2013 Reunion

The 9th USS Lynde McCormick DDG 8 reunion was held in San Diego, California.

All Hands Reunion – September 26th – 29th, 2013 – San Diego, California

This reunion was hosted by LT Joe Mayer (1964 – 1966)

The reunion hotel was the Kona Kai Resort at Shelter Island. – A hospitality room with food and refreshments was provided at no additional cost. – Activities included a trip to the 32nd Street Naval Station for an active US Navy ship tour, USS WAYNE E. MEYER DDG 108, and a trip to the Navy Seal Base. – There was an excursion to Hotel Del Coronado for shopping. – There was a Saturday night banquet which included a guest speakers. – There were members of Lynde D. McCormicks’ family attending the banquet dinner. Lynde McCormick II honored us with his presence and was our first speaker for the evening. – There was a meeting of the USS LYNDE McCORMICK (DDG-8) Unincorporated Association to chose new officers and decide on the next reunion location and year. The next reunion will be held in San Diego in October of 2016. – On Sunday, the last day, shipmates, spouses and guests met for coffee in the hospitality room to said their “Goodbyes” until the next reunion!

Schedule of Events for USS Lynde McCormick DDG 8 Reunion 2013

Day – Date – Time – Event – Place Wednesday 9/25/2013
– starting 8:00 AM – Hospitality Room – Point Loma III – relax, hang out, visit with shipmates – snacks and soft drinks available. Arrivals – guaranteed check in by 4:00 pm (earlier check in if room is available) Breakfast is complimentary for Kona Kai Resort registered guests, otherwise breakfast on your own.
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM – Reunion Registration & Tours Check-in  – Hospitality Room – Point Loma III
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM – Reunion Registration & Tours Check-in  – Hospitality Room – Point Loma III lunch and dinner – on your own

Thursday 9/26/2013 – all day – Hospitality Room – Point Loma III – relax, hang out, visit with shipmates –  snacks and soft drinks available.
Breakfast is complimentary for Kona Kai Resort registered guests, otherwise breakfast on your own.
Arrivals – guaranteed check in by 4:00 pm (earlier check in if room is available)
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM – Reunion Registration & Tours Check-in  – Hospitality Room – Point Loma III
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM – Reunion Registration & Tours Check-in  – Hospitality Room – Point Loma III lunch and dinner – on your own

Friday 9/27/2013 – all day – Hospitality Room – Point Loma III – relax, hang out, visit with shipmates – snacks and soft drinks available.
Breakfast is complimentary for Kona Kai Resort registered guests, otherwise breakfast on your own.
Arrivals – guaranteed check in by 4:00 pm (earlier check in if room is available)
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM – Reunion Registration & Tours Check-in – Hospitality Room – Point Loma III –
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM – On your own to visit or explore. Lunch – on your own
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM – Kona Kai Resort beach BBQ (cash bar)

Saturday 9/28/2013 – all day – Hospitality Room – Point Loma III – relax, hang out, visit with shipmates – snacks and soft drinks available.
Breakfast is complimentary for Kona Kai Resort registered guests, otherwise breakfast on your own.
9:00 AM – 11:00 AM – Tour of the USS Wayne E. Meyer DDG-108
10:50 AM – 1:10 PM – Shopping at Hotel Del Coronado
11:00 AM – 1:00 PM – Tour of the Navy Seal Base
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM – All hands business meeting & board elections. Hospitality Room – Point Loma III
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM – Reception & Cocktails – Hospitality Room – Point Loma III
7:00 PM – 10:00 PM – Banquet Dinner – Dining Room – Point Loma I & II

Sunday 9/29/2013 ending 1 PM – Hospitality Room – Point Loma III – Breakfast is complimentary for Bali Hai Resort registered guests, otherwise breakfast on your own
8:00 AM – 12:00 AM – Visiting and Goodbyes – Hospitality Room – Point Loma III

Remarks from our association president – Bob Wefald

10-14-2013
Dear Shipmates:

If you weren’t there, you missed a great reunion!

Our September 26th – 29th ALL HANDS reunion in San Diego at the Kona Kai Resort at the seaward end of Shelter Island was our most well attended ever –

THANKS to the tremendous efforts of LT Joe Mayer!  Joe truly deserves the credit for single handedly building up this year’s record attendance.  If you did not personally hear from Joe at least once you weren’t reading your emails or answering your phone.

A highlight of our reunion was the presence of five of Commanding Officers. They are as follows:
Vice Admiral Bill Rowden March 18, 1968 – November ___, 1969
Captain Harris Sperling – June 18, 1973 – July 2, 1975
Captain James David Fontana – July 29, 1979 – July 3, 1981
Captain  Sheldon Lee Margolis – August 23, 1983 – January 9, 1986
Commander Fred Joseph Mallgrave III – January 25, 1990 – June 28, 1991

And what was even better is that when at our banquet we read the names and the dates of their Command tours in order we had anyone who served with that Commanding Officer stand, and there were at least two or three shipmates standing for every one of our Commanding Officers!  It was just great that at our ALL HANDS we had shipmates present from LYNDE McCORMICK’s commissioning in Boston on June3, 1961 through her decommissioning at the 32nd Street Naval Station in San Diego on October 1, 1991!  This was truly an ALL HANDS Reunion!

