7+(:$5'5220&/8% Monthly Newsletter Into Our Second Century · Organized 1899 · Boston, Massachusetts www.wardroomclub.org Board of Governors President ..........................................................................................CAPT Jules B. Selden, USMC (Ret) Vice President ................................................................................CAPT Randall D. Preston, USN (Ret) Secretary ...................................................................................CAPT Mary Jo Majors, NC, USNR (Ret) Treasurer .......................................................................................... CAPT Carl R. Mockler, USCG (Ret) Member-at-Large ...................................................................... MAJ Richard D. Brown, USMCR (Ret) Active Service Liaison ...........................................................................CAPT James B. Millican, USCG Immediate Past President ..............................................................CAPT Robert D. Holland, USN (Ret) Wine Steward .................................................................................................................... Mr. Reid Oslin Chaplain ............................................................................................ COL John W. Steiner, USAR (Ret) Assistant Secretary .........................................................................CDR Myles J. McCabe, USNR (Ret) Assistant Treasurer ...............................................................................Col David F. Wall, USMCR (Ret) Historian ................................................................................................. LCDR John H. Lok, USNR (Ret) Newsletter Editor .........................................................................LCDR David W. Graham, USNR (Ret) APRIL 2016 NEWSLETTER MEETING DATE: WEDNESDAY – 20 APRIL 2016 (Please note: Third Wednesday of the month) LOCATION: Coast Guard Base Boston 427 Commercial Street Boston, MA – The Function Hall TIME: Social Hour from 1800 Dinner at 1900 PRICE: Members, Guests and Prospective Members of the Class of 2016 - $45.00 Walk-ins - $50.00 PROGRAM: BING WEST – “The Eternal War in the Middle East” ENTRÉE: CHICKEN TENDERLOIN MESSAGES FROM THE PRESIDENT I am told that the March meeting was terrific! Unfortunately, I was unable to attend due to some scheduling complications. However, Randy Preston, who acted on my behalf during my absence, as our VP did report to me that it was a wonderful program. Additionally, I am also grateful to our March guest speakers; Annie Cotton, Larry Decuers and Michael Carroll, all of whom hail from the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. They made a tremendous presentation on both the Museum and the Battle of Midway! I also want to extend my appreciation to club member Mel VP, Randy Preston and Guest Speakers from the National Rines, who did much of the necessary coordination on Museum of WW-II. (L to R) Michael Carroll, Randy, Annie Cotton and Larry Decuers. behalf of the Wardroom Club and the folks in New Orleans. Photo credit: CDR John H. Cahill, MC, USNR Our April meeting will see a return to the Wardroom Club of Francis J. “Bing” West who is an American author and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs during the Reagan Administration. Bing will talk with us on matters relating to the Middle East and its ongoing war effort. Please permit me a final-final word on the 2016 Wardroom Club dues process. Simply put, time has run out for those who have failed to renew their dues for this year. Following several repeat reminders, we have taken their names off the newsletter mailing roster and have placed them on a stand-by list for one year. Should any choose to re-join the club during that period, submitting a 2016 dues check will be all that is necessary for coming back into the club. Beyond this year, our errant dues-payers may re-join the club through the normal “Class of 20xx” process. Having said that, I will further say that we didn’t want to lose a single member, if it could have at all been avoided! However, this has been the long-standing process and it must be upheld. Lastly, big round of applause also goes to Mary Jo Majors for all her many “behind-the-scenes” efforts on behalf of our March meeting! Jules B. Selden, President 23 Hemlock Drive Norwell, MA 02161 E-Mail: [email protected] Daytime Phone: 617/645-4197 NOTES FROM THE VICE-PRESIDENT Our nearly year-long process involving the Class of 2016 is now rapidly drawing to a close. During the 20 April dinner-meeting, candidates for membership in the Class of 2016 will face the customary election process. After being voted in by the attending club members during the April meeting, each