OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE USS LANDING CRAFT, INFANTRY, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, INC. • E STABLISHED MAY 14–18, 1991, N ORFOLK , VA • oCToBer2010 issUe#73 Firepower Forinvasions LCi(G)561 TheeLsieiTeM”nUMBer73,october2010 Official publication of the USS LCI National Association, a non-profit veteran’s organization. Membership in the USS LCI National Association is open to any U. S. Navy or U.S. Coast Guard veteran who served aboard a Landing Craft Infantry, to anyone related to an LCI veteran, or to anyone just interested in the history of LCIs. Published quarterly by the USS LCI National Association. John P. Cummer, Editor. Any material for possible publication should be sent to the Editor, preferably by email (
[email protected]) or by regular mail to 302 Pinewood Cottage Lane, Blythewood, SC, 29016. inThisissUe Our feature article this year comes from an active duty Captain serving at the United States Naval Academy. Capt. Steve J. Coughlin, Director of Professional Development at the United States Naval Academy, shares with us a speech he made at the Naval Academy in which he honors David DuBrul, Commanding Officer of USS LCI 553, for his leadership and professional skill at the landings on Omaha Beach, Normandy, on D-Day. To my knowledge we have never before had such a tribute to an LCIer from a senior officer holding an important position at Annapolis. aboutourCover: “The business end of an LCI Gunboat” That’s the description Connie Mulherin (seated in the pointer’s seat of that bow 40mm) likes to give about LCI(G) 561. In his story of his WWII service, A Wartime Sailor, Connie describes his ship thusly: “The 561 was altered to a rocket carrying landing craft by removing the two ramps and replacing them with a battery of rocket launchers.