Another highlight was the presence of Captain Lynde McCormick, Jr. who served in World War II.  He is the son of Admiral Lynde McCormick for whom our ship is named.   Also attending our reunion were several McCormick family members including his daughter, Carol McCormick, her daughter and his granddaughter Trisha McCormick, Admiral McCormick’s great granddaughter Lindsay A. McCormick and her guest Brock Mitchell, and Admiral McCormick’s great grandson J. Jett McCormick and his guest Sheena Kensak.

  On Friday evening, on the Kona Kai beach, we all enjoyed an excellent Bar-B-Que.

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We availed ourselves to a few drinks, wonderful conversations with shipmates and some songs sung by Captain Doug Jeffords who accompanied himself on a guitar.  He has published a great CD of songs he has sung entitled – “West of the Pecos.”
DougJeffords

It’s available on line at www.amazon.com. Here’s a link:- “West of the Pecos.”
We had a good day on Saturday with a bus full and more for a tour of USS WAYNE E MEYER (DDG-108) at the 32nd street Naval Station.

DDG108a
 

 

 

 

It was fascinating to be on board a DDG 100 hull numbers later than ours.  Things have really changed.  A majority of the 30 officers on board are women.  Attached is a side by side comparison of DDG-8 and DDG-108 provided by outgoing Board member John Joyce.  Also attached is a photo of our tour group on the bow by the forward missile battery.

 

  DDG108b

 

 

From there some of us went shopping at the Hotel Del Coronado on Coronado Island while many of us continued down the Silver Strand for a tour of the SEAL Training Base. 

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After that we returned to the Kona Kai for our 5:00 p.m. business meeting. Our business meeting for our USS LYNDE McCORMICK (DDG-8) Unincorporated Association was well attended.  I did not count everyone, but I think there were at least 30 shipmates present.  Our first item of business was to thank Joe Mayer for the terrific job he did in organizing our reunion and in recruiting so many shipmates to attend.  Our main task was to elect officers and directors at large for our new five member Board of Directors, but first we recognized our deceased shipmate and Board Member Tom Stephenson who did all of our computer work until he died last year.  We also Thanked Board member John Joyce for his service on the board since our 2010 reunion in Jacksonville.  We next asked for volunteers to serve on our new Board of Directors until our next reunion.  Some shipmates want to hold them every two years, while some of us prefer holding them every three years as we have been doing since 2004.  The new Board will decide. Fortunately, shipmate and Board Member David Newham who served as Secretary and Web Master, and who took over as Treasurer after Tom Stephenson died, was willing to serve again as Secretary and Treasurer as well as Web Master. Shel Margolis volunteered to serve as Vice Chairman. Ralph Nichols and Mitch Zylow volunteered to serve as Board Members At Large. Despite giving everyone lots of time to consider the job, no one volunteered to take on the job of Chairman.  I’m fully retired and I like to keep busy, besides I love the Navy and our ship, so I volunteered to serve another term as Chairman.  We have found we can conveniently and cost free hold Board meetings by FreeConferenceCall.com.  It works great. Having completed our business, our meeting was adjourned.

Our Saturday evening banquet was simply a wonderful success!  We started out with a Social Hour and a No Host Bar, but we paused to have all of our shipmates present assemble for a group photo taken by a professional photographer, who also took some informal shots and some posed shots for couples and groups of friends.  Every shipmate who paid the registration fee will receive an 8×10 copy of the group photo.

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You can look at the proofs of the other photos by going to www.abiphoto.com and typing in DDG8 in the box with the word ENTER to its side.  You can order any photo you would like to have. At the Banquet Lynde McCormick, Jr. said a few words.  It was clear that he and his family very much enjoyed being with us for the evening.

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Our dinner speaker was our senior Commanding Officer present, Bill Rowden, who retired as a Vice Admiral.  His assigned topic was essentially why being CO of LYNDE McCORMICK was the best job in the whole world, and he really delivered!

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Then each of our other Commanding Officers came forward and said a few words, and it was just super to hear from all of them.  We concluded with my favorite part of every banquet we hold which is to have every shipmate get in front to say a few words about their Navy service and themselves.  It’s always fun to hear what everyone has to say.