candidate will be expected to pay an initiation fee of $50 and 2016 club dues of $50. It is recommended each prospective member bring a check to the meeting in the amount of $100, made payable to “The Wardroom Club”. Once the voting has been accomplished and these two items have been paid, club membership will commence for the individual members of the Class of 2016. For the information of the Wardroom Club membership, your Board of Governors has already held an indoctrination for the prospective members of the class of 2016 at Lucia’s Restaurant in Boston’s North End. The indoctrination provided each new member with an opportunity to meet face-to-face with the Board of Governors and to gain an insight into how the club operates. I emphasize this process to make you aware that the Board of Governors remains serious about its future members. Here then are the members of the Class of 2016: Candidates for Regular Membership CAPT Michael Antonellis USCG (Ret) LCDR Kevin Brown USN CAPT Stephen Castinetti USNR (Ret) Capt. Robert Cipriani USMC CAPT William Dobbs USNR (Ret) 2 LT Daniel Holland III USNR LtCol Gregg Lysko USMCR Capt. Robert Nelson USMCR LT William Palmisciano USNR CAPT John Shea USNR (Ret) CDR Theodore Smolen USNR (Ret) LT Sean Tucker USN Capt. Andrew Walsh USMC LT Michael Yogg USNR Candidates for Associate Membership Corporal G. West Saltonstall USMC Following the election of these prospective members of the Class of 2016, the entire process will start again, but this time for the Class of 2017. Application forms can be found on the club’s website www.wardroomclub.org under “Nominations for Membership”. Please note that candidates for membership are required to attend no less than two regular monthly meetings of the club, during which the candidate’s sponsor must have introduced his/her candidate to the Board of Governors. Should you have any questions relating to the nomination process, please do not hesitate to contact me. Randall D. Preston 126 George Hill Road Grafton, MA 01519-1416 E-Mail: [email protected] Phone: 508-839-9080 Daytime Phone: 617-955-6725 A NOTE FROM THE CLUB ASSISTANT TREASURER We are now beyond LAST CALL!!! As the Wardroom Club President has already indicated above, the turn of the calendar into the month of April has placed the members who have not paid their 2016 dues, onto a stand-by category for the remainder of the 2016 calendar year. Come 1 January 2017, those who have failed to pay dues for 2016, will be dropped from the Wardroom Club roster. We truly wish this process would be unnecessary - - - but not enforcing it for the few who remain unpaid, would be extremely unfair to those of us who have. For the great many who did pay their dues this year, WE ARE GLAD YOU ARE WITH US!!! Col. David F. Wall, USMCR (Ret) WRC Assistant Treasurer 55 John Goffe Drive Bedford, NH 03110 [email protected] Phone: 603/393-5285 3 CLUB NOTES NOTABLE APRIL DATES AND EVENTS – (A series that is contributed monthly by Past President CAPT Harry H. Weinberg, SC, USN - Ret) April is one of our nation’s most significant months, as you will note below. The incubation of our great nation began with Lexington and Concord. While an important aspect of the holiday, the celebration of Patriots Day is much more than the running of the Boston Marathon. The month of April was dominated by the deaths of two great Presidents. In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in Ford’s Theater at Washington, DC on the evening of 14 April and subsequently passed away at 7:22 AM the following morning. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, GA on 12 April 1945 shortly after 1:00 PM. Both deaths had the country in a state of shock. People lined the train routes as their caskets were carried to their final resting places. Also in this month two World War II Axis powers dictators, Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini died; one by his own hand and the other by execution at the hands of his very own people. There followed no public mourning for these two representatives of evil. April also saw the beginning of four wars and the end of three for the United States. The American War of the Revolution, the US Civil War, the Spanish-American War and World War I all began in this month. The American Revolution officially ended in April, while the Vietnam War and Persian Gulf War both cease during the month of April. 10 April 1963 was the day the USS Thresher was lost during sea trials that followed a dry-docking and overhaul at the Portsmouth, NH Naval Shipyard. All hands including several shipyard workers checking out repairs were lost. A sad day indeed for the submarine service in a month that celebrates its birthday. April also saw a major addition to the role of the