PRESIDENT& PUB-LISHER

• Larry Ryan

1st VICE PRESIDENT

• Jay McCarthy

2nd VICE PRESIDENT

• Bob Gubitosi

SECRETARY

• Roy Dash

TREASURER

• Fred A. Pelger

DIRECTORS AT LARGE:

• Bernie Byrnes

• Pete Marx

• Larry Strauss

MEMBERSHIP

• Jay McCarthy

VETERAN AFFAIRS:

• Bernie Byrnes

SPECIAL PROJECTS:

• Bob Gubitosi

ARTS AND GRAPHICS

• Dennis Cosmo

CHAPLAIN

• Rev. Adrian Van Houten

President’s Report 2

Secretaries Report 3

Short Sea Story 4

Meeting Agenda 5

Registration form For Reunion

6

Readers Requests 7

THE FOG SIGNALTHE FOG SIGNALTHE FOG SIGNALTHE FOG SIGNAL I WILL NOT ABANDON YOU LIGHTSHIP NOT IN

CORRECT POSITION

Newsletter of The U.S. Coast Guard Lightship Sailors Association Inc. Intern. Reunion ’08 Issue 21

A message about membership

2

Membership Application

3

Secretaries Report 4

General Quarters 5

Lightship of the Quarter

6

Lightship Sailor of the Quarter

7

Veterans Affairs 8

General Information 9

Life Members 10

My Brother Lightship Sailors, Members and Friends, It doesn’t seem possible we are putting the final touches on our next reunion. Your board of Directors have had a busy 6 months getting everything ready for the meeting and museum dedication. A few words of clarification on our arrangements with our host that will be providing housing and protection for our collection of Lightship Sailor memorabilia: The CG Heritage Museum @ The

Trayser leases the historic Customs House from the Town of Barnstable. Their lease prohibits them from sub-leasing space ( or the implication of sub leasing ). A concern exists in terminology in refer-ring to ‘The Official Lightship Sailors Museum’ as this implies we are a museum within a museum or, ‘sub-leasing’. We will in fact have the best of two worlds, an exhibition within an exhibition referred to as ‘The USCG Lightship Sailors Historical Collection’. Just a change of a word. The Heritage Museum is a not for profit 501 C (3), not unlike our own organization. Governed by an elected volunteer board of directors, some ex-Coast Guard, some retired Coast Guard. With Coasties from all areas including Ice Breakers, Aviation, SAR, Buoy Tenders Lighthouses and Lightship Sail-ors. Bill Collette, MKCS ( RET ) is the current President, and has been outstanding to work with. Bill puts in at least 2 full days a week ( that’s 40 hour minimum for an engineer ). Bill is one of our Life Mem-bers and a Lightship Sailor off of The Pollock Rip. He is also dedicated to preserving Coast Guard History. The CG Heritage Museum have set aside an upstairs room to house our collection as well as items previously either loaned or donated to them. All items and artifacts donated or loaned to The U. S. Coast Guard Lightship Sailors Association Inc. International will be marked or tagged with the name and date of the donor. Items inside the Lightship Section may be co-mingled with items owned by The CGHm, so managing these artifacts will be critical. We are maintaining a log for these items which-will be available for review by members at any time. As we have said many times, this is our history, please help us preserve it. I would invite your attention to the mission statement of The LSA Museum on page 10. We have dignitaries from the Coast Guard confirmed for our meeting as well as a Color Guard from Station Chatham. As I said, I think everyone will be pleased. We have a special program planned as part of the General Meeting, please plan on being there for the program and the election of officers for the next term. We will also be taking nominations for the Lightship of the Quarter for publication in this newsletter and over all suggestions for added articles and features. A brief note on some of our accomplishments: Since our meeting in Astoria, OR we have found descendents of three of our forgotten Lightship Sailor Brothers that perished aboard ship. We have added their names to our memorial service roll call. Please plan on being present to recognize these Lightship Sailors. Picture on right is the tent we will be using for our dedication, for those of you familiar with the location, this is set up in the lower parking area, therefore we will be using buses for trans-portation, the museum in the background.. Picture courtesy of Bill Collette. Until Next Time, Keep a Good Light,

Larry

Page 2 The Fog Signal

A Message from Membership by J. F. “Jay” McCarthy

To All Hands,

As our annual reunion is rapidly approaching, I will try to make my report brief so as to provide additional space for the latest reunion information.