On Sunday afternoon CAPT Brian Sibold, who relieved my in 1967 as Gunnery Assistant and I drove down to Bonita to visit Master Chief Gunners Mate Jim Nance who was not able to make it to our reunion.  He moves a little slowly but he is sharp,  Brian and I both enjoyed our visit talking about the 1966 and the 1967/68 cruises off the coast of Vietnam.  Attached is a photo of Jim and me.

visiting Chief Nance

I want to conclude by THANKING the Kona Kai staff for doing a great job for us, Joe Mayer for putting a great reunion and for recruiting a record number of shipmates, David Newham for doing all of the computer work while handling all of the money and staying on top of the smallest details, John Joyce for his service on our Board, and for all of you who joined us to make this a truly wonderful ALL HANDS Reunion!

Until we meet again let us remain…. Shipmates forever,

Bob

Bob Wefald, President USS LYNDE McCORMICK (DDG-8 An Unincorporated Association)

USS Lynde McCormick DDG 8USS Wayne E Meyer DDG 108
General characteristicsGeneral characteristics
Adams - class   destroyerArleigh Burke - class   destroyer
Displacement:3,277 tons standard, 4,526 full loadDisplacement:9,200 tons
Length:437 ft (133 m)Length:509 ft 6 in (155.30 m)
Beam:47 ft (14 m)Beam:  66 ft (20 m)
Draft:15 ft (4.6 m)Draft:  31 ft (9.4 m)
Propulsion:2 × General Electric steam turbines providing 70,000 shp (52 MW); 2 shaftsPropulsion:4 ×  General Electric LM2500-30   gas turbines , 2 shafts, 100,000 shp (75 MW)
4 x Babcock and Wilcox 1,275 psi (8,790 kPa) boilers
Speed:33 knots (61 km/h)Speed:30+ knots (55+ km/h)
Range:4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h)Range  Unknown
Complement:354 (24 officers, 330 enlisted)Complement:275 officers and enlisted
Sensors andAN/SPS-39 3D air search radarSensors and·        AN/SPY-1D 3D Radar
processing systems:AN/SPS-10 surface search radarprocessing systems:·        AN/SPS-67 (V)2  Surface Search Radar
AN/SPG-51 missile fire control radar·        AN/SPS-73(V)12 Surface Search Radar
AN/SPG-53 gunfire control radar·        AN/SQS-53C Sonar Array
AN/SQS-23 Sonar and the hull mounted SQQ-23 Pair Sonar for DDG-2 through 19·        AN/SQR-19 Tactical Towed Array Sonar
AN/SPS-40 Air Search Radar·        AN/SQQ-28 LAMPS III Shipboard System
Armament:1  Mk 11 missile launcher  (DDG2-14) or  Mk 13 single arm missile launcher  (DDG-15-24) for  RIM-24 Tartar   SAM  system, or later the  RIM-66 Standard  (SM-1) and  Harpoon antiship missileArmament:1 × 32 cell, 1 × 64 cell Mk 41  vertical launch systems , 96 ×  RIM-66 SM-2 , BGM-109 Tomahawk  or  RUM-139 VL-Asroc , missiles
2 x 5"/54 caliber Mark 42 (127 mm) gun1 × 5/62 in (127/62 mm), 2 × 25 mm, 4 × 12.7 mm guns
2 × Mk 32 triple torpedo tubes
1 x RUR-5 ASROC Launcher1 x 20mm Phalanx CIWS
6 x 12.8 in (324 mm) ASW Torpedo Tubes (2 x Mark 32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes)
Aircraft carried:None Aircraft carried:2 ×  SH-60 Sea Hawk   helicopters


photos by Kathy Fiedor

photos by Ken Douglas

Photos from Professional Photographer –  www.ABIPhoto.com

Please forward this on to all hands. Website to see all the DDG-8 reunion photos is www.ABIPhoto.com Password is DDG8 Word to the wise. If you order any photos from the ABIphoto website there will be NO retouching. If you call the photographer, Dennis Way, he will do a little bit of enhancement to the photo you order and take a few years off if you like, but you must call Dennis directly, Do Not order from the website. Office 858-279-3337 If no one in office then call Cell 858-232-1929 Thanks for your time, Dennis Way Please check out our website www.ABIPhoto.com –  Email : [email protected] Follow me at Twitter @sdphotodude Please check us out on FACEBOOK – www.facebook.com/ABIPhotodude Office 858-279-3337 If no one in office then call Cell 858-232-1929

San Diego Entertainment

San Diego Entertainment – USS Midway, the MaritimeMuseum, San Diego harbor tours and Coronado Island Ferry Nearby is HortonPlaza featuring over 140 retail and specialty stores close in is Gaslamp Quarter featuring restaurants and nightclubs Moments away from the EastVillage including PETCOPark – Home of the San Diego Padres Close to San Diego attractions including the San Diego Zoo and SeaWorld A stunning location overlooking San Diego Bay is just the beginning. . Other destinations closeby – Gaslamp Quarter San Diego Cruise Terminal Seaport Village Horton Plaza San Diego Convention Center PETCO Park San Diego Zoo SeaWorld San Diego Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon

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Many thanks to Mary Lou and Dennett Srur for their idea to start a reunion of all the USS LYNDE McCORMICK DDG 8 shipmates.