16 A Shipmate Survives the Sinking of the USS Yorktown, Part ...

A U G U S T 2 0 1 5A TA L E O F T W O N D A A S 8

16 A Shipmate Survives the Sinking of the USS Yorktown, Part 3

29 FRA’s Newest Life Members

GUARDIANS OF THE

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Volume 94 Number 8

Featured18 GUARDIANS OF THE COAST

The romantic image of a lighthouse on a wind-swept cliff, overlooking turbulent seas below and calling seafarers home, is Americana at its best. But have lighthouses outlived their pur-pose? And if so, what’s to happen to them?

Departments 2 COMMUNICATIONS

4 FROM THE FANTAIL Keepers of the Light

6 SHIPMATE FORUM

8 ON & OFF CAPITOL HILLA Tale of Two NDAAs

16 HISTORY & HERITAGEA Shipmate Survives the Sinking of the USS Yorktown (Part 3)

28 MEMBERSHIP MATTERSYouth Activities

29 FRA NEW LIFE MEMBERS

30 TAPS

31 LEGACY GIFTS TO THE FRA

32 LOOKING FOR… / REUNIONS

34 NEWS FROM THE BRANCHES

36 NEWS FROM THE AUXILIARY OF THE FRAMessage from North Central Regional President Chris Drew

ON THE COVERCastle Hill Lighthouse was built in 1890. The granite tower stands thirty-four feet tall and has in the past featured a 1,300-pound fog bell. It was automated in 1957. Photo by mcdonojj/Shutterstock.

FRA IS A CONGRESSIONALLY CHARTERED, NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION ADVOCATING FOR CURRENT AND FORMER ENLISTED MEMBERS OF THE U.S. NAVY, MARINE CORPS AND COAST GUARD ON CAPITOL HILL. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP, PLEASE VISIT WWW.FRA.ORG OR CALL 800-FRA-1924.

LOYALTY, PROTECTION AND SERVICE

August 2015

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COMMUNICATIONS

Lauren Armstrong is FRA’s Director of Communications and serves as the Managing Editor of FRA Today. Please contact her at [email protected].

Lauren Armstrong

NATIONAL OFFICERS/BOARD OF DIRECTORS

National President John D. Ippert, Honolulu Branch 46 National Vice President Virgil P. Courneya, High Sierra Branch 274 National Executive Dir. Thomas J. Snee, Navy Department Branch 181 Finance Officer Stephen R. Cox Junior PNP Mark Kilgore, Pensacola Branch 22 National Parliamentarian PNP J. C. “Jim” Eblen, Imperial Beach

Branch 289 National Chaplain William H. Hall, GEM State Branch 382

REGIONAL PRESIDENTS

Northeast / New England Floyd G. Hunt, Iroquois Branch 214 East Coast John J. Willis, Ocean View Branch 60 Southeast Larry L. Cox, Low Country Branch 269 North Central Curry Sanders, Mo Kan Branch 161 South Central Michael D. Oliver, Old Naval Home

Branch 307 Southwest Agustive A. Hermes, Jr., Chula Vista Branch 61 West Coast Larry S. Briggs, Jr., Silver Dollar Branch 192 Northwest Michael H. Archer, Cheyenne Branch 59

ACTIVE DUTY ADVISORY COUNCIL

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Michael StevensSergeant Major of the Marine Corps Ronald Green

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Steven Cantrell

RESERVE ADVISORY COUNCIL

Force Master Chief of the Navy Reserve Clarence “CJ” MitchellUSMC Reserve Force Sergeant Major Anthony Spadaro

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Reserve Force Eric Johnson

FRA TODAY MAGAZINEThe monthly membership publication of the Fleet Reserve Association

Publisher Fleet Reserve AssociationNational Executive Director Thomas J. Snee

Communications Director Lauren ArmstrongManaging Editor William Kohudic

Contributing Photographer Paul GuntherDesign and Art Direction

FIREBRAND, Alexandria, VA www.firebrandstudios.comDesign Director Scott RodgersonProduction Manager Sandy Jones

FRA TODAY (ISSN 1935-7192) IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY FRA, 125 N. WEST ST., ALEXANDRIA, VA 22314-2754. A MEMBER’S SUBSCRIPTION IS COVERED BY THE MEMBER’S ANNUAL DUES. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT ALEXANDRIA, VA AND ADDITIONAL OFFICES. PUBLICATION OF NON-SPONSORED ADVERTISING IN FRA TODAY DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN ENDORSEMENT BY THE FRA OR ITS REPRESENTATIVES. POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO: MEMBER SERVICES, FRA, 125 N. WEST ST., ALEXANDRIA, VA 22314-2754. FRA TODAY IS PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF ALL CURRENT AND FORMER ENLISTED PERSONNEL OF THE U.S. NAVY, MARINE CORPS, AND COAST GUARD. ELIGIBLE NON-MEMBERS ARE NOT ENTITLED TO SUBSCRIPTION RATES. ESTABLISHED 1 NOVEMBER 1923. TITLE REGISTERED WITH U.S. PATENT OFFICE.

FRA ADMINISTRATIVE HEADQUARTERS: 125 N. WEST ST., ALEXANDRIA, VA 22314-2754 • PHONE: 703-683-1400, 800-FRA-1924 •

FAX: 703-549-6610 • E-MAIL: [email protected] • WWW.FRA.ORG

VOLUME 94 NUMBER 8

Surprising ConnectionsON JANUARY 28, 1915, our nation’s Revenue Cutter Service combined with the U.S. Lifesaving Service to become the United States Coast Guard. Over the past 100 years, the service has protected our shorelines and the men and women who navigate them. !is month’s feature story highlights our nation’s most picturesque aid to navigation — the lighthouse — and those who devoted their lives to ensuring the lights were always lit.

In researching this month’s feature, I stumbled across the story of Idawalley Lewis, the daughter of Hosea Lewis, the keeper of Lime Rock Light in Newport, Rhode Island. In the early years, women were pro-hibited from direct assignment as lighthouse keepers, but like many others, Ida and her mother accepted the responsibilities a"er Hosea su#ered a stroke. Growing up on the tiny island in Newport Harbor, Ida became an accomplished swimmer and, by the age of 15, was well known for her rowing skills, strength and courage. During her lifetime on Lime Rock, she tended the light religiously and is also credited with saving at least 18 lives. (Uno$cial reports suggest she may have rescued as many as 36 mariners.) Ida Lewis was called the “Bravest Woman in America” and, a"er reading her story, I can understand why.

What I didn’t realize is that Ida has been living in my home since I was a young girl. My great-grandmother was an amateur artist and, like many of her contemporaries in the late 1800s, she painted images copied from other artists. Her small painting of this brave young girl, rowing against raging seas, is one of the %rst things I see every morning and is a constant reminder that, no matter what challenges I face during the com-ing day, I’ve got to “row hard and strong” to overcome them. Imagine my surprise to discover the illustration of Ida Lewis that no doubt inspired Great-Grandma Lizzie when she herself was only 18 years old.

Writing the feature articles for FRA Today is always an education for me. I always learn something new and interesting, and it’s always my goal to share that new-found knowledge with our readers. !is month, I learned how very connected we are to our ancestors … and to one another … even if it isn’t obvious at %rst blush. Our past is absolutely relevant to our present and our future.

Oil painting by Lizzie McKennan Rice at age 18 (circa 1882) and an illustration of Ida Lewis (origins unknown).

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How Well Did You Sleep Last Night?Did you toss and turn all night? Did you wake up with a sore neck, head ache, or was your arm asleep? Do you feel like you need a nap even though you slept for eight hours? Just like you, I would wake up in the morning with all of those problems and I couldn’t fi gure out why. Like many people who have trouble getting a good night’s sleep, my lack of sleep was a! ecting the quality of my life. I wanted to do something about my sleep problems, but nothing that I tried worked.

The Pillow Was the ProblemI bought every pillow on the market that promised to give me a better night’s sleep. No matter how many pillows I used, I couldn’t fi nd one that worked and fi nally I decided to invent one myself. I began asking everyone I knew what qualities they’d like to see in their “perfect pillow”, and got many responses: “I’d like a pillow that never goes fl at”, “I’d like my pillow to stay cool” and “I’d like a pillow that adjusts to me regardless of my sleep position.” After hearing everyone had the same problems that I did, I spent the next two years of my life inventing MyPillow.

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Lindell has been featured on numerous talk shows, including Fox Business News and Imus in the Morning. Lindell and MyPillow have also appeared in feature stories in The New York Times and the Minneapolis Star Tribune. MyPillow has received the coveted “Q Star Award” for Product Concept of the Year from QVC, and has been selected as the O" cial Pillow of the National Sleep Foundation.

MyPillow’s patented technology can help with all of the most common causes of sleep loss and allows you to adjust it to any sleeping position. You can even wash and dry MyPillow as easily as your favorite pair of blue jeans!

“Until I was diagnosed with various sleep issues, I had no idea why my sleep was so interrupted throughout the night. I watch Imus each morning and heard endless testimonials about MyPillow. I took his advice and ordered a MyPillow. Now I wake up rested and ready to conquer the day ahead. Thank you for helping me remember what it’s like to sleep like a baby!”

- Jacqueline H.

Michael J. Lindell CEO, MyPillow, Inc.

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Keepers of the LightTHE STORY OF AMERICAN LIGHTHOUSES and their keepers is fascinating. !ere are many books devoted to the best-known and -loved lighthouses, pre-serving their stories just as private organizations are working to preserve the lights themselves. !ese beauti-ful structures grace postcards and calendars from Maine to Florida and around the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes. For over two hundred years, they were operated by individu-als and families who called the light-house home.

!e primary mission of these lighthouse keepers was to keep these coastal structures up and running at all times. In the centuries before radar and GPS, lighthouses (and in many cases, their accompanying fog horns and bells) warned ships of dangers, served as navigational guides to ship-ping lanes, and ensured that vessels could %nd themselves safely into port. Keeper duty was a 24/7/365 occupa-tion and all facets of the mission cen-tered on steering mariners away from the rocky shoals.

I’m taking some literary license here, but I like to think of our opera-tions at FRA National Headquarters (NHQ) in a similar fashion. Our team of professional sta# members works to guide shipmates through the “rocky shoals” of congressional initiatives that pose a threat to earned military and veterans’ bene%ts. We work to

keep our members apprised of these legislative “hazards” and we sound the alert when the way ahead is obscured.

Like the lighthouse keepers, we have to keep our lenses clear and our light bright in order to be a bea-con to all those who will bene%t from “clear passages.” !e Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act is where my personal light currently shines. I en-courage you to pause in your read-

ing right now and go online to FRA’s Action Center (action.fra.org/action-center) and use it to contact your senators and representative about this critical issue. Together, we can light the way for Congress to approve this

bill and get thousands of ailing ship-mates the medical assistance and dis-ability bene%ts they’ve earned through their service in Vietnam.

