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G. W. Carver Reunion August 12-14, 2010
Some Reunion 2010 Photo Site links: http://picasaweb.google.com/116403847670189453599/Reunion2010# http://picasaweb.google.com/nonoys4me/GWCarverSSBN656Reunion2010# http://picasaweb.google.com/billculp/CARVERREUNIONAUG2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCPmuxfrJsYjKEA&feat=email#
Our 2010 reunion in New London is over but I still find myself reflecting on the events of the past few days. I am humbled by the outpouring of gratitude from all those who attended. So many people came together for the common cause and made this reunion the resounding success it was. The Welcome Aboard party the Nautilus Museum was well attended. Having our newest Sub School Students join us reminded us all of our beginnings into submarine life. Many of those attached to the base and Sub School were impressed with the whole mentor program concept and they are considering how they might implement something like it for future graduating classes. Meeting our honored guests Russian 1st Captain Dmitry Zubkov and Admiral Thomas Fargo, a Carver crewmember, were the highlight of the evening for me. It was amazing to see such distinguished military leaders, former adversaries, join us in celebrating the memory of our submarine. The world has certainly changed quite a bit since the tense times of the Cold War. Imagine allowing such a high ranking officer in the Russian (Soviet) Military to tour a 688 boat back in the height of the conflict. Captain Zubkov has expressed his thanks to us all for fulfilling one of his “bucket list” items, touring a modern American submarine. The sculpture and display at the entry vestibule was the first thing to catch your eye at the Nautilus Museum and will be on display there for about 30 days. Many stories surrounding the artwork were shared by the artist Warner Hyde. Like any artwork, there were those that liked it and those that just scratched their heads. No matter which opinion you held, it certainly caught your eye and drew you closer. I am sure that most of you also felt the need to touch it as I did. The display will be moved on to the Carver museum in Tuskegee in the near future. The three memorial service events were well received by all. There was a DVD Video presentation continuously running in the Nautilus Museum theater of Wendell Lueker’s Arlington Cemetery Full Military Honors Funeral ceremony. The video was shot and produced by my son, Frank Hanley. The Tolling of the Bells for Carver Crewmembers on Eternal Patrol was performed by our Chaplain Robert Bailey and Larry Olson. Special thanks to George Stoiber for keeping the Ship’s Bell and bringing it to every reunion. We also had a 10 year memorial service honoring the crew of the Russian submarine Kursk where Captain Zubkov and Admiral Fargo hung wreaths at a display explaining the accident and listing the names of the sailors lost. Jim Combs compiled a new DVD of Carver photos which was also playing in the theater. That DVD will be available in the Ship’s Store when I get around to updating that. Speaking of the Ship’s Store, Rob Dietrich and his wife Denise put in huge blocks of time helping everyone get some Carver items to take back home with them. We did well with the Ship’s Store sales and will be looking to stock new items in the future. Any suggestions can be sent to webmaster@gwcarver.org . The Welcome Aboard party was coordinated by Tom Vernon and all enjoyed the music by his band as well as Bobby Reed and Bob Devitt’s musical contributions. Bob Feeley and his lovely daughter Elizabeth helped out getting everyone registered and labeled at the hospitality suite. Bob, our treasurer, also had the “daughter lookout duty” this weekend with all those handsome young graduates in such close proximity. I’m sure there was lots of texting happening on the trip home to Texas. The Graduation Ceremony at Dealey Center was impressive. Listening to the inspirational speeches reminding me of the feelings I felt many years ago. The students were obviously proud of their accomplishments. Touring the Sub School trainers was great fun and brought back a lot of memories. Technology has certainly changed some of the things but most remained almost exactly as I remembered. The Question and Answer Session at Dealey center was also very interesting. Seeing the mutual respect of the VIPs and the openness of their discussions was refreshing. The students also seemed very interested in what the panel had to say. J.J. Del Core also delivered an inspirational speech to the students. As you know, J.J. is the founder of the Reunion Association. The 1st captain’s wife, Valentina Zubkov and Kathleen O’Beirne hosted a tea party and discussion with the ladies who attended the reunion. I don’t have firsthand knowledge of what was discussed but I know that my guest, Pattie, was enlightened by the discussions of the difficulties of being a military wife and was glad she attended. One disappointment of the weekend was the limitation on the 688 Sub Tour. We were only allowed 15 people to actually tour a boat at the pier. We only learned of the availability of a submarine two days before the reunion. Everyone was gracious about not being able to go aboard though. Most people took their guests to the Nautilus museum and toured the first nuclear submarine instead. It seemed to be an acceptable substitute. The banquet at Ocean Beach was very impressive. 