Navy Terminology List Added

Our shipmate, Dave Love, sent us a link to a interesting web page built by the USN having a long list of navy terms and their origin. I enjoyed reviewing the list and learned some things to boot *.

Rather than just copying the link here, I decided to copy the whole list to our website in the "Ship's History" area accessible from the home page. I figured the Navy owes us something. I also added a submission form where anyone can send additional words with origins to grow the list.

Check it out. Go to the Galveston Home Page, click on menu item Ship's History, then click anchor next to Naval Terminology.

* To boot -- term has nothing to do with footwear. The 'boot' is thought to be a derivative of the earlier old English 'bat' meaning 'good or useful'.

Finally, this picture is not my buddy Dave Love and really has nothing to do with anything. Any objections?

Bob Rank
BM3 1966-68

Calling All USS Galveston History Buffs

We recently received the very last official Navy document that mentions the Gal. It's the SEALED BID FOR SCRAPPING you see above.

The bid document has been scanned and posted on our web site for those of you that may want to know the details. Well, at least the relevant pages have. The bid also covers the USS Los Angeles, CA-135. After we finished with the document it was sent on to the LA shipmates association. They have posted it on their web site as well, and forwarded the original to the Maritime Museum of Los Angeles.

The bid document may be of more interest to our engineering guys as it covers mostly big chunks of things like pumps and turbines. But there are a few other tidbits. For example, the bid specifies that the Navy will retain certain items such as the anchors, a bunch of the armor plating, and 200 feet of that beautiful teak wood from the main deck.

Anybody want to volunteer to find one of the anchors and bring it to a reunion like we did the ship's bell?

Seriously, it would be nice to find the wood and get some of it for souvenirs.

I don't know about the anchor, but here's how you can find the bid... from the main page click on Ships History... then Timeline... then scroll down to 1975 where you click on the "Info" link next to the the bid entry. Now, be advised, it takes about 30 to 45 seconds to download (on broadband - sorry Ted) the whole thing. You will see an introduction page telling you about the good man who sent it to us and then you can page through - note the zoom magnification buttons on top - and read to your heart's content.

Veteran Discounts?

At the membership meeting in Memphis, there was a general discussion about the availability of veteran discounts. Specifically mentioned were Lowes and Home Depot. I offered to put an information page on this web site listing details of these discounts.

One shipmate who thought he had a list of discounts was unable to locate it, and not hearing from anyone else, I did a little research with the following results:

Lowes Policy:

“We offer an all-day, every-day 10% Military discount to all military personnel who are active, reserve, retired or disabled veterans and their immediate family members, with a valid, government-issued Military ID or VIC (Veterans Identification Card). Please visit your local Lowe’s store, provide a valid, government-issued Military ID or VIC(see below), and ask the cashier for the discount.

All other military veterans will receive the discount on the Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Veterans Day Weekends. (Customer must provide Military ID, VIC, or a DD214).”

Home Depot Policy:

“We offer a 10 percent discount, up to a $500 maximum, to all active, reserve, retired or disabled veterans and their family members with a valid military ID. All other military veterans qualify for a 10 percent discount during Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Veterans Day Weekends"

There is a discount section on the military web site http://www.military.com/ , but again these discounts seem to apply mostly to active or retired military and not just a veteran. I also recognized that my AARP or AAA Auto Club card has gotten me some of the discounts equal to those being offered active military. Finally I found a few other web sites offering discounts to veterans, but one required a membership fee of $5 per month and the others were just “click through” sites that earns a little income for redirecting web searches to retailers.

So Shipmates, if you’re retired military, there are some discounts available, but not much for those of us with less than twenty years service. And unless someone can provide me with a more specific list of discounts sources, I won't be adding a discount referral page to our site.

Bob

Note: VIC Cards are Veteran Identification Cards available from The Veterans Administration and are available to veterans with special eligibility like Service Connected Disabilities, Purple Heart or former POW. for more info on VIC
www.ussgalveston.org/blog/vic.pdf

Last USS Galveston Captain Speaks at the Navy Memorial in Washington DC

Well, it's been a bit over a year so I guess it's time to get this posted. Last June several of us travelled to Washington DC to participate in the unveiling of the USS Galveston Commemorative Plaque at the Navy Memorial (http://www.navymemorial.org/).

