OCTOBER 2012 NEWSLETTER MEETING DATE: WEDNESDAY – 17 October 2012 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 2013 - $45.00 Walk-ins - $50.00 SPEAKER: Stephen P. Coonts “Flight of the Intruder” ENTRÉE: Roast Beef – Family Style MESSAGES FROM THE PRESIDENT Welcome to a new season, my friends! A lot of water has been flowing under the keel since last we met in May. As you can see from the masthead, I have been elected to serve as your new club president. To bring you up-to-date, I’d like to call a few items to your attention. First on the list will be the “new” Board of Governors. While several familiar names remain with us, I like to bring the members of the full 2012-2013 Board of Governors to your attention. They are: President - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CAPT Robert D. Holland, USN (Ret) Vice President - - - - - - - - - - - CAPT Jules B. Selden, USMC (Ret) Secretary - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CAPT Mary Jo Majors, NC, USNR (Ret) Treasurer - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CAPT Randall D. Preston, USN (Ret) Member-at-Large - - - - - - - - - MAJ Richard D. Brown, USMCR (Ret) Active Service Liaison - - - - - - CAPT Timothy J. Heitsch, USCG Immediate Past President - - - CDR Robert J. Zemaitis, USNR (Ret) Wine Steward - - - - - - - - - - - - CDR Charles W. Collins, USNR (Ret) Chaplain - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CAPT George A. Ripsom, USNR (Ret) Assistant Secretary - - - - - - - - CDR Myles J. McCabe, USNR (Ret) Assistant Treasurer - - - - - - - - COL Charles L. Hyland, USAF (Ret) Historian - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LCDR John H. Lok, USNR (Ret) Newsletter Editor - - - - - - - - LCDR David W. Graham, USNR (Ret) We welcome the “old-timers” and the “new recruits” to the current Board of Governors. They have already proven themselves to be hard-working members of the Wardroom Club and I am pleased to bring each one to your attention. On the matter of our meals for the coming year, there will be some changes. Along with our time- honored caterer Chuck Famolare, we will be integrating our dinners on alternating months through the end of the year with Talk-of-the-Town Caterers. While we value your input regarding all our activities, I shall especially appreciate your feedback regarding both catering services. Our guest speaker for October will be Stephen P. Coonts, who has authored “Flight of the Intruder” (see his enclosed bio insert). If you would like to have an autographed copy of his book, you are advised to first obtain same from www.Amazon.com and bring it with you to the October meeting. Steve will be happy to autograph the book for you. Again, welcome back, one and all, to another club season! Robert D. Holland, President 8 Raymond Avenue Shrewsbury, MA 01545 E-Mail: [email protected] Home Phone: 508/842-0575 Cell Phone: 901/240-3008 Daytime Phone: 617/589-1256 NOTES FROM THE VICE PRESIDENT THE NOMINATION PROCESS FOR PROSPECTIVE NEW MEMBERS: I am again pleased to report that the Wardroom Club website continues to present a full description of the required process for nominating prospective members to the club. For a quick review, the first chore in making a nomination is to become familiar with Article V of the Wardroom Club By-Laws regarding eligibility for the various classes of membership. For the sponsor’s information, a candidate will be eligible for Regular Membership if he or she has, at some time in their life, “been entitled to wardroom privileges in the United States Navy, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Merchant Marine or any foreign navy by virtue of being a commissioned officer in either the United States Navy, Marine Corps or the Coast Guard - - - or one who has been a licensed officer in the United States Merchant Marine.” Candidates who do not meet any of these requirements must be nominated for a limited number of Associate Member slots. (Active Service membership, which is unlimited, is controlled by the Active Service Liaison on the Board of Governors, CAPT Timothy J. Heitsch, USCG. Please send your e-mail message traffic to: [email protected])- - - Please also note that the Associate Membership is extremely limited and currently, that limit has presently been reached. This means that for the time being, incoming applications in the Associate Member category will be placed on a temporary wait-list, where the names will remain on a first come – first serve basis, in the order with which the applications will have been received. Sponsors proposing members in the Associate Member category will be notified by the V.P. when an opening becomes available for their candidate. Nominations for the Regular and Associate Membership within the Class of 2013 must