendation medal both earned during the 1972 Westpac cruise to Vietnam. After getting out of the Navy as a GMGC, Steve lived and worked in various states including Virginia, Alabama, Wisconsin, Texas and North Carolina before settling in Verona, PA, outside of Pittsburg, PA. His final days were spent in an independent retirement home with other veterans, where he played guitar and indulged his hobbies of painting and building remote control airplanes. Steve is survived by a brother and a son. RIP shipmate. We have the watch. Wayne “Sgt. Rock” Fass USS Benjamin Stoddert (DDG-22) FTG2 – Weapons Dept., F & G Division 1970-74

Mike Rigdon USS Benjamin Stoddert & USS Jupiter Association 11533 Corte Playa Las Brisas San Diego, Ca 92124