Membership activity has been steady. We have 185 Members current in their 2008 Dues, plus another (19) nineteen LIFE Members that have paid the $300.00 “once in a Lifetime Membership Fee. Additionally, we have gained 11 NEW members, and 10 have returned since not being heard from since before 2005. Most have included positive comments regarding the “Fog Signal” and its contents as a contributing factor to their return. Sadly, (1) one, of our Lightship Sailor brothers, has “Crossed Over the Bar” this year.

On a personal note; this will be my last Membership report to you, as I am not seeking reelection as 1st. VP, & Member-ship Director. Barbara and I plan to take some time off, and do some extensive traveling next year, including visiting with family in Ire-land. In addition, at the urging, and encouragement of George Rongner. I am going to attempt to write a book on the “Collision and Sinking” of my old ship, Relief (NY) 78/505. I wrote a short story on the “Collision” about 5 years back, it was posted on the CG Historians website, and has appeared on numerous other web sites, and has been quoted in vari-ous publications. This book will be much more in-depth, with input from additional survivors, and much added research. Also, a lot of pictures and illustrations will be included. It has been my pleasure to serve on your behalf over the past 4 years. The LSA as an organization has made tremen-dous inroads in achieving direction, accountability, confidence, openness, and bringing our treasury back from the brink of bankruptcy. These are just some highlights of the accomplishments made over these past 4 years. I will remain active in the LSA, and will help out whenever possible. It has been great making so many new friends, and I do hope we stay in touch. Semper Paratus!

Now, back to business. We also have the regular memory joggers to share;

Recruitment: If you know of anyone interested in joining the LSA, please give them the attached Membership Form, or give them my contact information and I’ll get a Membership Application Package out to them. Thanks.

Dues Payments: The Mission Statement for the Lightship Sailors Association, Inc. is to preserve Lightships and Lightship History. $5.00 from each Dues payment is dedicated to Lightship Preservation. Dues payments are to be paid with the submission of our LSA Membership Form. Full instructions and directions are detailed on the Membership Form.

The Annual Membership Dues calendar year runs from January 1st. through December 31st.

Please direct all Membership questions to Jay McCarthy.

Note: The Lightship Sailors Association, Inc., is a “not for profit” 501- ( C ) (3) Corporation. ALL Dues and Donations are tax deductible

Thank you, Fair Winds and Following Seas, E-mail: jfment@bellsouth.net OR Via US Mail:

Jay McCarthy 1st. VP & Membership Director 1-561-495-1761 J. F. “Jay’ McCarthy 15276 Lake Wisteria Road Delray Beach, FL 33484-4651

“ One must wait until evening to see how splendid the day has been” Sophocles

Page 3 The Fog Signal

USCG LIGHTSHIP SAILORS ASSOCIATION, Inc. 2008 MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM

Please take a moment to fill in your information; we will then post it in our database (please print) Check all Applicable: USCG Lightship Sailor Veteran Other Associations CG Active Duty LS Veteran’s Family Member Former CG (non-Lightship) CG Reserves LIGHTSHIP Interest, Friend, Association CG Retired CG Auxiliary

Membership Level, and Dues Rate; Full Membership – LSVET or MBR. $25.00 Annually Group / Business $50.00 Annually Life Membership $300.00 (1x life time fee)

USCG Lightship Sailor Veterans Please fill in below: (optional)

LSA MEMBER / GROUP or BUSINESS / LIFE MEMBER Please fill in as it applies to you:

Submit any additional information you may wish, on the back of this form, or on a separate sheet of paper.

