T he Sumner Sentinel © January - February 2017 Volume IV Number 1 Remembering Operation Sea Dragon There probably will be a lot of bull sessions Specially modified attack helicopters were used at this year’s reunion, especially in regards to to pursue North Vietnamese ships and disable Operation Sea Dragon as it will mark the 50th them, leaving the ships to be boarded by American anniversary of participation in it by the USS Allen and South Vietnamese naval commandos. M. Sumner. In May (1967), Sea Dragon combatants tempo- Operation Sea Dragon occurred during the Viet- rarily withdrew south to join Task Unit 70.8.9 in nam War and was a series of American-led naval Operation Beau Charger, the largest concentration operations beginning in 1966 to interdict sea lines of U.S. surface ships since the Korean War. of communications and During the operation, supply going south from Canberra combined forces North Vietnam to South with the light guided-mis- Vietnam, and to destroy sile cruisers Providence land targets with naval and St. Paul and five gunfire, as well as to give destroyers (USS Allen M. CIA officers in the area Sumner (DD-692), USS who had cited the targets Fechteler (DD-870), USS room to withdraw to Edson (DD-946), USS extraction zones. Joseph Strauss (DDG- The primary purpose 16) and HMAS Hobart of Sea Dragon forces (D-39)) to support Marine was the interception and amphibious landings and destruction of waterborne ground sweeps in the logistic craft (WBLC), which ranged in size from southern part of the DMZ. large self-propelled barges down to small junks During the assault, the ships suppressed Com- and sampans. munist artillery in southern North Vietnam and in United States Navy advisers were assigned to the upper half of the DMZ. the South Vietnamese Navy (VNN) and American July 1967 saw a marked decrease in coastal traf- minesweepers assisted South Vietnamese Navy fic. As floating targets declined, Sea Dragon con- ships in carrying out patrols near the Demilita- centrated on those ashore, engaging 518 stationary rized Zone. targets nearly twice the monthly average. Page 1 Reunion Association President’s message . Officers My Fellow Shipmates, President. Hope this greeting finds everyone doing well. Seems like just last Frank DiBello month we were in Cleveland and here it’s only 3 1/2 months until [email protected] May, in Mayport! 1st Vice President Dave Robson Dave and Sue Robson - our Mayport [email protected] hosts - have been doing an excellent job 2nd Vice President of making arrangements for our 2017 Re- George Aichele union; setting up the hotel facilities, mak- [email protected] ing the banquet arrangements, ordering Past President food and snacks for the hospitality room, Bob Kelly setting up transportation and gathering [email protected] information on things to do and places to Secretary see in the area. Don Hayden Bravo Zulu to Dave and Sue! [email protected] Frank DiBello Treasurer As per the website, please be advised to make your reservations Pete Dromms ASAP, due to the scarcity of rooms in May, 2017, because of the big [email protected] golf tournament taking place in Jacksonville. It doesn’t cost you anything to reserve the room, and if in the Chaplain event you cannot attend, you can cancel your reservations within 48 Bobby Moore hours of your check-in time, with no charge. If you wait too long to [email protected] reserve your room, there WILL NOT be one available! Master-At-Arms H. Kelly Brown III Please remember all of our shipmates on the Binnacle List and [email protected] keep them in your prayers. Alternate Master-At-Arms Connie and I are looking forward to seeing everybody in May, in Pete Dromms Mayport! [email protected] Directors/Terms Expire Terry Conaway - 2016 - [email protected] John Barry - 2017 - [email protected] H. Kelly Brown III - 2018 - [email protected] Page 2 next 10 days while stroke doctors struggled to find the right combi- nation and frequency of drugs to keep me alive and make me well. The problem was that my left carotid artery was 100 percent blocked and blood flow had to be routed to the brain differently by increasing pressure. The goal was to get me off the various IVs and onto pills. They By Don Hayden TM3 (1961-62) later admitted they were puzzled and “scratched their heads” to Everyone remembers nine eleven, but the editor find aforementioned right combination. more recently recalls one eleven. Eventually I was transferred to the stroke floor 1-11-17 that is. and was seen daily by doctors specializing in this That’s the day he came close to either being field. dead or broccoli. I spend the next 11 days on this floor before And all because his wife had quit her job the finally being transferred to rehab and home. previous month and was at home