Shipmates, your “lighthouse keep-ers” here at NHQ are vigilant, and it’s important to remember that you are also keepers of the light in your re-spective ports. We need you to keep us informed about whatever lurking dan-gers your lenses expose. We also need your active involvement in order to keep the lights on, shining bright and pristine over the dark waters.

FRA also needs all shipmates to seek out and mentor the next genera-tion of “keepers.” Always keep a sharp lookout for new shipmates, particu-larly those who are in need and can bene%t from FRA’s e#orts on their behalf. Tell them of the advantages our bright light has already brought them and keep the focus on our mis-sion. Without your help, our FRA Lighthouse is nothing more than a structure of brick and mortar or a pretty post card.

It is up to today’s FRA family to make our home in this lighthouse so that we can keep our shipmates safe. Let us shine a new light on our own cardinal virtues as well:

Loyalty, FIRST….Protection, ASSURED….Service, ALWAYS!

Press On! Shine those lenses, keep a sharp watch, and be ready to listen and act!

FROM THE FANTAIL

Tom Snee

Tom Snee is FRA’s National Executive Director and can be reached at [email protected].

Like the lighthouse

keepers, we have

to keep our lenses

clear and our light

bright in order to be

a beacon to all those

who will benefit from

“clear passages.”

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Congress Uncaring for Navy Vietnam Veterans!e opinion has become common among Vietnam War vet-erans that Congress tends to exclude “Blue Water” Vietnam veterans from VA bene%ts. !is group of veterans never had boots on the ground in Vietnam, yet just the same they are sick due to Agent Orange exposure. It seems that Congress and the VA consider these veterans not worthy.

!ere are limited bene%ts available to those who served in-country, but those who served at sea are excluded, even though Agent Orange was in the drinking water onboard Navy ships and is causing sickness years later. How many more of us have to die in agony until there are so few of us le" that the amount of dollars to care for those le" won’t matter much? Is this what America is about? An uncar-ing attitude by our legislators? Where does it say in our Constitution and Bill of Rights that our veterans need NOT be cared for when in need? “A man who is good enough to shed his blood for the country is good enough to be given a square deal a"erwards,” as !eodore Roosevelt said.

Over 175,000 Navy veterans are unsung casualties of the Vietnam War. It is not about Democrats and Republicans, it is about Americans who fought a thankless war. Maybe this is why Congress is reluctant to provide VA bene%ts, a thankless war.

Several years past, legislative bills were introduced for this group of sailors only to fail in committee. Presently, there are two new bills, House Bill HR-969 and Senate Bill S.681, both of which are titled the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Agent Orange Act. If either of these bills are passed, Navy veterans will receive their VA bene%ts. !e American people can help by calling and writing to their members of Congress and senators to support these bills.

John J. Bury

FRA Response: Shipmate, we hear you loud and clear, and we’re publishing your letter because we want the voices of our Blue Water veterans to be heard. We hope everyone who reads this and our other stories about these important bills will contact his or her elected o!cials directly to support these neglected veterans. You can do so right now by going to the FRA Action Center at action.fra.org/action-center, clicking on the line that reads “Support Agent Orange/Blue Water Navy Legislation (H.R. 969/S. 681),” and sending the pre-written letter (or writing your own letter) to your representa-tive and senators simultaneously.

… and Coast Guard Vietnam Veterans!I read with interest [in the June 2015 issue of FRA Today] concerning the introduction of the Agent Orange/Blue Water Bill (H.R. 969) by Rep. Chris Gibson (N.Y.). !e article only mentions the Navy and neglected to mention the Coast Guard. I am sure a thorough investigation was performed prior to Mr. Gibson’s release of the bill, but it was apparently not thorough enough. In practically every

mention concerning this issue, either  from the press  or other sources, the Coast Guard is not mentioned. For ev-eryone’s interest, the Coast Guard was active in Vietnam (boots and blue water). !e Coast Guard constructed and manned LORAN stations  and sailed 82" patrol boats in Vietnam waters because the Navy did not have the resourc-es to patrol and intercept vessels carrying food and weap-ons to the enemy in shallow waters. !erefore, Rep. Gibson should amend his bill to include the Coast Guard. If this is not done, the Coasties who develop illnesses caused by Agent Orange will probably have a hard time getting the treatment and compensation they deserve from the VA! On another note, there are service personnel who were exposed to Agent Orange stateside, including myself. Part of my du-ties as a Preventative Medicine Technician was the handling and spraying of pesticides and herbicides (including Agent Orange).

John Davidowski

FRA Response: "e language of the articles, press releases, and other media that cover this issue does seem to reference only Navy Vietnam veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange during their service. However, that does not mean that Coast Guard veterans who served in Vietnam have been le# out. Because Coast Guard personnel served under Navy command in support of combat operations, they are consid-ered “Navy” personnel for the purposes of determining pre-sumption for Agent Orange exposure and will be eligible to $le VA claims under that presumption.

I Don’t Consider Myself Petty!is has been eating at me for a long time!

Why do the navy and Coast Guard choose to call their noncommissioned enlisted ratings “Petty O$cers?”

Who decided we are “petty” in the chain of command? It’s humiliating! Webster’s dictionary de%nes “petty” as “small, minor, of little importance.”

I retired in 1966 as a Master Chief a"er almost 22 years of honorable service. All the while, from 3rd Class to Master Chief I, I was tagged as “Petty.”

!e Army, Marine Corps and Air Force recognize their ratings from Corporal through Sergeant Major as noncom-missioned o$cers, which maintains dignity and recognizes the importance of those positions in the chain of command.

How about polling Navy and Coast Guard “petty” of%cers to see what they think?

Richard Petrillo

SHIPMATE FORUM

Submissions Send Shipmate Forum letters to Editor, FRA Today, 125 N. West St. Alexandria, VA 22314. E-mail submissions may be sent to [email protected]. Please include “Shipmate Forum” in the subject line. FRA reserves the right to select and edit letters for publication. Letters published in Shipmate Forum reflect the opinions and views of FRA members. They do not necessarily reflect the official position of FRA as a whole. FRA is not responsible for the accuracy of letter content.

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ON & OFF CAPITOL HILL

John Davis

AS THIS ISSUE OF FRA Today goes to press, both the House and Senate have passed their respective versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). As Charles Dickens states in the opening sentence of his classic A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” — a phrase that aptly summarizes the FY 2016 Defense Authorization bills (H.R. 1735/S. 1376).

Both versions of the measure have passed their respec-tive chambers and both provide a new “blended de%ned bene%t and de%ned contribution” retirement bene%t for career service members. Both proposals reduce retainer pay by 20 percent (2.0% of base pay/year of service ver-sus the current calculation of 2.5%/year), and provide a one-percent employer contribution to the !ri" Savings Plan (TSP), the federal employee equivalent to a 401(k) account. !is contribution would be made even if the ser-vice member declines to participate. DoD will also match service members’ contributions up to four (Senate plan) or %ve percent (House proposal). While this might sound like a “best of times” proposal, FRA opposes these retirement proposals as they reduce bene%ts for retirees with 20 or more years of service in order to provide retirement ben-e%ts to those who serve as little as two years. FRA believes this reduction could be “the worst of times” if it proves to be a disincentive for future career military personnel.

In contrast to the House and Senate plans, the Department of Defense (DoD) blended retirement pro-posal suggests repealing current law that will set retir-ees’ cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) at one percent below the rate of in'ation for personnel who begin their military service a"er January 1, 2016. Both the House and Senate proposals allow for a lump sum payment to a ser-vice member a"er 12 years of service if he or she signs up for four more years. DoD wants greater 'exibility to o#er lump sum payments anytime between eight and 16 years of service, and wants more 'exibility in determining the size of the payment and the length of the service obliga-tion. !e Pentagon also wants a mandate for new service members to contribute three percent of their pay to TSP accounts, which will be matched by an employer contribu-tion and may not be opted out of until the service member completes %nancial literacy training. For more details on the Pentagon’s changes to the military retirement system, see Tom Philpott’s June 11 2015 Military Update column at www.fra.org/MilUpdate061115

Please refer to the Blended Retirement Proposals chart, which compares the retirement plans proposed by the House, Senate and the Pentagon.

Although both versions of the bill include this new re-tirement construct, there are other signi%cant di#erences

A Tale of Two NDAAs

FRA Weighs In on NDAA Provisions

In addition to expressing its concerns regarding the proposals to reform the military retirement structure (see above), FRA stated its position on a variety of proposals outlined in the House and Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA, H.R. 1735 and S. 1376) in letters to key members of the NDAA conference committee. !e commit-tee will resolve di#erences between the two versions of the bill and create a report that must then be approved by both chambers.

FRA thanked House and Senate lawmakers for resisting the call to in-crease TRICARE enrollment fees, but

shared its opposition to the Senate proposal to increase pharmacy copays for military retirees under the age of 65. In other TRICARE-related refer-ences, FRA supports the Senate provi-sion that would allow bene%ciaries up to four visits for urgent care without a referral and a House proposal that would allow certain military retir-ees a one-time opportunity to regain TRICARE Prime coverage and anoth-er House provision that would create a uni%ed military medical command.

!e Association stands in support of the House plan to provide service members’ pay raises that are equal to those o#ered in the private sector and

spoke out against the Senate propos-als to reduce Basic Allowances for Housing (BAH, from 99 to 95 percent of average housing costs) and further reduce BAH for service members who are married to other military person-nel. Additionally, FRA expressed its support for a section of the Senate measure that would allow military retirees to designate a new SBP ben-e%ciary a"er the death of a former spouse and a provision in the House bill that would create “veteran status” at no cost to certain members of the Reserve Component. FRA opposes a Senate proposal to reduce funding for stateside commissaries.

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between the House (H.R. 1735) and Senate (S. 1376) ver-sions of the FY 2016 NDAA.

Among these many di#erences, the Senate bill imposes additional pharmacy co-pay increases on retirees under age 65, while the House does not. !e Senate bill also provides a smaller active duty annual pay increase (1.3 percent) than the House bill (2.3 percent). !e Senate ap-proved an FRA-supported amendment to halt the priva-tization of %ve stateside commissaries, but deferred other amendments that would advance FRA’s legislative agenda. As a result, concurrent receipt expansion, elimination of pharmacy co-pay increases, presumption of Agent Orange exposure for Vietnam veterans who served in

“Blue Water,” a larger (2.3-percent vs. 1.3-percent) annual pay increase for active duty service members, and veteran status for 20-year reservists who are not mobilized were not included in the %nal measure.

A conference committee will be appointed to resolve the di#erences between the two bills and, once the di#erences are resolved, both chambers must approve the conference report. It will then be sent to the President to be signed into law or vetoed. FRA continues its %ght for provisions that protect and enhance our shipmates’ earned bene%ts.

Members are urged to use the FRA Action Center (ac-tion.fra.org/action-center) to weigh in on these and other issues that impact FRA members.

