Sea Poacher Association · Sea Poacher Association Dedicated to the men who served on this great fighting ship! Posing in front of the Submarine School in Callao, Peru is the entire

Volume 7, Issue 2 • April 2009Sea Poacher Association

Dedicated to the men who served on this great fighting ship!

Sea Poacher Association

Posing in front of the Submarine School in Callao, Peru is the entire group of trekkers including the Peruvians, whoextended a very warm welcome to the USS Sea Poacher crew and their wives. A better, more wonderful trip could not havebeen imagined.

Sea Poacher Peru Trekkers Returnwith a Lifetime of Memories

From thePresident:Bill Brinkman

[email protected]

All eighteen of us who visited Peru are still on an emotional high.We experienced many wonderful events and saw many beautiful

sights in our travels. The eighteen travellers were Bill Brinkman, EM60-62; Richard & Nancy Clubb, QM 62-63; Cal Cochrane ,MM 55-56and his son-in-law, Vince Sottile; Arnold Johnson, EM 62-63; IvanJoslin, LT 60-63; John & Sharon Love, ET 58-61; Jack & SandraMerrill, TM 61-63; Joe & Stella Murdoch, ET 62-63; Don Schwartz , TM54-55; Larry & Arlene Weinfurter, MM 62-65; and Lanny Yeske andFran Zimmerman,LTjg 61-63.

But the best part of our journey was the dinner Sunday night,March 8 with nine Peruvian Navy officers and their wives and the allday tour and get-together with the Peruvian Navy at their Callao, Perubase on March 9.

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22 USS Sea Poacher (SS406) Association Volume #7 Issue #2

Membership RollThe following is a list of paid-up members. Are you on this list? If not, why not?

LIFETIME MEMBERS

Ron CoeDennison ComptonBillie CowartWalter CulpJames DemingRay DicareWilliam DocekalWilliam DoughertyElwood EricksonRichard FerrisErnest FontesRobert FordLyle GilletteWilliam HayesCarl HeadlandWayne Holmgren

Gerald KefferJim KeirRoy KindlebergerRay KrivascyWilliam (Jess) LeePeter McCormackDan McLarenJim McNerneyJim McSorleyMark MordecaiJulius O’BannonJohn O’GradyCharles OwenBill ParhamenkoWalter PatrickCharles Peppler

Ed AshendenRobert AtkinsRuss BauerRichard BernotietStanley BissenDonald BlomquistClyde BoleyGordon BradfordFred BrattainDierdre BridewellBill BuckleyWarren BurkettRichard CarlsonFrank CaulfieldGeorge ChildsDon Cipra

Robert AbbottBob AcorCharles AhlerDewey AkinsPaul AllersPeter AmunrudDave AndresTed AnthonyCharles AuclairGeorge AxfordVernon BarnettAmelia BeersHarvey BensonCarol BergsTruman BernhardDoug BishopJim BlackmonKenneth BonnellBob BradleyBill BrinkmanLeroy BroadbentJim BurgettRuss BurrowsFrank CalderoneAlice CalvertDick CarneyLeo CarrKent CarrollJohn ChaichRichard ClubbRalph CobbCal CochraneLawrence ColwellBill CookRobert CooleyJames CooneyJerry CoutuBill CrismonJolene DarnoldRichard DempseyTom DeuleyBetty DickeyWilliam DietrichWilliam DonnelanCharles DonnellyMerlyn DorrheimJohn DubbsBill DukaczDaniel DybalaRichard EarlJack Easley

MEMBERS

Troy LawRobert LawrenceCarroll LawsonGail LeBlancFrank LedererTed LeeJim LemermanGeorge LockwoodJohn LoveJerry LovelessNathan LundyBill LuttrellJ.J. LynchJohn MachTony MadsenJohn MajzunKen ManionMark MarkhamRobert MathenyEarl MatthewsJim McClanahanDavid McCollumT. McCommasCarl McCutcheonJack MerrillTy MerrittEddie MontzJoe MurdochWilliam MurphyLester MurrayJoe MusgraveGary NagleJon NagleJohn NicholoyJack NimsCharles O’BakerJames OchsPaul OggRon PattersonTom PolenJim PowersHenry PrimeauxJean RabuseCharles RagerDewey ReedLarry ReicheDavid RichterMark RichwineLuke RileyDavid RinglandRobert Ritz

If your name does not appear here . . . Why not??? Please help support your association!!!! Duesare $10 per year or $100 for a life membership. Please make check payable to “Sea Poacher Association”and Mail to: Bill Brinkman, 4500 Tiffany Nicole St., Round Rock, TX 78664-9466

Daniel EberhardtFred EdwardsLeon EgglestonDick ElliottDavid ElmoreJack EnsmingerGarl EubankFrank EvansBuster FlaskasDante FortiniRichard FoxRon FraleyHarold GallLarry GarrettArthur GeddesJack GentryEd GibbonRon GodwinBilly GorsuchJackie GrahamDave GreenJohn GreenvilleEugene GuibaultPaul GuslerTom HaireJim HalbertCarl HaleJohn HallamDave HarmsFrances HeckrothBill HellmerRobert HenryMarjorie HickmanLucy HigleyDick HoltzRobert HorneJerry HouchensHarry HugginsCarol HumphriesRod IhrigHubert JacksonRichard JennisonAronld JohnsonGerald JosephIvan JoslinMike KassingerAllen KatenDavid KeffelerKen KileTerry KleinweberRichard Laake

