Galveston Shipmate Honored

The USS Wayne E. Meyer DDG-108 was christened last month in Bath, Maine and we had several USS Galveston shipmates in attendance (in the photo directly above it's the Meyer crew, with USS Galvestion and USS Goodrich association shipmates). One of our shipmates in attendance was RADM Wayne Meyer (retired) whose rare and distinct honor it was to have a US Navy warship named after him while he’s still alive. He's in the top photo with his family.

Just to put this in perspective, since WWII there have been only 10 ships besides DDG-108 named after living persons! That list includes Hyman Rickover, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr., and Bob Hope. Pretty impressive company.

The day before the christening there was a traditional mast-stepping ceremony where coins and mementos were placed inside the base of the mast and welded shut. One of those items (center photo) was the new USS Galveston command coin to commemorate when Admiral Meyer was a crewmember on our ship.

If you would like to follow the progress of the USS Wayne E. Meyer, or see addiotional photos of the ship and the recent ceremonies, just point your browser to http://www.meyer.navy.mil/

Burial at Sea – still an option

FYI

While surfing the internet, I found that the US Navy permits veterans with an honorable discharge to be buried at sea from a US Navy vessel. They can handle both cremated and casketed remains, however the casketed handling seems pretty complicated and expensive. But for someone like me who has already decided on cremation and loves a good deal, this is a real find. All my wife has to do is mail my burial urn, a returnable burial flag, and a filled out form to a special address listed on the website.

One down side to the program is that family members are not allowed to attend the burial service. Still, I find the idea of going to sea one last time alone appealing, and my wife says she expects to be busy interviewing gardeners and handy-men, so even this works for us.

To find out more click on following link:
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/navy_legacy_hr.asp?id=204

Bob Rank
BM2 66-68