ON & OFF CAPITOL HILL

PROPOSAL HOUSE SENATE PENTAGON FRA

Retainer Pay Multiplier 2 2 2 Oppose

Government Contribution 1% salary 1% salary 1% salary Support

Government Match Up to 5% Up to 4% Up to 5% Support 5%

Match begins 5% > 2 YOS 4% > 2 YOS 5% > 5 YOS Support 2 YOS

Match ends No end 20 YOS No end Support No end

Continuation pay (12 YOS) Yes Yes 8-16 YOS Support H & S Provisions

Lump sum at retirement option No Yes No Oppose

COLA -1% Remain Remain Repeal Support Repeal

Disability Multiplier 2 2 2.5 Support 2.5%

Grandfather current force Yes Yes Yes Support

SBP/DIC Offset Repeal Introduced in the SenateSen. Bill Nelson (Fla.) has introduced FRA-supported legislation (S. 979) that repeals the re-quirement that forces surviving spouses of military personnel to forfeit portions of their Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuities to offset dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) they re-ceive. This is the Senate companion bill to legislation introduced by Rep. Joe Wilson (S.C.) in the House (H.R. 1594).

SBP and DIC payments are paid for different reasons. SBP is purchased by the retiree and is intended to provide a portion of retired pay to the survivor. DIC is a special indemnity com-pensation paid to the survivor when a military member’s service causes his or her premature death. In such cases, the VA indemnity compensation should be added to the SBP annuity, not substituted for it. It should be noted as a matter of equity that surviving spouses of federal civil-ian retirees who are disabled veterans and die of military-service-connected causes can receive DIC without losing any of their federal civilian SBP benefits.

Members are strongly urged to use the FRA Action Center (action.fra.org/action-center) to ask their U.S. representative and senators to support these proposals.

RETIREE ISSUES

BLENDED RETIREMENT PROPOSALS

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COMPARISON OF HOUSE AND SENATE DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILLS

ISSUE H.R. 1735* S. 1376* FRA POSITION

Benefit Changes to Retirement

Creates a “blended” military retirement system with smaller 20 years defined benefit plan, new portable plan with matching contribution and bonus at 12 years of service if the service member signs up for four more years. (Sections 631–634)

Creates a “blended” military retirement system with smaller 20 year defined benefit plan, new portable defined contribution plan with matching contribution and bonus at 12 years of service if the service member signs up for four more years. (Sections 631–636)

FRA opposes these provisions because they reduce overall benefits and provide too much incentive to leave the military before completing a 20 or more year career.

Please see chart on retirement plans for more specific differences between the two bills.

TRICARE Enrollment Fee Increases

Does not increase TRICARE enrollment fees requested in the Administration’s FY 2016 budget.

Does not increase TRICARE enrollment fees requested in the Administration’s FY 2016 budget.

FRA opposes Administration’s proposed TRICARE enrollment fee increases .

Pharmacy co-pay increase

No similar provision. Creates additional pharmacy co-pays for retirees under age 65. (Section 702)

FRA opposes Senate provision.

PSA One-time Offer Allows a one-time offer to certain military retirees to regain TRICARE Prime after DoD changed eligibility for living more than 100 miles from a military treatment facility (MTF). (Section 705)

Senate bill has no similar provision. FRA supports efforts to provide for a one-time election for military retirees to regain access to TRICARE Prime.

Unified Medical Command

Creates a unified medical command to provide health care savings by eliminating duplicate efforts by each service branch. (Section 711)

Senate bill has no similar provision. FRA supports House provision and other efforts to reduce health care cost and duplication BEFORE increasing TRICARE fees.

Pay Increase Increases pay 2.3% on Jan. 1, 2016 and one-year extension for various pay & bonus programs (Sec. 611 & 612)

Authorizes a 1.3% increase on Jan. 1, 2016 and one-year extension for various pay and bonus programs. (Section 601)

FRA supports the House provision. FRA wants an annual pay increase that at least keeps pace with pay increases in the civilian sector (2.3%).

BAH Rate Reduction Prohibits additional cuts to Basic Allowance for Housing. (Sections 601 & 602)

Reduces BAH from 99% to 95%. (Section 603)

FRA supports the House provision.

BAH Reduction for Married Couple

House has no similar provision A married couple living together that are both entitled to BAH shall be paid only to the member having the higher pay grade. (Section 604)

FRA opposes Senate provision.

Commissary Funding

Rejects Administration’s request to cut Commissary subsidy.

Reduces Commissary funding. (Section 651)

FRA opposes Senate provision that reduces funding for commissary benefit.

Veterans Status Authorizes “veteran status” for members of the Reserve Component who served 20 or more years. (Section 592)

Senate bill has no similar provision FRA supports Reservists who have served 20 or more years be recognized as “veterans.”

SBP for 2nd Spouse House has no similar provision. Allows for the election of a new spouse beneficiary after the death of a former spouse beneficiary. (Section 641)

FRA supports Senate provision.

* Provisions reported are based on House bill (H.R. 1735) that passed the House and on Senate legislation (S. 1376) that was approved by the Senate.

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Agent Orange Presumption Expanded, but Not for Blue Water Navy VeteransDespite the VA’s irrational opposition to helping Blue Water veterans who served offshore dur-ing the Vietnam conflict, the agency has expanded presumption for exposure to Agent Orange for a select group of Air Force and Air Force Reserve veterans who served in Vietnam. It is now presumed that these service members were exposed to the herbicide through regular and repeated contact with contaminated C-123 aircraft. As a result, the VA can immediately begin providing benefits to members of this veteran population who submit a disability compensa-tion claim for any of the 14 medical conditions that have been determined to be related to exposure to Agent Orange.

“I am pleased the VA has finally ended the wait and will now provide disability benefits for the Air Force veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange,” said Senator Kirstin Gillibrand (N.Y.). “However, there are still hundreds of thousands of Blue Water Navy veterans who are being denied benefits they need and deserve because of a technicality in the law. Congress owes it to the Blue Water Navy veterans who bravely served our country and have fallen victim to Agent Orange-related diseases to finish the job by passing legislation that would finally solve this problem and provide access to the benefits they deserve.”

FRA supports Senator Gillibrand’s “Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act” (S. 681) and its House companion bill (H.R. 969, sponsored by N.Y. Rep. Chris Gibson) – measures that would clarify a presumption for exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War for veterans who served off the coast of Vietnam — the so-called Blue Water veterans. Senate VA Committee Chairman Johnny Isakson (Ga.) has indicated that S. 681 will be marked up, approved and sent to the full Senate for consideration. FRA National Executive Director (NED) Tom Snee and FRA NHQ staffers Stephen Tassin and Ben Young also met with Rep. Chris Gibson (N.Y.) concerning H.R. 969, offering the Association’s effort to advance the bill.

NED Snee also brings attention to the Agent Orange issue when he attends the quarterly Veterans Service and Military Service Organization (VSO/MSO) roundtable discussion, spon-sored by Senate Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and the House Democratic Caucus.

Members are urged to use the FRA Action Center (action.fra.org/action-center) to ask their legislators to support this Senate measure (S. 681) and its House companion bill (HR 969).

VA Drops Net Worth in Determining EligibilityFRA applauds the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for eliminating the use of a vet-eran’s net worth when determining eligibility for health care benefits and co-payments. Co-payments for veterans in the lowest Priority Groups (7 and 8) are higher than those for any other group. Dropping net worth will make some veterans in these categories eli-gible for higher-priority groups.

FRA believes that veterans have earned health care benefits through their demand-ing service to their country, regardless of their personal financial situation. Our nation made a commitment to all veterans in return for their service, and actions such as limit-ing eligibility for health care and raising co-payments convey the wrong message to our personnel currently serving and those who have served in the past.

Hearing on VA Budget ShortfallThe House Veterans Affairs Committee (HVAC) held a hearing to review how the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) could have a $2.6 billion budget shortfall for the current fiscal year (FY 2015). The VA claimed that the shortfall is mainly because of in-creased demand by veterans for health care, including new life-saving treatments for Hepatitis C.

Deputy VA Secretary Sloan Gibson told the HVAC that VA health care sites experienced a 10.5 percent increase in workload for the 12-month period that ended in April. Gibson said an antiquated accounting system made it difficult to determine the shortfall and that the VA needs flexibility from Congress to re-duce the budget gap and pay for what he calls “an untenable situation” in which de-mand for health care far exceeds resources available. Gibson also said the VA completed seven million more appointments for care in the past year compared to the previous year, but said veterans still face increased wait times in Phoenix, Las Vegas, and other sites.

VETERANS ISSUES

FRA’s National Executive Director Tom Snee consistently advocates for blue water veterans and did so during a recent Veterans’ Service and Military Service Organization roundtable discussion hosted by Senate Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

AFSA

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ON & OFF CAPITOL HILL

The FRA Legislative Team is National Executive Director Tom Snee, Director of Legislative Programs John Davis, Assistant Director of Legislative Programs Stephen Tassin, Assistant Director of Veterans’ Programs Ben Young and National Veterans Service Director Chris Slawinski.

FRA Hosts 17th Annual Coast Guard Caucus BreakfastFRA hosted its 17th annual Coast Guard Caucus Breakfast, an event held to expand awareness of the Coast Guard’s varied missions and remarkable service to our na-tion, and to promote dialogue be-tween members of Congress and key Coast Guard leaders. FRA’s National Vice President Virgil Courneya, National Executive Director (NED) Tom Snee, Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul Zukunft, former Commandant Admiral Robert Papp (Ret.), Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard (MCPOCG) Steven Cantrell, and a number of Coast Guard officers and senior enlisted leaders participated in discussions about the needs of U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) personnel.

The Coast Guard Caucus is a bipartisan group of 73 lawmakers who share a common interest in the Coast Guard. Caucus members in attendance included Representatives Frank LoBiondo (N.J.), Joe Courtney (Conn.) and Duncan Hunter (Calif.).

NED Tom Snee and National Vice President Virgil Courneya thanked the assembled Coast Guard personnel and caucus members in their opening remarks, and then introduced MCPOCG Steven Cantrell. Cantrell commended FRA’s advocacy for the Coast Guard family and shared the success stories of noteworthy Coast Guardsmen who mentor others and volunteer their time with a willingness to serve that exemplifies today’s Coast Guard.

Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul Zukunft outlined the Coast Guard’s integral role in our nation’s arctic, western hemisphere, and cyber defense strategies. He reminded the Caucus that the Coast Guard continues to execute today’s missions with yesterday’s ships and stressed the need for modern vessels to replace ships that have seen over 50 years of service.

Rep. Courtney (Conn.) is sponsoring the FRA-supported “United States Coast Guard Commemorative Coin Act” (HR 1683), which would honor the men and women of the Coast Guard by minting a special commemorative coin, the sales of which would be used to support the development and operation of the National Coast Guard Museum Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating the National Coast Guard Museum, due to open in New London, Conn., in 2018. Despite its significant role in our national defense, the U.S. Coast Guard is the only uniformed service without a national museum to showcase its 224-year his-tory. FRA members can weigh in on the Coast Guard coin legislation by sending messages to their elected officials through the FRA Action Center (action.fra.org/action-center).