Annual Dues period runs on the calendar year; January 1 thru December 31. LSA Donation (Optional), General Fund, Lightship Preservation or LSA Museum: $ _____________

Please enclose this form with your check or money order, made out to the:

Thank you, “USCG LIGHTSHIP SAILORS ASSOCIATION, Inc.”

Jay McCarthJay McCarthJay McCarthJay McCarthyyyy Please mail to: Jay McCarthy

1st. VP & Membership Director LSA – Membership Director

Last Name: or…

Group / Business:

First Name:

Middle, Initial & Nick Name:

Street Address:

City:

State:

Zip:

E mail Address … or Web Site:

Telephone Number:

Year Born: (optional)

Lightship Name

Hull # LS Service Dates (From - To) Your Rank/Rate: Commanding Officer:

Other C.G. or Info:

Family / Friend: Lightship Interest: Other U.S.C.G.: Other groups, Etc.:

Page 4 The Fog Signal

SECRETARIES REPORT

An agreement was approved between, the Board of Directors of the Trayser Museum Group, Coast Guard Heritage Museum, Barnstable, MA and the USCG Lightship Sailors Assoc. Inc International, signed April 29, 2008. Copy on file. A report was made to the board by Larry Ryan on research of display cases for the mu-seum. The best quality for the price was KC Store Fixtures, of Kansas City, MO. A mo-tion was made to purchase 4-4’ display cases, motion passed 9 in favor. After discussion, it was determined a member of the board should be present to accept the delivery of the display cases, and handle any expense incurred with labor to unload and move the cases to the upstairs room. As Larry Ryan had a no expense air fare, he volunteered. A motion was made by Dennis Cosmo for the LSA to pay lodging expense and rental car for a member of the board of directors to travel to Hyannis to accept delivery of display cases for the LSA museum, motion was seconded by Jay McCarthy. Motion passed 8 in favor, 1 abstain ( this would be the third trip for Larry in establishing the museum, the first two trip expenses were donated ).

On left is two of the four display cases set in place on July 15, 2008, all four are lighted. On right, the two “team presidents”, Larry Ryan and Bill Collette of The CG Heritage

Museum, sealing the agreement between the two organizations by Placing the symbolic first item for display, a rivet from the 114/536 Pollock Rip Light-

ship.

Roy Dash, Secretary

Page 5 The Fog Signal

GENERAL QUARTERS

ELECTION NOTICE To All Members: This is an election year where we nominate and elect ALL members of the board. At this time five incumbent board members have announced their intention to run for another term, with three members retiring from the board. Any member in good standing with access to e-mail service is eligible to run for office. As all LSA business, except for the annual meeting, is conducted electronically, e-mail service is mandatory. Your fellow members need you, please e-mail a message to the nominating committee at the following e-mail address if you are inter-ested. Nominations will also be accepted from the floor during the General Membership Meeting in Hyannis, MA, on the first day of an exciting gathering where we will dedicate our Lightship Sailors History Museum which will be followed by our annual Memorial Service. Please respond to: Bob Gubitosi, 2nd VP and Election Committee Chairman at lv112gubbie@embarqmail.com

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DRAWING FOR FREE ROOM

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND—We will again this year have a drawing for a free three night stay for some lucky

member ( Directors and Officers not eligible ). The only requirement is the member must have been a registered quest in

the hotel for the three nights. The drawing will be part of the auction at the conclusion of the annual banquet. ******************************************************************************************************************************

The love of money is the root of all evil Timothy six-ten

“Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons” Woody Allen

We have received several inquiries requesting updates and why we have discontinued publishing “CROSSED OVER THE BAR” on page 10. The good news is two fold, we have not discontinued this arti-cle, and we have not lost any of our brotherhood in 2008 that we are aware of.

We hope it stays the same. Please keep us posted. ********************************************************************************************************************************

Notice: Notice: Notice: The phone number previously published for the hotel in Hyannis is incorrect! There is no toll free number. Do not call the central nationwide toll free number, you will not get the special rate. Call 508-771-1700 to the front desk

LSA JACKETS We will have our red “uniform” jackets and caps for sale at the registration table in Hyannis, with a good

selection of sizes, the jackets will be priced at $50.00 ( this is our cost ). As a reminder, the wearing of our jacket and cap as our LSA uniform, symbolizes our uniform of our active

duty days. During patriotic exercises it should be considered the same including rendering a ‘Right Hand Salute’, as authorized by Congress.