instead of being at work! Receiving Hard Copies I had just had a bowl of cereal - my normal breakfast since a couple of heart attacks - and of the Sumner Sentinel went into his den remarking that I was not feeling Note to shipmates, wives and widows: too well. Following this issue, hard copies of the Sumner I sat down in a recliner and about 10 minutes Sentinel will only be mailed to those with an “L” later his wife Jane asked “Are you okay?” designation on their address label (unless they Upon not hearing an answer she came into the have an E-Mail address) or to those members den and said “I need words.” whose dues are current and who have no E-Mail Upon hearing none, she quickly recognized address. signs of a stroke and immediately called 911. All other members will receive issues electroni- About 10 minutes later fire trucks arrived and cally. began hooking me up to IVs. Alternatively, anyone may view/print issues by I don’t remember if I went to the hospital’s going online to www.dd-692.com and clicking on emergency room by ambulance or the fire truck, the “Reunion” tab. but less than 30 minutes later I was there being This will help save the association’s printing hooked up to more apparatus and being asked costs. questions. Each year (in the November-December and Apparently I was having a hard time answering January-February issues), hard copies will be them and made sounds like gibberish. mailed to everyone reminding them that dues are Eventually I was transferred to ICU (Intensive due (except those who have renewal dates for Care Unit) and that would be my home for the several future years). Page 3 Membership Renewal Form Due to changes in the structure of our organization shipmates need to be aware of whether or not they have renewed membership. Our membership year is based on a regular calendar year. If the year ‘17, 18 or greater or L, etc. after your name on the newsletter mailing label does not reflect the Reunion year, you need to renew your membership. This form will indicate whether you need to renew your membership in the USS Allen M. Sumner Reunion Association. For now, we will assume you have paid your 2016 dues. If you cannot afford the $15, send what you can (if anything) as we will not deny a shipmate membership because of a hardship. And no one else needs to know. If you are a member in good standing, you should have a permanent plastic membership card. This was issued to you when you became a member. If you do not have one, contact Pete Dromms, Reunion Association Treasurer at 301 Park Ln., North Syracuse, NY 13212-2143 Name_______________________________________ Spouse________________________ Address__________________________________________________ City________________________________________State______Zip__________-_______ (A/C)_____ Primary Phone____________ Other Phone____________ Fax____________ E-Mail Address____________________________________________________________ Years on Sumner - From____________________ To_____________________ Rate/Rank on Sumner______________________________________ Retired from Navy (Yes/No)_____________________________ Retired Rate or Rank ___________________________________ Other info you wish to share __________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ Make Checks Payable to USS A.M. Sumner Association Send to: USS A.M. Sumner Association, 301 Park Ln., North Syracuse, NY 13212-2143 Page 4 REUNION ASSISTANCE FUND Are YOU a former Sumner shipmate ? Dave Robson [email protected] Have YOU ever wanted to go to one of our An- (904) 287-7854 nual Reunions ? Jose Garcia [email protected] For those shipmates who are in need of financial (305) 431-3027 assistance, the Association has created a Special Dale Sutber [email protected] Committee to help YOU out. The funds available (727) 480-3646 come from donations of the Sumner crew in the To donate to the Fund and assist your shipmates, hope YOU will join us. make your contributions (any amount is greatly The Fund is managed in strict confidentiality appreciated) by check and send to: and no one other than the Committee will ever USS AM Sumner Reunion Association know of these transactions. 301 Park Ln. If interested and to find out more about the North Syracuse, NY 13212-2143 Fund, please contact one of the following Com- Mark the check and/or envelope “for the Re- mittee Members: union Assistance Fund” and local taxes. These rates are good for the nights Reserve Reunion Rooms from May 4 to May 13. Seems like there is always a reason to book The Hampton Inn & Suites located by the Jack- hotel rooms as soon as possible and this year is no sonville Airport offers free shuttle service to/from exception. the hotel, after you get your luggage go outside to Last year it was the Republican National Con- Pole 6.