FRA’s work to ensure Coast Guard pay and benefits remain on par with those enjoyed by Department of Defense (DoD) personnel was also acknowledged during the event, as were the Association’s efforts to ensure adequate funding is available to support USCG programs. FRA is committed to educating members of Congress, their staff and the public about the Coast Guard’s critical mission as a part of the Department of Homeland Security.

ACTIVE DUTY/RESERVE ISSUES

Dual BAH on the Chopping BlockIn other NDAA news, the Senate version of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act includes a provision that will dramati-cally change how dual-service couples’ Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) will be calcu-lated. The Senate is proposing to only autho-rize BAH for the higher-ranking member of a dual-service couple. Under current policy, ser-vice members who are married to one another, have no children and are assigned to the same location can each draw BAH at a lower “without dependents” rate. If the couple has a child, the more senior ranking member can draw BAH at a higher “with dependents” rate, while the other member continues to draw BAH at the lower “without” rate.

To put this matter in perspective, an E-6 liv-ing in the Washington, D.C., metro area re-ceives BAH of $2,016 per month as a single service member, and a single E-7 gets $2,148 per month. Under current regulations, a mar-ried couple with these ranks would jointly receive $4,164 per month in BAH. If the proposed change takes effect, the E-7 would be eligible to receive $2,553 in BAH and the E-6 would get $0. Marriage would effectively reduce their collective housing allowance by $1,611 a month — or $19,332 — over the course of a year.

If the same two single service members mar-ried civilians, their BAH would both be at the “with dependents” rate of $2,463 for an E-6 and $2,553 for an E-7, which is much more than if they married each other.

FRA opposes this provision and President Obama has also voiced strong opposition, saying the targeted cuts to BAH would “im-pose a marriage penalty.” An online petition is aimed at stopping this proposal (available at https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/stop-senate-proposed-bill-specifically-un-fairly-targets-and-limits-bah-benefits-dual-military-spouses). If it garners 100,000 signatures, the White House will review the matter and provide an official response.

We strongly encourage all shipmates to use the FRA Action Center (action.fra.org/action-center) to let your representative know that you oppose this provision, too.

Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul Zukunft (left) discusses USCG policy with former Commandant Bob Papp at FRA’s annual Coast Guard Caucus Breakfast.

FRA photo by C

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THE BATTLE OF MIDWAYA Shipmate Survives the Sinking of the USS Yorktown: Part 3By Keith Kaider

JUNE 4, 1942. Duane recounts his experience in the Battle of Midway: “…I was a Seaman 2C (Radio Striker). My battle station was in Radio Central and generally I manned the 500KCS circuit. From my perspective, being closed up inside, the Battle of Midway mirrored the Battle of the Coral Sea. !at was, up to the point that the torpedoes struck. Each hit caused a sudden lurch of the ship and soon we had a large list to the port side. We had also lost power, which had us depending on emergency lighting for what light we had. No communications were available at this time that I am aware of. Being cooped up made the battle seem much longer than it actually was. Most were saying silent prayers that it would soon be over. !e bomb that hit the gun mount just a" of the superstructure gave us quite a jolt. When the word was given to abandon ship we found that the main hatch to Radio Central was jammed and could not be opened as hard as we tried. In single %le we made our way from Radio Central through the Communications O$ce and into the Crypto Room. In the overhead of the Crypto Room was a scuttle. We crawled up on a desk and were able to pull ourselves up through the scuttle. I can’t remember if we went up another deck or not but we ended up on the Bridge. From the Bridge we had no trouble getting back to the 'ight deck. It was a sickening sight to see all the dead shipmates from the gun mount and all of the destruction that had been done to our beloved ship. Everyone I saw had a life preserver. When the order was given to aban-don ship there was no panic or %ghting for lines. Several lines had been lowered over the starboard side, mostly a" of the superstructure, to the water. I don’t think that a conscious e#ort was made by anyone to line their shoes up. I took mine o# and set them together with those already there. It seems to me that sailors of that time were neat by nature. I experienced no problem in going down the line. !e water had quite a bit of debris and a lot of oil. !e life preservers were large and made of kapok. !ey tended to ride up and choke you in the water.

I took mine o#, rolled it up and put my arm across it. !is way I had good 'otation and had an arm free to paddle about. I had no idea of whether the ship was sinking or not. I had always been told that, if something happened like this to get as far away as possible so that you wouldn’t get sucked under in the event it did sink. !is is what I did to the best of my ability. Going was very slow and tiring. At one point I was ready to be picked up by a destroyer when I heard General Quarters sounded. !e de-stroyer immediately pulled away and one sailor yelled, ‘Don’t worry, we will be back.’” One might, at this point think that Duane would be concerned for his safety, but he relates, “!ere was no panic and you had time to look around and take stock of your situation. I concluded that it wasn’t good but could be worse. !e thought of a shark did not en-ter my mind. My thoughts were mainly of my fam-ily. I knew that they would soon learn that the ship had been sunk and be worried sick.”

True to its word, the USS Benham (DD-397) re-turned to pick up several hundred survivors of the Yorktown. Duane estimates he was in the water 45 minutes to an hour. A"er being picked up he says, “If you have never tried to get fuel oil o# your body with saltwater soap, in a salt water shower, you haven’t lived.”

Duane was assigned to CINCPACFLT, advancing rap-idly up the ranks. Duane E. Robertson, now a#ectionately known as “Robbie”, was ad-vanced to Chief Radioman (AA) in September 1945, two months a"er reporting to Main Navy Communications, Washington, D.C. for duty. A"er his retirement from the Navy in 1960, Robbie was a NASA Communication Specialist at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. He is a 57-year member of the Fleet Reserve Association, and served as president of the East Coast Region from July 1981 to June 1982.

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American lighthouses are probably the most romantic and picturesque of all navigational aids. !ese beacons of light have welcomed seafarers home from their voyages for more than 235 years and have become icons of safety, strength and stability. Both the structures and the men and women who operated them have become part of our national fabric.

Virtually all of today’s lighthouses are automated, requiring a minimum of maintenance and upkeep, but that wasn’t always the case. Up until 1998, the Coast Guard still had billets for lighthouse keepers, who maintained the properties and ensured the lights were operating properly. And long before that, light-house keepers led a solitary life in some of the most picturesque, but remote, locations. !eir day-to-day regimen of lighting and extinguishing the beacon required absolute devotion.

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KEEPERS OF OLD!e life of yesterday’s lighthouse keepers required physical strength and endurance, a keen wit, courage, the ability to maintain a constant and unbending routine, and the willing-ness to spend a great deal of time alone.

“Lights must be exhibited punctually at sunset and kept lighted at full intensity until sunrise, when the lights will be extinguished and the apparatus put in order without delay for relighting,” mandated the Instructions to Employees of the United States Lighthouse Service (1927 edition). Compliance was no small matter. Lighthouses of the past were illuminated by oil lanterns, which required the keeper to haul heavy oilcans up to the lantern, sometimes as often as every two to three hours to ensure the "ame never went out. Many light-houses used counterweights and a pulley system, similar to clockworks, to keep the lens revolving. Physical strength was also needed to manually crank these weights back to the top of the tower every few hours. Before the advent of electric-ity, many lighthouses had manual fog bells that required the keeper to ring the bell in a designated pattern for as long as the fog persisted. Imagine ringing the bell every 15 seconds for days and nights on end!

Keepers were also required to keep meticulous records of daily events, including entries on weather conditions, shipping tra#c and maintenance work that was done or needed to be done on the property. !e daily logbooks from many keepers included entries about dusting and scrubbing, trimming wicks and keeping the lens and windows free from soot.

When weather conditions were violent, passing ships were in the greatest danger and the need for the keepers to be at the top of their game was even more important. Inclement weather created a hazard to the lighthouses themselves and keepers often had to brave $erce winds and driving rain or hail to protect the structure and the navigational aids they contained. Despite their best e%orts to prevent maritime mishaps, sometimes keepers were also called upon to rescue crew and passengers from ships in distress near their lights.

ELECTRICITY CHANGED SOME THINGS!e advent of electric lights in lighthouses changed many of the keeper’s duties, but many of the same challenges remained. Just ask Shipmate Ismael Torres, Jr., (Branch 24, Annapolis, Md.), who served as a lighthouse keeper for most of his 20-year Coast Guard career. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Torres comes from a long line of military servicemem-bers and understand devotion to duty.

“My grandparents on both sides of my family fought in the Spanish-American War,” says Torres, with a chuckle, “against the enemy … the Americans … who invaded Puerto Rico. !ey were $ghting to protect their tobacco farm and co%ee

plantation.” But he’s quick to point out that his family’s loyalties have been with the United States ever since. “My grandparents’ sons both fought in World War I, side-by-side with American troops. My brothers and cousins fought for the Allies in World War II and I joined them in the Korean war, as an Army infantryman.”

Torres had $ve years of Army service under his belt when he voluntarily transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard in August of 1955. When asked why he transferred, he o%ered another chuckle. “Do you know what it’s like in the Army? You sleep on the ground! I wanted to do something di%erent. I wanted to save lives and protect my country, which is what the Coast Guard is all about.”

After boot camp, he was assigned to a buoy tender for a four year tour and then did his $rst tour as a lighthouse keeper in 1959. “One month after I got married, I was assigned to Punta Borinquen Light in Puerto Rico. My wife and I spent our honeymoon at the lighthouse, and she is still my light-house princess at 56 years! At that time, the lighthouse was located inside Ramey Field Air Force Base. It was a romantic spot, but our windows would rattle when the B-52s and C-130s would take o% and land!”

Many of his responsibilities echoed those of his keeper predecessors, including having to maintain the tower and keeper’s quarters. Like the keepers of the past, Torres’ duties also included conducting surveillance of the coastline and monitoring and reporting weather conditions. And even though he didn’t have to lug oil to the top of the tower, he was responsible for ensuring the stand-by generator was in working order for emergencies when the power failed.

Torres experienced his share of excitement during his years as a Coast Guard lighthouse keeper, including strong storms and international incidents.

“During a hurricane in Puerto Rico, we had to tie a line around the lighthouse and into the passageway of our quarters. During the storm, we had to make our way out to the $rst "oor of the lighthouse, where the communications equipment was, so we could transmit the weather status. We had to hold on for dear life due to the strong winds,” recalls Torres. “!ere was a 200-foot drop about 100 feet from the lighthouse, so we obviously didn’t want to get blown over the edge.”

Another exciting experience involved some Cuban mutineers. “I got a call from Headquarters in Norfolk, saying that crewmembers of a Cuban ship had mutinied and were trying to get to the U.S. !e crew all spoke Spanish and they needed me to translate. We told them we’d meet them in U.S. terri-tory, but they never made it. !ey got close, but none made it to the United States. !e mutineers had to jump overboard and many were shot. I felt badly, but there was nothing we could do. We couldn’t interfere because they were in interna-tional waters.”