If you don’t have yours, please consider getting yours for the museum dedication and memorial service on Saturday.

We will be voting on the location for the 2009 and 2010 reunion locations. The current choices are; Hyannis, MA, Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA, Concord, CA and Branson, MO. For those not attending, you may cast your preference with Larry Ryan

Lryan8@aol.com or 719-440-7280 **********************************************************************************************************************************

SHORT SEA STORYSHORT SEA STORYSHORT SEA STORYSHORT SEA STORY

Page 6 The Fog Signal

Editors Note: The following story was a result of George Rongner’s book, “Life Aboard a Coast Guard Lightship”. Bernie Byrnes and Bill Sherman, both Lightship Sailors and past employees of The CIA connected. William G. Sherman, Lightship Sailor off The Buzzards Bay,( EN3 1956), turned stone carver, cut the lettering for the John F. Kennedy memorial in Arlington National Cemetery. The following told first person. Edited to fit available space.

The story begins in Newport, RI in 1705, when an English stone mason named John Stevens began cutting grave stones, the business known as the John Stevens Shop, would be handed down eight generations to Phil-lip Stevens. The business then in 1927 was sold to John Howard Benson. Mr. Benson and his wife Esther had three sons, Tom, my age, John ( Fud ) five years younger and M. A. ( Chip ) younger still. Mr. Benson was a great teacher and allowed me to use his tools and workshop, instructing me on how to loft a boat and work out a boats line from a table of offsets. Mr. Benson formed a good opinion of me, somehow. J.C. Warneke, the architect who had designed the John F. Kennedy Gravesite memorial, consisting of seven stones, had picked the John Stevens Shop to carve the lettering. I wanted very much to be a part of this job. I quit Air America and returned home from Laos on November 19, 1965 with some savings with this in mind. My pitch went something like this: I could learn un-paid, to do the rough cutting, and work myself up, before going on the payroll. Fud was in charge since he had earned his sculpture degree in Rome, he would do the layout, paint the letters, and he agreed with my plan. We did a lot of practicing between now and when the first slabs of granite would be ready. The layout was tricky. The stones are curvilinear in all three dimensions. Each of them is larger and higher to-wards the middle of the site’s oval form. Fud had to produce the illusion that the lines of lettering, despite per-spective, are equal in size from front to back. Using a huge sample of Deer Island granite, placed at the slope of the inaugural quotation stone, and orientated as they would be on the hill below the Lee Mansion. This exer-cise confirmed the letters must be unusually deeply incised to be legible. The letters would have to be incised at a 60 degree angle and stained inside to be read in strong sun light at the stones low angle. Deer Island quarry was chosen as a source for the granite. The first stone was 17.5 FT long and weighed 36 tons and we started on February 16, 1966, with me on the payroll, in Stonington, ME. We completed some of the work before the prime contractor ordered us on April 18th to do our lettering on site. On June 1st we dis-covered the fierce heat of Washington where we would work until August 13th. I completed my cutting on August 10th, 1965. The attached picture was taken by my brother’s wife, Sandra. Some people know that nothing exists until quantified: Of the 1,113 characters, I rough cut 912 in 77 carving days and finish carved six letters in one day. Just as I had wanted to be, I had been a part of this job. Signed: William G. Sherman Picture by: Sandra Sherman

Page 7 The Fog Signal

CREW OF THE POLLOCK RIP LIGHTSHIP 114/536 APRIL 1968 STANDING L-R: SS1 Massey, BM1 Riley, BMC Pavo ( XPO ), ENC Evans ( EPO ), CWO Elbert L. Roller,

( CO ) KNEELING L-R: EN3 Supreranio ( sp? ), FN Frank Dellisio, un

known ET2, SN Tom Dewey, SN Costello, SN Chris Noonan, EN3 Bill Collette

Photo by Bill Quinn, Channel 5 Boston, MA *************************************************************************************

COAST GUARD BIRTHDAY 2008

As has been the tradition since 2002, Dennis and Paula Cosmo has layed

a wreath at the memorial in New Bedford, MA. This memorial was the

Project started by Harold Flagg, the only survivor off the Vineyard Sound

Lightship #73., originally as a memorial to the lost 12 crewmen. Other light-

ship Sailors were added later, and carried out largely by Bill Collette.