There are two videos to view. The first one acknowledges the efforts of Stan Shock, the significant financial contribution of our shipmate Ralph Batson, and has photos of the various speakers and attendees.

The second video is the entire speech by the last commanding officer of the Galveston; RADM James Montgomery (retired). The admiral gives a great talk and I was able to locate a special item he mentions towards the end of the video and include it.

I might yet post the comments made by the son of VADM Colwell, the first C.O., but if anyone wants to see the video of Soupy, Stan Shock or Linda 'Sweethang' Hawkins, you'll have to pay me first!

Go to the ship's history page and then click on 'Videos'... Keith Hedley

Check it out... 23 new Shipmate Profiles

The Galveston "Shipmate Profiles" system now has 767 listings of men who served aboard her. If you are looking for an old shipmate, or just curious about the past crew, the "Shipmate Profiles" page is the place to start.

Since Jan 1 of this year there have been 23 new shipmate postings in the "Profile System".

By the way, anytime you would like to check who the "new" guys are it's easy to do. Just log in with your profile id and password. On the page you'll see next, click on the "Search" button in the "Browse" box. Near the top of the next page that displays is a "List" button right under the blue bar that says, "List Shipmates by most recently registered (or updated):", click it and there you are!

To save you some clicking here's the list of our new arrivals for the first part of 2010:

Bill Hickman ~ SF2 in R Division 1966
Jan Blum ~ QM3 in Navigation from '67 thru '70
Mark McLean ~ BT3 in B Division '66 thru '70
Morris Butcher, Jr. Whose dad was a BTC (the chief passed away in 2005) and had Jr. baptized on the Galveston in October 1961
John Allen ~ a MM3 on board from '62-64 and went to to the sub service and retired as a MMCM (SS)
Kenneth Thieme ~ SH3 '66 thru '70
Robert Schantz ~ MT2 in Missile Division '62 thru '64
Daniel Gratton ~ a GMG3 in 3rd Division '65 thru '69
Warren Brown ~ a SN in S-3 '62 thru '64
Reuben Lyon ~ FTM2 in FM Division from '65 thru '68
Lathaggar Aylesworth ~ ET3 in OE Division from '66 thru '69
Johnny Gibbs ~ a EM3 in E division from '66-'69
Albert Coburn ~ was a SN in OL division from '66 thru '68 then went to Da Nang (Camp Tien Sha) where he became a BM3. Albert passed away last year, his brother Michael visited our web site and posted Albert's profile
Robert Shelden ~ BT2 in B Division '65-'66
Charles Prine ~ was a barber to the crew and Captain of the ship during 1962
Jim McGrath ~ Still in New Jersey after spending '62-'64 in 1st Division
Chester Kaminski ~ Was a Gunners Mate from '62-'64
James D'Elia ~ An FT3 in FM Division from '58-'60
Robert Terrell ~ Took care of the big SPG-49 missile control radars as a FTM3; '66-'70
Ed OQuin ~ "Bucky" was a FTG3 in the FG Division from '61-'63
Fred Moore ~ Another deck guy from 1968
Gordon Barron ~ Started his service as a SN in one of the Deck divsions in '66, but left the ship for Radioman A school... then got assigned to USNS Adak Alaska!
Myatt Lipscomb ~ Kept the search radars humming as a ET2 in OE Division '58-'61

New Article on MARDET

On the MARDET page we have added an article about one of "our" Marines who distinguished himself in Vietnam during the Tet offensive. Read about SSgt John Mullan who was a member of the Galveston MARDET from '64 thru '66. From our home page click on "Ship's MarDet" then click on the "more pictures" below the Subic bar photo and finally, in Album 3 - the third page - is a scan of the 'Old Breed News' story about John.

Early Film of the Gal

Just added another video file to the USSGalveston.org site. The video was prepared by shipmate Charles Fritz from film and tapes supplied by five other shipmates and includes some of the earliest known film of the Gal from the late 1950s. The film is grainy, but if you've ever been aboard, you'll remember what you're seeing. What follows is a short preview of the video.

To view the complete movie, return to the Associations Home Page menu and navigate to Ship's History then Videos.