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By contrast, he also experienced many serene years in a variety of picturesque waterfront locations. A romantic at heart, Torres speaks wistfully about the peace and tranquility of his keeper assignments, recalling beautiful sunsets and quiet evenings.

“Our quarters at Punta Borinquen Light had two bedrooms, which was $ne for a family with one child,” remembers Torres, who just celebrated his 83rd birthday. “I made an innocent mistake and had three! It was beautiful there, with the most beautiful sunsets … which explains the three kids! When my daughter was born, I got transferred.”

He served three sea duty tours before being stationed at Cape Henry Light in Virginia Beach, Va. “I was the O#cer in Charge there from 1968 to 1971 and I loved it. We were a weather station and we were also responsible for keeping the lighthouse in top shape – light and bright all the time. We did weekly cleanings of the lenses and checked the bulbs. We lived right on the beach and my whole family loved it there, too. Virginia Beach was a very beautiful place. I wanted to stay there for the rest of my life, even though I was only a young petty o#cer.”

LIGHTHOUSE EVOLUTIONLighthouses predate our nation and their construction has evolved over the centuries, taking into account the construc-tion and lighting technology of the day. No two lighthouses were built from the same set of plans and all incorporated local materials in their construction, so it’s not surprising that each one is unique. But each was designed and built for a similar purpose and, therefore, share commonalities.

Early lighthouse towers were made of indigenous wood or stone. Fire was a constant threat to lighthouses and many of the wooden ones were consumed by "ames, but remnants of the stone ones provide clues to their construction. !e earli-est were built by simply piling one course of stone on top of another, starting at a wide base and tapering in toward the top. !is technique required that the thickness of the base be proportional to the height of towers and limited the overall height to about 90 feet in the late 1700s.

As our nation grew, there was a "urry of lighthouse construc-tion. Between 1801 and 1814, one or two lighthouses were funded almost every year. Cut stones began to be used for construction, allowing the weight to be more uniformly distributed, and taller, stronger towers emerged. Despite this progress, few of the 40 light towers built between 1789 and 1820 remained standing at the end of the Civil War.

Stephen Pleasonton became the Fifth Auditor of the Treasury in 1820 and was charged with oversight of operating the Treasury’s Lighthouse Establishment. His tight hold on

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Main image: !e lighthouse at Coast Guard Sector Bu%alo is no longer in use, but maintained by the Bu%alo Lighthouse Association. (U.S. Coast Guard Photo by Petty O#cer 3rd Class Brandon Blackwell)

Inset image: !e Pensacola Lighthouse was built in 1859 and boasted a $rst-order Fresnel lens, the largest and most powerful lens of the day. !is photo (circa 1960) shows the enormous size and multiple facets of the lens. !e lighthouse is now operated by the Pensacola Lighthouse Association and is open for public tours. Visit www.pensacolalighthouse.org for more information. (Photo by Department of Commerce)

federal purse strings during his 32-year tenure in the post had a signi$cant impact on the nation’s lighthouses. He knew little about them and made little e%ort to learn about the evolving technologies of the day. Further, he was the ultimate $scal conservative and consistently approved the purchase of substandard, but less expensive, lighting and construction systems. His lowest-bidder philosophy led him to appropriate funds for the construction of inferior structures that were in constant need of maintenance and replacement. To demonstrate, of the 40 or so brick towers built in the South during Pleasonton’s time as Auditor, at least 25 sunk into the soft, sandy ground on which they were built or simply blew over in strong winds. Not surprisingly, few lighthouses built between 1820 and 1852 remain.

One positive development during this period was the use of cast iron in building lighthouses. It was lighter and less expensive than brick and stone, and it was strong, watertight and was slow to deteriorate. Some cast iron towers were lined with brick for additional stability. !e tallest cast iron tower was Cape Henry Light – 165 feet tall – and remains standing after 134 years! (See sidebar on page 24 for more informa-tion on this historic lighthouse.)

A new era of lighthouse construction began in 1852, when a special committee was appointed by Congress to address the nation’s inadequate lighthouse situation. !is Lighthouse Board established 12 districts and provided for the admin-istration and inspection of the country’s lighthouses. !e Board also instituted improvements in equipment and fos-

tered experimentation with new devices that would aid mariners in navigating the coast. By 1959 brick towers of more than 160 feet were dotting the eastern seaboard, increasing the height of former towers by more than 60 feet.

!e development of the Fresnel lens was a breakthrough in lighthouse illumination and were considered state-of-the-art in the late 1800s through the middle of the 1900s. Named for French physicist Augustin-Jean

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Fresnel, the lenses were a collection of multiple prismatic elements arranged in faceted domes in order to capture more oblique light from a light source. !is allowed the light to be visible over a greater distance. !e design also allowed for much thinner materials, which reduced the volume and weight of the lens. Even though $rst order (the largest) Fresnel lenses used in lighthouse are large enough for a man to stand inside, this new technology made such lenses smaller and more manageable than conventional lenses.

In 1910, the Bureau of Lighthouses (or Lighthouse Service) was formed and began operating the

country’s lighthouses under the oversight of the Commerce Department. In 1915, the nation’s Life-Saving Service was combined with the Revenue Cutter Service to create the United States Coast Guard (USCG). It wasn’t

until 1939 that the Bureau of Lighthouses was transferred to the Coast Guard, bringing the

service’s aids-to-navigation mission full circle.

LIGHTHOUSES TODAY … AND TOMORROWWith Global Positioning Systems (GPS), are lighthouses even needed anymore?

“!e advent of GPS, radar and other modern navigation tools has rendered lighthouses functionally obsolete,” says Shipmate Dave Lewald (Branch 24, Annapolis, Md.), a navi-gation specialist and retired USCG Master Cutterman with Navigation Technologies and Systems Division (CG-NAV-3). “Simply stated, the Seacoast Aids to Navigation (ATON)

System was created in the mid-1800s and consisted mainly of lighthouses. !e navigational requirements for this system, as designed, have been replaced with modern electronics. It is becoming more di#cult for the Coast Guard to justify the operational and maintenance costs when the need for a ‘landfall’ light to guide mariners is no longer there.”

According to Lewald, the U.S. Coast Guard currently oper-ates 361 lights classi$ed as “major lights,” which means their light can be seen under normal atmospheric conditions from distances greater than 10 miles. Many of these major lights “don’t have the traditional ‘lighthouse look’ and are often skeleton towers or other utilitarian structures that lack the romance of a brick and mortar tower with a quaint keeper’s quarters located nearby. !ere are a handful of ‘traditional lighthouses’ that are used as a range light and therefore aren’t listed as major lights.”

Many lighthouses have been abandoned or divested, and the Coast Guard has been handing over ownership, and in some cases responsibility for running them, to other parties, chief among them is the National Park Service. !e National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act (NHLPA) provides for the disposal of federally owned historic light stations that exceed the needs of the Coast Guard (or other responsible agency). According to the National Park Service website, “!e NHLPA recognizes the cultural, recreational and educational value associated with historic light station proper-ties by allowing them to be transferred at no cost to federal agencies, state and local governments, nonpro$t corporations, educational agencies and community development organiza-tions.” !ese entities must be $nancially able to maintain the

Cape Henry Lighthouse Cape Henry was the first lighthouse to be federally funded and has kept watch at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay since 1792. George Washington authorized its construction and Alexander Hamilton oversaw the building of this historic tower, at a cost of $17,700. It is the only lighthouse of steel-plate construction still standing in the U.S. The old Cape Henry Lighthouse is owned by Preservation Virginia and is open to the public on a sea-sonal schedule. Visitors are invited to climb to the top of the tower to enjoy spectacular views of the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. For more information days and hours, restrictions to climb the lighthouse and fees, visit www.apva.org/CapeHenryLighthouse or call 757-422-9421.

The original lighthouse was damaged by Confederate forces during the Civil War and re-paired by Union troops, and concerns about its stability caused the government to build a second lighthouse in 1881. This second light is made of cast iron, sits approximately 350 feet from the original and is maintained and operated by the U.S. Coast Guard. It is not open to the public.

The two lighthouses have been designated as a National Historic Landmark and are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. They are located at 583 Atlantic Ave, Fort Story, Virginia 23459. Fort Story, a military base operated by the U.S. Navy, lies within the city of Virginia Beach. Visitors should be aware that you must enter through Fort Story’s security gates. All visitors over the age of 16 will be required to present valid identification and vehicles may be subject to search.

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lighthouses and make the properties available to the general public for education, park, recreation, cultural or historic preservation purposes. To learn more about the NHLPA and which historic lighthouses are available, visit www.nps.gov/maritime/nhlpa/intro.htm

As a result, many lighthouses are now in the hands of dedicated private or public owners and have been restored to their origi-nal glory. Some of these lighthouses remain an active federal Aid to Navigation (ATON), while others have been discontin-ued and are now operated as a Private ATON (PATON).

“It’s important to understand that turning a lighthouse ‘o%’ as an ATON is not necessarily a bad thing,” explains Lewald, “especially if the Coast Guard can turn it over to a person or organization who is in a better position to maintain it. Many of these private groups’ ability to maintain major lights far exceeds that of the Coast Guard, and they’re able to turn the light back on as a cultural/historical exhibit. Everyone bene$ts!”

A historian and self-proclaimed lover of the lights, Lewald understands the emotional appeal of lighthouses. “We all have an a#nity for that beautiful light on the windswept cli%, but the simple truth is that our desire to keep lighthouses lit is less about analysis and more about anecdotes. !ere’s great lore to these lights,” he muses. “I know my love of lights stems from being on the water with my grandfather, who was an oysterman on the Chesapeake Bay. He’d point to the lights and explain to me how to use them to get home. !ese lights were incredible engineering achievements in their day. Each one had a unique environment and was a unique engineer-ing solution. !ey were positioned in prime locations, on unsheltered blu%s, with a picturesque keepers cottage to the side. I’ve heard them called ‘America’s castles,’ and I think that’s a very apt description.”

People get very passionate about these old lights and discus-sions can generate some real animosity. While attending a community meeting about removing the light from an old tower, Lewald recalls “a surgeon in the crowd who tried to compare removing the light to removing an eye from a patient. He went on to say it was ‘un-American’ to do so. I have to tell you, I’m well-versed in the maintenance of Fresnel lenses, I’m a historian and, at that point, I had 29 years of service in the Coast Guard,” he chuckles, “and I’d certainly never had anyone question my patriotism!”

It might be di%erent if the lights had been modernized along the way, but that simply didn’t happen. Lewald was struck by the di%erence when he visited other historic military sites.

“Fort Moultrie (S.C.) was an active U.S. fort from the War of 1812 through the end of World War II. !e fort had been modernized throughout its history and is now a museum that depicts the weaponry and defensive technologies from the dif-ferent eras during which the fort served. !e USS Missouri is another example. It was launched during World War II, was

the historic site of Japan’s surrender and $red missiles during the $rst Gulf War. It was modernized to continue its produc-tive service for 50 or 60 years. In contrast, the Coast Guard wasn’t allowed to modernize lighthouse lenses,” says Lewald. “We were forced to continue operating the old Fresnel lenses until automated lights were mandated by Congress in the 1970s as a cost-saving measure. Now the skill to maintain them is gone.”