Pictured L-R Bernie Byrnes, Joe Ratcliff, Paula and Dennis. Photography by City of New Bedford

Page 8 The Fog Signal

Greetings My Fellow Veterans: During the past 5-6 months several of you have made inquiries regarding ribbons and medals that are now handed out like pop corn, which was not the case during most of our active duty days.( It has been said re-cently there is a ribbon, and probably a hard medal for setting up chairs and showing up for work on time.) It would seem most of the inquiries were a result of advertisements selling military medals, some of which don’t exist. The Cold War Victory Medal has not ever been authorized by congress. In the late 1990’s, a ‘Cold War

Victory Certificate’ was authorized for anyone employed by the federal government ( including chicken inspectors and postmen ) for the period 1945-1991, but no military medal. Good Conduct Ribbon: Probably the most frequently omitted medal and the most commonly awarded next to National Defense ribbon. The basic requirement is three years service without any disciplinary action. In other words, a Captains Mast in boot camp would not exclude this ribbon if serving a 4 year enlistment. You can quickly determine which medals you earned by examining your military discharge form, DD-214. If you believe you have earned medals not listed on your DD-214 you will need to request a copy/review of your military records to determine if orders were cut, placed in your military personnel file awarding you other medals. If you feel you deserve a medal or award never authorized, you may apply as a first time recipient for that award using DD-149 ( Application for Correction of Military Record ). This form may be picked up at any VA facility. ( A sample will be available at the annual meeting in Hyannis ). This form then would be mailed to: Commandant, US Coast Guard, Medals and Awards Branch PMP-4, Washington, DC 20593-0001 For those that have internet access, goggle ‘Department of Veterans Affairs’ home page, click on ‘Inter government Affairs’, then VA Forms. This will also give you information on your particular State VA benefits, a wealth of information exists. We know first hand a lot of ribbons and awards were not provided or entered in to service jackets. You and your descendents deserve these, and you need to check. Once you have determined they have been au-thorized, they may be purchased from any number of vendors. I will have a box of ISI’s ( VA Benefits Handbook ) at the reunion. As always, if I can help, please contact me emjobyrnes@verizon.net

Bernie ByrnesBernie ByrnesBernie ByrnesBernie Byrnes ****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

********

LISTENING TO POLITICAL TALK REQUIRES A THIRD EAR, THAT HEARS WHAT IS NOT SAID.

George WillGeorge WillGeorge WillGeorge Will

Page 9 The Fog Signal

LSA Lightship Sailors Museum— CG Heritage Museum, Barnstable

Christmas 1957 on board WAL 78/505 Ambrose Station. L-R Virgilio Dalomba, Ray D’Urbano & Jay McCarthy 1st VP ( on far RT) will MC the museum dedication

Bob Gubitosi 2nd VP will conduct the nominations and elections 1957 WAL 112 on Nantucket Station.

Rev. Adrian Van Houten, Chaplain. Will be conducting The memorial service and auction.

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Donations or a loan of articles to the Lightship Sailors Museum are all recorded and labeled with the date donated, the item and the donors name.

For accounting and tracking purposes every item should be shipped or hand delivered to either your President or Director of Mem-bership with the date, name of item and your name.

At this time, every item donated that will fit through the door will be on permanent display in the museum .