be received by the Vice President prior to December 31, 2012. There will be no exceptions to this deadline. The required forms and instructions can be downloaded from www.wardroomclub.org or, see me in the event you do not have a computer available to you. Again, please note that applications for Active Duty Members must be submitted through, CAPT Timothy J. Heitsch USCG, at any time throughout the club season. Jules B. Selden, Vice-President 23 Hemlock Drive Norwell, MA 02061 E-Mail: [email protected] Cell Phone: 617/645-4197 Daytime Phone: 781/987-1219 CLUB NOTES NOVEMBER MEETING – With Thanksgiving arriving on 22 November, we have elected not to hold the November meeting on the customary 3rd Wednesday of the month (which would be the evening before the holiday). Instead, you will be happy to know that our November meeting will be held on 14 November, which falls on the 2nd Wednesday of the month. Please note the date on your calendar. NOTABLE OCTOBER DATES AND EVENTS – (By Past President CAPT Harry H. Weinberg, SC, USN – Ret) For those of us in Boston and in the Maritime Services, we celebrate two significant birthdays. First, on 13 October we honor the Birthday of the Navy - - - and secondly, on 21 October we celebrate the launching of USS Constitution. The beginning of our Navy as a defender of the Republic can be traced to the infamous “XYZ Affair” which lead to the Quasi War with France in 1797. If there was any doubt about the need for a Navy, this incident removed all. Our next Naval war began with the refusal of the United States to pay tribute to the Sultan of Tripoli and his Barbary Pirates. This standoff reached the boiling point with Tripoli’s capturing the USS Philadelphia in 1803. October is also the month German submarines sank the US destroyer Reuben James off the coast of Iceland in 1941 just prior to the start of hostilities in December 1941. More on this a bit further along in this issue of our newsletter. The folk song Reuben James by Woody Guthrie captures the tragedy and became a rallying call for Americans. October also saw the War on Terror vividly brought home to us with the attack on USS COLE in 2000. As we celebrate the bicentennial of the War of 1812, there were many victories by the fledgling US Navy. The month of October had two incidents where US ships other than Constitution defeated and captured British ships. Below under 1812 are two of them. Each month reminds us all of the rich history of this Nation and the important role our Maritime Forces have played in it. Year Day Event 1775 13 Birthday of US Navy. 1776 11 Battle of Valcour Island, Lake Champlain. 1797 04 “XYZ Affair” sets stage for America’s Quasi War with France. 1797 21 Frigate USS Constitution launched at Boston. 1803 31 Tripolitans seize USS Philadelphia 1812 18 US sloop Wasp captured HMS Frolic. 1812 25 USS United States (Captain Stephen Decatur) captures HMS Macedonian. 1844 10 Fort Severn Naval School (later US Naval Academy) opens in Annapolis. 1864 27 LT Cushing’s raid destroys ironclad CSS Albemarle. 1880 01 John Phillip Sousa became leader of Marine Corps Band. 1884 06 Naval War College at Newport, RI established. 1898 08 Marine battalion takes 11 casualties in driving Filipino rebels from Novaleta. 1900 12 USS Holland , Navy’s first submarine commissioned. Our club President gets officially recognized. 1914 01 Panama Canal opens. 1917 15 USS Cassin (DD43) torpedoed by a German sub off coast of Ireland. 1922 17 LCDR Virgil Griffin performs first takeoff from a US carrier USS Langley. 1936 25 Hitler and Mussolini announce Rome – Berlin axis. 1940 31 Battle of Britain ends. Luftwaffe fails. It was Britain’s finest hour. 1941 01 US begins supplying USSR under Lend Lease Act. Murmansk run not far off for the US Merchant Marine. 1941 31 Prior to US entry into WWII German submarine U-552 sinks USS Reuben James (Editor’s note: Please see the enclosed “Lest We Forget” article) 1942 09 First schools for WAVES(YN, SK, RM ratings) open. 1942 22 Battle for Henderson Field, Guadalcanal. See book Neptune’s Inferno. 1943 13 Italy declares war on Germany. The turnaround is complete. 1943 27 First Women Marines report for duty at Camp Pendleton. 1944 20 US returns to Philippines through invasion. 1944 21 US forces capture Aachen. First German city captured by Allies. 1944 24 Battle of Leyte Gulf begins. 1962 22 President Kennedy orders naval blockade of Cuba. 1962 28 Cuban Missile Crisis ends. 1965 12 First group of men commissioned into Navy Nurse Corps. 1975 21 Law admitting women into Service Academies signed by President Ford. 1983 23 220 Marines, 18 Sailors and 3 soldiers killed in attack on Headquarters in Marine barracks in Beirut. 1983 27 US invasion of Grenada in Caribbean. 2000 12 Attack on USS Cole kills 17 and wounds 36.