Even e%orts to preserve lighthouses and their lights are di#cult. “!ese Fresnel lenses are stunning works of art, but they’re also delicate mechanisms that aren’t meant to be dismantled and reassembled. !e old keepers kept the lenses polished and closed drapes around them to protect them from damaging sunlight. !is type of meticulous care and upkeep isn’t being done and it’s resulted in what we call ‘consumptive use of artifacts’ – the degrading of historic items that need preservation,” explains Lewald. “Replacement parts are no lon-ger available and the skill sets to work on these gems no longer exist in the Coast Guard. And even if they did, the old lights used to rotate in a bath of mercury. We can’t start reinstalling tubs of hazardous material in these old structures!”

!e USCG is currently studying the navigational requirement our Seacoast ATON system and the public is invited to comment through an anonymous survey located at www.NAVCEN.gov. !e survey will be posted on or about 15 July. Information collected during this study will help the USCG determine the best course of action to best serve the Marine Transportation System (MTS) and meet the historic preservation needs of these national treasures.

!e Coast Guard is equally committed to preserving these treasures, according to Lewald, but there is little money to do it. “It’s important to keep that heritage alive and the Coast Guard doesn’t want to turn the lights o%, but it’s our job to e#ciently use taxpayer resources. And it’s hard to justify spending money on 1840s technology when there are groups and volunteers who are better suited to manage and maintain these treasures. We’ve got people lining up to take care of them, people who are eager to get the lights back on and keep them on as cultural and historical points of interest.”

Technology evolves and Aids to Navigation systems have changed dramatically, just in Lewald’s lifetime. “During my Coast Guard career, I set buoys by sextant. And that light-house beacon was a very reassuring indicator that I’d made landfall after a transoceanic voyage,” he recalls. “But I have to tell you, I’m really glad I’m not relying on that technology anymore.”

Lauren Armstrong is the Contributing Editor and Member of the FRA Auxiliary. She can be reached at [email protected].

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Youth ActivitiesTHE FRA YOUTH ACTIVITIES program is an excellent opportunity for ship-mates to focus on our future leaders. !e purpose of the program is to serve the youth in local communities and guide the young generation in their endeavors to become better and more productive citizens. To make this pro-gram work, it is up to our shipmates to become involved in programs such as scouting, athletic teams, sci-ence and technology clubs and youth military programs, as well as tutoring and mentoring. Here are some recent highlights of FRA’s involvement in youth activities.

Several branches support youth military programs, which help to build character and promote mental, moral, and physical development. !e most notable youth military programs are high school Navy Junior Reserve O$cer Training Corps (NJROTC), Sea Cadets and Young Marines. !e Young Marines, for example, is open to all youth ages 8 through completion of high school. Membership requires the student to be in good standing in school. !ere are currently 300 units with 10,000 youth and 3,000 adult volunteers in 40 states, the District of Columbia, and Japan. Many of our shipmates volunteer hours, give donations and present awards to

cadets who have achieved greatness. If you would like more information about the Young Marines, go to www.youngmarines.com.

Sponsoring sporting events for youth participation is another won-derful opportunity to create a spirit of competitiveness and camaraderie among future leaders. Many of our branches support Little League, youth football, basketball and soccer, Soap Box Derby, martial arts teams, and more. Shipmate Anthony Jackson, secretary of Branch 6 (Baltimore, Md.) was presented the 2014 Shipmate of the Year award in Youth Activities for his support of the Riley Hawkins Avengers Karate Club. He volunteered over 1,000 hours of his time and do-nated $1,300 to purchase uniforms and other supplies for the participants. More than 45 students (age seven and above) learn martial arts skills, includ-ing team building and self-discipline, that apply throughout their lives.

!e Soap Box Derby team spon-sored by Branch 24 in Annapolis has been competing in the District of Columbia competition for more than 15 years. PRPEC Don Hoover, along with branch and unit members and other volunteers, assists the youth in preparing the cars and themselves for the competition. Two participants will represent the FRA at the 2015 All

American Soap Box Derby in Akron, Ohio. Here’s hoping they win %rst place in their respective car classes!

Scouting for both girls and boys is always a sure winner for our ship-mates to support young people in their local communities, but there are other, non-traditional ways to be involved with youth activities. Participating in a Youth ID program in conjunction with your local police department is one such program, o#ering parents a way to document their children’s per-sonal information for use if a child should be lost or missing.

Speaking of unique ways to par-ticipate, how about volunteering to mentor a high school robotics team? Shipmate Michael Hurst (Branch 24, Annapolis, Md.) is an engineering mentor for the Wheaton High School First Robotics Competition (FRC) Team 5115. !e team has only been in existence for two years, but made a good showing in the 2015 Chesapeake Regional FIRST Robotics Competition in April, competing against larger and more experienced teams to design and build a robot. Shipmate Hurst vol-unteered more than 100 hours to as-sist the team and he is seeking other volunteers in the local community to work with the team for the 2016 competition.

FRA’s annual Americanism Essay Contest is another way to support area youth, as is involvement with area Toys 4 Tots toy drives in local commu-nities. Support your youth programs to the max because the growth of our future leaders depends on your men-toring, tutoring, expertise and knowl-edge of life. Make it count!

MEMBERSHIP MATTERS

Penny Collins is FRA’s Director of Membership Development and a member of FRA Branch 24 in Annapolis, Md. She can be reached at [email protected].

Penny Collins

Branch 6 Secretary (Baltimore, Md.) Anthony Jackson (not pictured) is an instructor at the Riley Hawkins Avengers Karate Club, where he interacts with and mentors youngsters.

Branch 24 (Annapolis, Md.) sponsored several participants in the 2015 Soap Box Derby in Washington, DC.

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FRA NEW LIFE MEMBERS

FRA CONGRATULATES THE FOLLOWING shipmates who have become Life Members during the second quarter of 2015, includ-ing their branch number or their designation as a Member-at-Large (MAL). Call 1-800-FRA-1924 to learn how you can become a Life Member of FRA.

APRIL 2015Wilbert Jones 292Ronald D. Keenan 060Rocky Clark 061Bruce S. Hill 093Tim French 166Omar L. Meyer 110George W. Livendale MALOdean D. Miller 260Ralph J. Thummel 022Raymond O. Culpepper 264David D. Diamond MALDavid Feller 162Eric L. Hann MAL

Allen L. Blue MALWilliam R. Phillips 005Robert P. Johnson 093Merritt G. Ervin MALWayne L. Koser 040Robert J. Campbell 013Jackie L. Smith MALArthur M. Evans 188Edwin S. Ward 061James A. Johnson, Jr 091Bruce C. Carawon 126Chris Lindemann MALRaymond .J Hart 060

Rolan C. Harroun 022Allen C. Berryhill MALRichard L. Gardner 192Evelyn S. Eyster 053Gary T. Sellers 281Karene Pouesi 302Walfrido Tobias Napiza 171Arturo M. Mendoza 171James G. Larson MALPhillip C. Simmons MALLarry E. Hyche 001Gaylord McKoy 067William J. Landsittel 091

John R. Meyers MALLarry Alan Gray 367George F. Marshall 367Sterling D. Smith 008Robert K. Simons MALJames R. Patten 290Robert C. Tinsley MALSanford H. Russell MALJon .D Aussey 099Jerry A. Singer 161Joseph K .Fryar 046

MAY 2015 Jeffery M. Fuller 367Thomas E. Hunter MALJohn Worsley MALRobert H. Clark MALBarry L. Chase MALJorge L. Cuadrado 051Primitivo A. Dequilla 029Jeffrey C .Myers MALBetty R. Myers MALMichael C. Cormican MALBruce Burnett 170John M. Broughton 290William F. Ryals 024Russell .A Farnsworth MALRobert E. French 170Roy C. Miller 059Thomas C. Templeton MAL

John F. Bird 077David J. Nelson 061Alberto D. Espiritu 008David A. Wheeler 298John S. Purdy 024Charles E. Frederick MALEdward A. Ford 208J. C. Price 011Roger M. Leach 022James A. Covas, Jr. MALJames D. Beattie, Jr. 057Robert Gokey MALJuan Quidachay MALC. E. Van Ness MALDavid J. Morgan MALKenneth J. Davenport MALKenneth J. Szczublewski 024

Timothy G. Seipp 046Kevin J. Bradley 046Reid D. Morris 046Ron Ramsey 061Emory T. Fraker, Jr. 261Darryl B. Pittman 103John L. Thornton MALTom Wilbur 024Robert R. Price MALDonald C. Edwards 011Milton Hnyla 091Floyd J. Smith 059James R. Scott 207Howard Lang MALJerry Tipton 334Remo Dela Pena 115Dickie D. Dunn MAL

George F. Meyer 208Darrell L. Cole 099James A. Sagerholm 024Voytle V. Shackelford 210Antonio Dominquez 094Hubert E. Lorance 175William H. Janzen 175Thomas T. Thaggard 289Roy D. Armentrout 101Raymond E. Hamaker 227Lawrence W. Severin 001Alexander Newkirk 005Jerry D. Toney 290Robert W. McQuaid MALSamuel A. Bates, Jr. 166

JUNE 2015 Danny J. Gray MALJerome P. Lickteig 161William H. Rowe 185Allen F. Bell 156John E. Strattard MALJames Pierce MALWilliam C. Oberg 136James A. Collins 042Benjamin D. Casuga, Jr. 154David L. Kolonko 201Felipe C. Diaz 166William C. Therrell 126Leonard F. Liebe MALVictor N. Gage 136Lloyd H. Traaen MALWilliam E.Schultz 275

Lawrence Fletes 269Mark R. Melton 090John W. Thiel 077John R. Miller MALJames E. Swann, Jr. 024Richard Lovas 310Leon C. Haddock 250Douglas E. Schafer 024Charles R. Pinney 307Jerry D. Montanya MALDouglas S. Borrebach 024Paul O. Milton 008Richard C. Heuer MALEdward Zeman 216Thomas D. Gelwicks MALJoseph A. Moledo 175

Phillip R. Legan MALPatrick J. McIntyre, Jr. 086Ralph E. Turnbull 042John A. Mueller MALWayne J. Oliveira 127Robert P. Brillante 024Dale E. Ebersold 130Donald Mayo 086James L. Gore 120Robert W. Atchison 060Steven Delancy MALKeith D. Surface MALTimothy Ciciora 290James E. Hutson MALJose Y. Basco, Jr. MALFrank S Brunt 091

Kenneth W. Murray MALJohn .H Plourde 261Thomas .J Snee 181Robert J. Gillett MALKenneth R. Rember MALRichard L. Mays 194Anita L. Brt MALJose R. Brambila 166Michael J. Mrsny MALAmber Rechsteiner 103Joseph V. Neureiter MALAnthony J. Rendine MALW. Paul Carver MALMatthew G. Mainwaring MAL