This is our history, please share with us in preserving that history. ***********************************************************************************************************************************

“A people that values its privileges above principles soon loses both”

Dwight David Eisenhower,Dwight David Eisenhower,Dwight David Eisenhower,Dwight David Eisenhower, General of the Army, Abilene, Kansas

Page 10 The Fog Signal

ROSTER OF PAID LIFE MEMBERS (current at printing time )

RAINVILLE, Richard E. “Dick” 112/534 Nantucket, ‘73 – ’74 LV-612 Nantucket, ‘74 – ‘75 PLETNICK, Jerome J. “J.J 112/534 Nantucket Jul ’50 – ‘52

COURSEY, Gerard H. “Jerry” 613 Relief (Boston) Oct ‘68-Feb ‘71 SCOTT, Gary B. “Earl” 612 San Francisco 1962 – 1964

COLEMAN, George H. “Skip” 189 Diamond Shoal 1965 – 1969 QUIGLEY, William “Quig” 106/528 Relief (MA) 1956 to Aug ‘57

JENNINGS, Richard W. 84/509 Relief (Frying Pan, Savannah)’59-‘60 WALES, Howard E. “Bud” 118/539 Cross Rip ‘61 ’62 102/525 Boston ‘62 COLLETTE, William Jr. “Bill” LV114 / WLV-536/LV114 Pollock Rip ‘67-‘68 Founding member RYAN, Lawrence “Larry” R. WAL605 Overfalls, Blunts Reef ‘60-‘61

WHALEY, Curtis L. 604 Columbia Aug ‘78 - Dec ‘79

WHALEY, Debra H. Wife of Curtis above

RINGO, Gene C. 88/513 Umatilla, 5-22-52 - 6-9-52 113/535 Swiftsure, 6-11-52 - 6-14-54 196 Relief/Umatilla, 7-61 thru 3-64

FLAGG, Marcia A. LSA Member Family of Harold Flagg, only Vineyard # 73 Survivor

GUYETTE, Floyd E. “Sonny” 118/539 Cross Rip Jun ’61–Sep ‘62

GARRAN, John W. 112/534 Nantucket Mar’63 to Oct’64

DeFRANCESCO, John M. 112 / 534 Nantucket Feb ’73–Jun ’74 Decomish. 613 Relief (MA) TAD summer ’74 612 Nantucket ’74 – Jun ‘75

WEINBERG, Steven WAL 605 Overfall & Blunts Reef July ’60-December ‘60

ORSZAK, David WAL 115/537 Frying Pan Shoals ’60-61 **********************************************************************************************************

“There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men” Edmund Burke

MISSION STATEMENT OF THE U.S. COAST GUARD LIGHTSHIP SAILORS MUSEUM (COLLECTION)

This museum was created to preserve the history of the era of Lightships and the Sailors that manned these

vessels for over 200 years.

The purpose is to promote education of this era through this collection, and to memorialize these Sailors.

The goal is the preservation of the displayed artifacts supplemented with photographed documentation of this

era. Board of Directors, Museum Committee 2006-2008,

Lawrence (Larry) Ryan, President & Chairman Jay McCarthy, 1st VP Membership Director Robert Gubitosi, 2nd VP Chairman Special Projects Fred Pelger, Treasurer

Roy Dash, Secretary Dennis Cosmo, Past President, Arts & Graphics Lawrence (Larry) Strauss, Director By-Laws Bernie Byrnes, Director Veterans Affairs Pete Marx, Director Photographer Rev. Adrian

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THOUGHTS FROM OUR CHAPLAIN As we think about our annual gathering, let us pray together for safety while traveling for our members and guests, for our memorial

service and all of our functions, and especially for good health to allow us to carry on. While I was pondering what to include in these thoughts, the first thing that came to mind was, how blessed we are to have this

organization, the dedicated and capable Board of Directors to lead and guide us. And for me, I want to thank you for allowing me to serve alongside these men. As I look at all of the work that goes into making this organization a success it brings to mind a quote

from the late Lebanese/American poet and author, Kahlil Gibran “Work is Love Made Visible”. This organization, our museum to be, all requiring hours of work is indeed a “A labor of Love”. …. May God Bless us All.

Rev. Adrian Van Houten, Chaplain

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