300 people in one room looks like a sea of people from the podium. Mike Brown and many volunteers, including his wife Mary and Mom, Freda did all the decorating and organization. He called in a favor from a local car dealership to get the huge American flag for the stage back drop. Bill Vasquez did his best to embarrass me with compliments and a framed photo as a token of esteem. I may be the most visible name due to the amount of emails and phone calls but I was just one of the gears in the Reunion Association Machine. Thanks Bill for those kind words and I accept them on behalf of all those who really were instrumental in putting all this together. Those USO girls did a great job in holding the interest of all eyes in the room. Even the 1st Captain seemed to be taking a lot more photos during the show. The girls had no difficulty getting the VIPs to dance with them. Not to be out done, our own crewmember, Earl “Greg” McCallum escorted the 1st Captain’s wife Valentina to the dance floor for some twirls. I hope he finds Siberia pleasant this time of year! Seriously, the 1st Captain didn’t seem to mind at all and brought many gifts to give to Bill Vasquez, our Reunion Association President. Several flags, caviar and vodka, what more could a sailor need? Roy Johnson, perhaps the most representative example of what I remember a Chief looked and sounded like, was very entertaining as he distributed the Submarine Monopoly games and cookie cutters to the VIPs. The bar and the hospitality room at the Radisson were the places to be if you needed a deep belly laugh. It is amazing how the same stories continue to make me laugh after all these years. Thanks to Larry Olson for maintaining the Hospitality watch list and to all those that volunteered to sit in that room and drink beer. A dirty job but somebody’s got to do it! Mike Brown made sure that the coffee pots were hot and full and the donuts were in abundance. One of the most important people attending the reunion events was Sergey Szvonkovich, a Russian speaking Sub School student. He was the bridge to the language barrier for both the 1st Captain and his wife. He volunteered his entire weekend and we would not have been able to communicate with our guests without his assistance. I’ll be getting a letter of thanks out to his command ASAP. The entire staff of the Sub School were extremely courteous with dealing with our agenda. I will be also send a formal letter of thanks to them. Some notable names include:
One of the busiest people who seemed to be constantly working in the background was crewmember Guy Mendenhall. Guy was instrumental in making sure all our crewmembers and guests got from point A to point B without incident. It was a pleasure having such an organizational leader to keep things flowing. Guy had spent countless hours in meetings with many offices to get permissions and scheduling for our events. Jon Warn and Bill Culp were also key people and were tasked with escorting VIP parties to various events. Their work started well before the reunion, they were on call 24 hours a day and continued well after the reunion until their guests departed. There is no way to properly express my thanks to Mike Brown. As the 2010 Reunion Coordinator, Mike was involved in every detail no matter now large or small and did so for 3 yrs preceding this reunion. I enjoyed working on his team with the other reunion association officers to take the abstract ideas and make them work. Watching Mike is like watching the conductor of an orchestra. He knows how to get things done and is a multitask master. I am constantly awed by his enthusiasm and dedication to success. A truly amazing man. During this reunion, we have had several people step up to become more active in the Reunion Association and possibly relieve some of the current Reunion Officers. Larry Lagle, Bart Moore and Dave Eberhardt are the newest volunteers. Please forgive me if I have failed to mention your name or given you credit for helping out with the weekend. Where do we go from here? We need to get your input for planning the next reunion. Now is the time to speak up. We are taking a vote and you need to choose one of the four choices and tell us how many expect to attend. Send an email to webmaster@gwcarver.org with your input. Branson, Missouri San Diego, California Bremerton, Washington Pearl Harbor, Hawaii We need your input immediately so that we will have our next reunion destination as a starting point. Once the destination is chosen, we will need a point man local to that area to do the ground work and face to face meetings to set our agenda. Please let us know if you are able to help in any capacity in any of the locations listed above. Thank you all who came and participated in Reunion 2010. The Reunion Association Website – www.gwcarver.org Jim Combs Carver Site – www.ssbn656.com
Very Respectfully, Tom Hanley Reunion Association Secretary
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