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TAPS In Memoriam

NAME BRANCH NAME BRANCH

NAME BRANCH

Aragon, Remiglo B., USN 084Ardo, Julius A, CPO, USN 175

Baron, William M, RMC, USN 202Beattie, James W, EMCM(SS), USN 309Bellock, James R, CWO4, USN 264Bence, Robert D, MMCS, USN 067Bernier, Arthur G, GYSGT, USMC 208Best, Orlan G, PO1, USN MALBlouse, John G, MMCM, USN 106Boggs, Clarence C, QMCS(SS), USN 099Braden, Raymond L, PNC, USN 094Bunker, William S, YNCS, USN 085

Calk, Dolon L, AO1, USN 098Carriker, Floyd A, SK1, USN 175Carter, David L, MSGT, USMC MALCaulder, William E, CPO, USN 259Clarke, Arthur L, HMC, USN 178Cline, Larry L, BTC, USN 259Cloutier, Leo R, ADR2, USN 124Coady, James P, RM1, USN MALCoons, Raymond E, EMCS(SS), USN 263Core, Walter L, PNC, USN 099Crabtree, Duane M, AZC, USN 021Crelencia, Augusto B, SK1, USN 111Crockett, John R, YNCS(SS), USN 008

Denham, Euel E, OMC, USN 022Dennis, James A, HT1, USN MALDestefano, Ralph J, ENC, USN 046Dietz, Donald A, ATCS, USN MALDonohue, Austin J, EM1, USN 005Draper, Michael J., 358Dreher, Leonard A., USN 289

Eaton, Marshall J, CPO, USN 026Ervin, Donald J, RM1, USN 136

Farnsworth, Russell A, AK1, USN MALFinch, Dan D, CWO3, USN 093Follero, Jose T, DK1, USN 127Foster, Robert R, AKC, USN 289Frank, Louis C, MSGT, USMC 067Franson, Richard V, USN 136Froitzheim, Norman P, RM1, USN MALFulmer, Samuel J, MSGT, USMC 358

Gascon, Ronald J, RMCM, USN MALGill, James L, HMCM(SW), USN 020Gipson, Charles R, ATCS, USN 011

Grant, Daniel R, MMCS, USN 091Green, John B, CPO, USN 219

Hamilton, James L, CTACM, USN 182Harris, Harold E, CEC, USN 234Harris, Julius C, USN MALHolliday, Gene C, AZ1, USN 041Hord, Cheryl A, PNCM, USN 251Houston, William B, LCDR, USN 061

Jenkins, Arden K, BTC, USN MALJessup, John M, FT1, USN 055Jocson, Dominador A., CPO, USCG 004Johnson, Roger D, USN 338Jolley, Richard W, SSGT, USMC 060Jones, Paul C, ADR2, USN 124Jones, Needham B, AKCM, USN MALJulian, Edward J, GYSGT, USMC 071

Kovrig, Joseph P, YNC, USN MALKrueger, David L, HMCM(SW)

Retired, USN MAL

Lemons, Chester F, MGYSGT, USMC 208Lindquist, John A, FTCM(SS/DV),

USN MALLombardo, Michael, FTGC, USN 005Lozinak, John J, CPO, USN MALLuzzi, Edward, PFC, USMC 124

Madenford, Eugene C, 1STLT, USMC 106Mahan, Lee G, ADJ1, USN 126Marson, Joseph L, ADRC, USN 022Martin, James J, USN 226Martinez, Joseph, AMS1, USN MALMathis, Charles S, ENC, USN 042May, Robert F, BTCM, USN MALMcKean, James W, FTGC, USN MALMcKinley, Robert B, ADRC, USN 094McManness, Gene V, AMHC, USN 267McMonagle, Francis X., MM2, USN 012Moschella, Frank J, AD3, USN 091Moschner, Gerald R, CE2, USN 365

Mowry, Lewis W, ETCM, USN 087

O’Neill, Linda H., PN3, USN 024Olsen, Ralph W, CPO, USN MAL

Payner, Charles J, DCC, USN 327Peterman, Silas E, GMGC, USN 018

Petricone, Salvatore P, EM2, USNR 147Pitchord, Tom, QM3, USN 371Pool, Henry F., EAC, USN MALPrice, Fred R, CAPT, USMC 194Price, Vernell, GYSGT, USMC 159Pruitt, Burl, PO1, MAL

Rask, Ralph E, USN 018Rattigan, Benjamin, AOC, USN 091Rich, Ronald L, CTMCM, USN 175Rojem, Arthur L, AMS1, USN 289Rudd, Charles E., USN 183Ryan, James D, MMCM, USN MAL

Scheidegger, John H, CTAC, USN 162Smith, James A, AMSC, USN 287Stansbury, Ronald W, PNC, USN 197Stouder, Floyd W, DKC, USN 276

Travelbee, Ophelia F, YN1, USN 021Tuders, William A, BMC, USN MALTuxhorn, Willis H, DCCS, USN MAL

Weaver, Fred L, HMC, USN 022Whelpley, Larry Michael, OM1, USN 289Wilson, Thomas G, CTOC, USN 022Wilson, Harry S, HMC, USN 060Winsett, Russel T, GMC, USN 109Wittenauer, Raymond A, AFCM, USN 091Watts, Algie A, IMC, USN 202Ward, Raleigh C, SWC, USN 215Wallace, Alvin G, ADR1, USN 339Woody, Robert F, ACCM, USN MALWright, Cary F, LCDR, USN 047

Zwatschka, John R, ADJC, USN 022

Names in red indicate 50 year continuous members. Educating our service members,

veterans and their families.

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LEGACY GIFTS TO THE FRA

YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN FRA demon-strates extraordinary commitment to improving the quality of life for cur-rent and former service personnel. Many shipmates choose to leave a leg-acy of Loyalty, Protection and Service by contributing to the FRA or remem-bering the Association in their wills or living trusts. Creating such a lasting tribute is a simple way to perpetuate your commitment to the guiding prin-ciples of our organization.

In recent years, many shipmates have elected to include FRA in their wills. By providing for FRA in your estate plan, you are investing in a last-ing bene%t for your family, your ship-mates, and all those who will follow a"er. Gi"s like these help to ensure the continued success of our work on Capitol Hill, our scholarship program for deserving students and the other programs that make being an FRA Shipmate so special.

Donations and BequestsFRA gratefully accepts donations from our members and others who wish to support the Association’s important work. Some shipmates elect to donate directly or make bequests as part of their estate plan, while others ask fam-ily and friends to make donations and bequests in their name.

As you consider your contribu-tion, know that FRA’s management of %nancial resources far exceeds the Better Business Bureau’s standards for charity organizations. FRA spends 85 cents of every dollar to provide direct service to its members, with a minimum spent on fundraising and overhead. Donors can be assured their legacy donations are handled with the same good stewardship and respect.

Shipmates are encouraged to re-quest a copy of our free publication, My Personal A%airs, designed to help you organize all of your important

%nancial information. For your copy, please contact Member Services at [email protected] or 1-800-FRA-1924.

Contributions may be made in a variety of ways. By phone: Please call FRA’s Finance O$cer at 1-800-672-1924 or 703-683-1400, extension 102, and explain that you would like to make a memorial donation.Online: Visit our secure website at www.fra.org, and click the “Support FRA” tab near the top of the screen. By mail: If you prefer to make your donation by check, you may mail it to:

FRA125 N. West StreetAlexandria, VA 22314

Investing in FRA’s Future

FRA’s Education Foundation awards over $100,000

in scholarship funds each year to recipients based

on financial need, academic standing, character

and leadership qualities. Our scholarship program

is open to anyone who has an affiliation with the

USN, USMC or USCG, through their own service or

that of a spouse, parent or grandparent.

Educating our service members, veterans and their families.

Who needs money for college?

EDUCATION FOUNDATION

125 N. West StreetAlexandria, VA 22314800-FRA-1924 • [email protected]

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USS Hamner (DD-718)September 17–21, 2015, San Diego, CA. Contact Pattie Keys, 4419 Olando Lane, Bowie, MD 20715, 714-401-7791.

USS Columbus (CA-74, CG12, SSN762)September 22–27, 2015, San Diego, CA. Contact Al Hope, 260-486-2221, [email protected].

USS Arnold J Isbell (DD-869)September 10–13, 2015, Philadelphia, PA. Contact Barry Dahlberg, Berrien Springs, MI 49103, 708-203-1445, [email protected].

USS EldoradoSeptember 22–25, 2015, Baltimore, MD. Contact Stan Davis, 114 N. Meadow Drive, Glen Burnie, MD, 410-768-8408, 410-903-6494, [email protected].

USS Rushmore AssociationSeptember 16–20, 2015, San Antonio, Texas. Contact Richard C. Phillips, 19147 Grenelefe Ct., North Fort Myers, FL 33903, 239-599-2450.

USS Stribling (DD-867)September 17–20, 2015, Mayport, FL. Contact HMCS (SW) Tom Miller, USN (Ret.), 304 Thornhill Drive Braselton, GA 30517, 706-824-0166, [email protected].

USS Towers (DDG-9)September 15–20, 2015, Pittsburgh, PA. Contact Raymond Wong, 1634 38th Avenue San Francisco, CA 94122, 415-566-7285, [email protected].

LOOKING FOR…

All reunion notices must be submitted in writing. Members can post reunions online at www.fra.org, submitted via e-mail to [email protected] or in writing to FRA Reunions, 125 N. West St., Alexandria, VA 22314. Questions regarding reunion submissions should be directed to 1-800-FRA-1924, ext. 108.

REUNIONS

All Looking For … notices must be submitted in writing. Members can submit requests via e-mail to [email protected] or in writing to FRA Looking For, 125 N. West St., Alexandria, VA 22314. Questions regarding reunion submissions should be directed to 1-800-FRA-1924, ext. 126.

Admiral George E. R. Kinnear II I was his flag writer from 1972 to 1980. Please contact Floyd S. Hawkins Jr. at PO Box 705, Oak Harbor, WA 98277, [email protected] or 360-675-6809.

HMC Samuel Pack Last seen on the USS Midway. Please contact HMC (Ret.) Roger Moor at 1211 Severns Lane, Paradise, CA 95969, 530-872-5042 or [email protected]

IF YOU’RE HOSTING OR attending a reunion, please consider how many prospective FRA members will also be there! FRA has published a prospective member brochure with an information request form. You can easily talk through ben-e%ts of membership with the prospect using this brochure and o#er NewsBytes or one of the FRA guides, provided by %lling out the information card.

!ese work great for one-to-one conversations with someone who you know is eligible for membership (at least one day of enlisted service in the Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard). You can request these brochures or other items for your reunion from Penny Collins at 1-800-372-1924 (ext. 123) or [email protected]. Reunions are great places to recruit. If you’d like additional information or ideas for your reunion, please contact Penny!

Reunions are a Great Recruiting Opportunity!

Membership is open to all current or former enlisted members of the Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard. I certify that I fulfill the eligibility requirements and want to join FRA. Annual dues include a subscription to FRA Today magazine.

Name: _______________________________________________________________ Rate/Rank: ____________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Street Lot/Space City State Zip Code

Date of Birth: _______________________ SSN (optional): ______________________________ Phone: ( ) ___________________

Service: ___________ Status: ____________ Membership Preference: Branch No. _______ Nearest to Home Member-at-Large

Previous FRA Member: No Yes (If yes, previous Member No.: _____________________________________________________)

Spouse’s Name: ___________________________ Your E-mail Address: _____________________________________________________

Applicant’s Signature: ______________________________________________________________ Date: ___________________________

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

MC Visa Discover AMEX Check-enclosed

Credit Card No. _____________________________________________________________

Exp. Date: _________________________________________________________________

Join FRA: Membership Application

125 N. West StreetAlexandria, VA 22314-2754

Phone: 703-683-1400Toll-Free: 1-800-FRA-1924www.fra.org

SPONSORED BY:

Name: ______________________________________________

Member No: ____________________ Branch No.: _______

DUES:

1 Yr. $30.00 2 Yrs. $48.00 First time members 2 Yrs. $57.00 Renewing or reinstating

FRA members 3 Yrs. $85.50 5 Yrs. $135.00

SPECIAL OFFER FOR

NEW MEMBERS

$48 for 2 years*

Artist’s rendering of the Moving Forward Pins. Actual pin design may vary and is smaller than shown.

*

Continuing Programs

Recruit 3 ProgramAny FRA or Auxiliary member who recruits/sponsors three (3) new or reinstated FRA members will be eligible to receive the red/white/blue collectible pin.

Recruit 32 ProgramAny FRA member who recruits/sponsors 32 new or re-instated members will be eligible to receive a life member-ship or $200 cash award if already a life member. For each subsequent 32 members recruited, a shipmate will be eligible to receive an additional award of $200.

Submit completed applications to: FRA, 125 N. West St., Alexandria, VA 22314 -2754. Remember to include payment and your full name and membership number in the “Sponsored by” section of the application.

New Recruiting Initiatives (2015)

Recruit 5 InitiativeAny FRA member who recruits/sponsors five (5) new or reinstated members will receive a “Recruit 5” collectible pin and a one-year extension of his/her existing member-ship, valued at $30. If the recruiter is already a Life Member, a special gift valued at $30 will be awarded in lieu of paying for one year of membership dues. The recruiter is eligible to recruit only one set of five new or reinstated members during the recruiting year and receive the special incentive awards.

Retain 10 InitiativeAs a new incentive to strengthen retention, we will ran-domly draw 10 names of new or reinstated FRA members with one or two years of membership who are eligible for renewal. This drawing will be held quarterly in July, October, December, and April. Winners’ memberships will be extended for one year, valued at $30.00.

MOVING FORWARD2015 – 2016

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NEWS FROM THE BRANCHES

BRANCH 136 MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.

Branch Vice President Gene Jarnigan (right) presented a 40-year continuous membership pin and certificate to Shipmate Edward Kruse. Ed was one of the original members of the “Chuting Stars” from 1961–64, part of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels.

BRANCH 251 MOUNTAIN HOME, ARK.

Presentation of 2014–15 Americanism essay contest awards to junior high students from Gainesville, Missouri. Pictured (l to r) are Mrs. Barnett, English teacher and counselor; 7th grade first place local winner and second place in the FRA SC Region winner Danielle Cummings; Jaxon Britt, third place local winner; Matt Dunn, 8th grade third place local winner; Eli James Amyx, 8th grade first place local winner; and branch Essay Chairman Dave Waggoner.

BRANCH 156 BRUNSWICK, MAINE

Branch President Read Rich drove his 1960 MGA in the Topsham-Brunswick, Maine 2015 Memorial Day parade. Branch Chaplain Armand Larochelle rode along.

BRANCH 89 ATLANTA, GA.

2015 Americanism essay contest winners receiving their certificates and awards: pictured (l to r) are Branch President Wayne Barron; Nadia Hopkins, local and regional winner, 10th grade; Casey Burdett, local winner, 9th grade; Madison Macaulay, local and regional winner, and 2nd place Nationally, 12th grade; Ellie Montgomery, local winner and 2nd place region, 7th grade; Mac Bloodworth, local winner, 8th grade; Timothy Dzimianski, local winner, 11th grade; and Ernie Rose, Branch 89 Essay Contest Chairman.

BRANCH 8 VALLEJO, CALIF., BRANCH 101 SANTA CLARA, CALIF., BRANCH 230 ROSEVILLE, CALIF., BRANCH 275 PLACERVILLE, CALIF., BRANCH 296 AUBURN, CALIF.

FRA shipmates and Auxiliary members from around California participated in dedicating a monument at Sacramento Valley National Cemetery.

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NEWS FROM THE BRANCHES

To submit a photo for News From the Branches, please e-mail a photo as an attachment in jpeg format to [email protected] or mail a high-quality photograph to FRA Today, 125 N. West Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. Please include a brief description of the photograph and include the names of those pictured. Laser prints and scanned copies of photographs cannot be accepted.

BRANCH 294 CROSSVILLE, TENN.

Branch President Jack Fogel was presented with a Quilt of Valor (www.qovf.org) to honor his 26 years of military service, including 4 ! years in Vietnam. Fogel served as a Navy Seal Team member and as a Boat Captain on the U.S. Navy small river patrol boats (PBRs) and River Assault Craft. Shipmate Fogel’s medals and awards are too numerous to list — he exempli-fies the true values of an American Soldier, Sailor, Marine and Aviator.

BRANCH 295 SAN ANGELO, TEXAS

Presentation of the 2014–15 FRA National Essay Contest Awards to Ruth Mitchell, 8th Grader at Crockett Middle School in Pecos, Texas. Ruth won Branch 201 8th Grade First Place, South Central Regional 8th Grade First Place, and FRA National 2nd Place. Pictured (l to r) are Branch 295 President Ralph Mathews, Alicia Mitchell (mother of Ruth & Assistant Principal at Austin Elementary School in Pecos, TX), Ruth Mitchell, Kevin Mitchell (father of Ruth & Pastor at the First Baptist Church of Pecos, Texas), and former Branch 295 Secretary Terry Cook, USN (Ret.).

BRANCH 93 PATUXENT RIVER, MD.

Branch and Unit present a $500 check to the LAFRA for the NP 2015 Project “Building Homes for Heroes.” Pictured are (front, l to r) Unit President Shirley Vatter, Secretary-Treasurer Karen Brobst, Unit Board member Marylou Siebenkas, Bonnie Wood, (back, l to r) Branch Treasurer Otis DeLoach, Branch Secretary Dale Sparkman, Branch President Tom Vatter, and Unit BOD member Jeani Carberry. “Building Homes For Heroes” is a nationwide program for the construction of mortgage-free customized homes for wounded veterans and their families.

BRANCH 296 AUBURN, CALIF.

PNP Gary Blackburn (l) presents a pin and certificate to Howard “Hap” Arnold, Past Branch President, for 40 years of continuous FRA membership.

BRANCH 276 OMAHA, NEB.

Memorial Day Services were held at the Louis & Clark Landing May 25, 2015. Representing the USAF: MSGT Dan Shelby, USAF (Ret.); USN: S/M PO1 Earl Jones, USN (Ret.); USCG: PO1 Dan Wolterman, USCG; guest speaker CDR Butch Kirkland, USN (Ret.); USMC: CAPT Sean Wolterman, USMC; USA: Harvey Funk, USA; S/M Larry Poffenbarger (Chaplain); S/M Jim Black (Chairman); S/M President Carl Burnham; S/M Past Secretary Francis A. Schrotberger

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NEWS FROM THE AUXILIARY OF THE FRA

CHRIS DREW North Central Regional President

Message from the North Central Regional President Chris Drew

GREETINGS TO YOU FROM the North Central Region (NCR) of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Fleet Reserve Association (LA FRA), also known as the Auxiliary of the Fleet Reserve Association (AFRA).

As of the May 2015 membership report, we in the NCR are a membership of 400 important people. !is is a number that, if we are fortunate, remains stable; if we are incredibly fortunate, rises slightly; and if we are “normal,” drops more than we like.

Why are these people important in your and my life? !ey understand what we live. !ese are (mostly) sisters in a family of choice. !ese are people who have lived lives similar to yours and mine, who know what it’s like to pack up and move frequently, who change schools mid-year or have that happen to their chil-dren, who know what it’s like when a spouse or father is gone for periods of time, sometimes on short notice, to God knows where. People who love their country. People who look out for each other.

!ese important people don’t only live in the North Central Region. !ey are scattered all over this great land, in seven other regions of the LA FRA. And there is room for you!

Why would you want to join this group? You will make friends like you’ve never known before. !e connections are special, and social connections are im-portant for good mental health. Being a member a#ords you an opportunity to be a local, regional, or national o$cer, allowing you room for personal growth in the areas of administration, public speaking, and educational (on-the-job) ex-periences you’d not have otherwise. Membership in the LA FRA is taken into consideration when the Fleet Reserve Association lobbies Congress on behalf of military bene%ts. YOU COUNT. So it’s good to be a member, even if “just” a card-carrying member, because these bene%ts matter to you. Statistically wives outlive husbands, and if you are widowed, you don’t matter to Congress if you’re not a member of LA FRA.

Membership in the LA FRA is farther reaching, however. Who can join? Spouses, parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers, children, stepchildren and grandchildren not less than 16 years of age of members of the Fleet Reserve Association (FRA) and widows, widowers, parents, grandparents, sisters, broth-ers, children, stepchildren and grandchildren not less than 16 years of age of persons who were members at the time of death or eligible to be members of the Fleet Reserve Association at the time of death. !ese members may not be directly a#ected by Congressional actions, but their memberships support and in a very real way say “thank you for your service” to the special FRA shipmate.

Years ago the Village People told us “It’s fun to stay at the Y M C A.” As a member of this organization, I can say with all my heart that “It’s fun to be in the A F R A.”* Please join me.

*Attributed to Doris Fri, National President, 2014–2015Viking Branch and Unit 136 2nd Annual Pilgrimage, at the memorial stone at Ft. Snelling National Cemetery, June 12, 2015. Pictured (l to r) are shipmates Ron Jones, Gene Jarnagin, Daryl Kuyper, Roger Graham, Tom Dooley (Branch President, Tom Steele, Ruth Klatte, Nancy Stein, Chris Drew (RP), and Pat Steele.

Inset: Image that appears on the memorial stone

Photo taken by NP D

oris Fri

Back row: NP Doris Fri, Pat Steele, Barbara Lovo, Marilyn Krick, President Nancy Stein; front row: Chaplain Ruth Klatte, Secretary-Treasurer Chris Drew. Absent: Vice President Shirley Bergslien. Taken June 11 following installation of officers.

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