John RomeoSalvatore RosinaRobert RothMartin RuchMarcel RullJohn SavoryHerman ScallanBob SchindhelmKarl SchipperRon SchnarsRussell SchondorfDonald SchwartzWilliam SharpHarry ShermanJohn SmithRick SmockJohn SnookFred SochaBill SololoskiRichard StickneyMarty StokesChuck StrandDavid StrunkTom SugdenRobert SumnerTerry TagueChester TaylorEd ThompsonRon ThompsonT. ThompsonRichard TrenchJames TryonJohn TulodeskiAl TurbevilleTony TuttobeneEd UrbanEd VolokaDon WaldropArne WeinfurterLarry WeinfurterRay WengrzynJames WestonDon WilkinsonOlin WilliamsGeorge WyseLanny YeskeHope YoungJerry YoungRobert Young

Dale PetersonRoy RandallClyde RiggarJohn SaeliBennie SheldonDelvin SmithJohn SohlCharles SummittGary StarkGlen SuttleJim ThompsonFred VavraAndrew ViersRichard WhitmireBilly WilliamsLee Yonts

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Lanny Yeske had been in contact with several Peruvian Officerssince June 2008 working on the details of when and where to meetwith them. But after our tour and get together with them, we realizedthat as much as we wanted to visit with them and meet them, that itwas now apparent that they wanted to meet us and were well preparedfor us.

Briefly, let me tell you that we all have many pictures, videos andstories to tell and that we are in the process of making an Addendumto our Sea Poacher book which will document our visit to the PeruvianNavy.

Also, one of the honors rendered by the Peruvian Navy is to makethe USS Sea Poacher Association one of their official associations(such as their retired Enlisted, Retired Chiefs, Retired Officers, etc ).

We are reciprocating by adding weblinks to the Peru Navy on ourwebpage.

Also, we are making certificates to make all of the former BAP LaPedrera S-49 Shipmates Honorary USS Sea Poacher Life members.

In our planning for meeting with the Peruvian Navy , we organizedboth our personal and Sea Poacher Association gifts so that we couldpresent these gifts to former members of the La Pedrera and to thevarious Peruvian officials that we would meet during our tour.

The Association presented (11) Challenge coins, (18) key rings,(22) DBF pins, (8) Peru hats , (6) Peru hats, and a stained glass piececreated by Annette Snook, wife of John Snook QM 59-62 of the SeaPoacher/La Pedrera with the number 49 on it. We distributed many ofthem via the 11 shipmates with the instruction to give them to PeruvianNavy personnel that they met that weren't on the list for major gifts. Inaddition, the association paid for the dinner for the 9 Peruvians onMarch 8. The total cost to the association is $523.87 ($271.90 gifts,$251.94 dinner ).

I'd like to thank all of the other shipmates for their personal gifts,I don't have an exact accounting, but i do remember that Cal Cochrane

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Peru Trip

Captain Thornberry greets the newly arrived SeaPoacher trekkers to the Peruvian Submarine Base inCallao, Peru.

Volume #7, Issue #2 USS Sea Poacher (SS406) Association 33

made model submarines and three ship’s plaques, Jack Merrill madethree SS-406 plaques, many brought copies of our book, and manybrought dolphins to hand out and present.

Now, let me try to convey what happened on March 9 at theCallao Naval Base.

We were picked up by a Peru Navy bus at our hotel and driven tothe base. When we arrived, we were welcomed by their Rear AdmiralCarlos Zarate, Commander of the Submarine force and then given atour of their Naval Academy and then the Submarine School. We wentto visit the museum submarine BAP Abtao which was built in 1954 inGroton, Connecticut for the Peruvian Navy. There we saw pictures andequipment from the Sea Poacher and Atule. We viewed Sea Poacher'sbrilliantly shined propellor, capstan, periscope head, and #2 TorpedoTube inner door all of which were prominently displayed. Then we vis-ited the active submarine BAP Antofagasta (S-32), a German built type209 . It was very well designed and had 8 forward torpedo tubes, quite

a sting!All day we had an official photographer from the Peru Navy tak-

ing pictures and we thank Sharon Love for being our “official” photog-rapher.

Then we went to the outdoor pavillion to gather for dinner andspeeches and presentations and a get together with the former crewsof Sea Poacher and La Pedrera and the six active Peruvian submarinecommanders.

The dinner was the traditional Pachamanca which consists of fir-ing rocks, laying down banana leaves, then the beef, pork, chicken;then more leaves, then the vegetables, then a covering tarp and final-ly covering with dirt. Cooking time is one hour! Lanny Yeske was giventhe honor of being the "Godfather" which means that he gave theblessing and also drank a toast with Admiral Zarate.

During dinner, we were entertained by a dancing couple whichpresented three dances from different regions of Peru.

Lanny Yeske made a few speeches in Spanish and was wellreceived by them for making the effort to speak in their native tongue,But, fortunately, many of them spoke English and so, we were able toreally communicate with them. Most of us took turns making presenta-tions to them of our gifts and they were well received as they knew wewere travelling and couldn't bring as many as one would have wantedto bring.

Their president of the Retired Chief Petty Officers AssociationJose Mancilla and retired Chief Victor Funes presented us with ourUnion Jack which he found on the Sea Poacher when they were inPhiladelphia making Sea Poacher into La Pedrera in 1974. He saidthat he's had it for 35 years, it did not belong to him, and that it wastime to present it back to us. (It's at least 40 years old). There weremore than a few teary eyes.

Also, they presented us with Captain Harry Huggins, CO 68-69,last night orders of October 22-23, 1969 which gives the details of SeaPoacher's last night running up the Delaware River to be decommis-sioned in the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and it ended with the words"Never More".

In addition, we were presented with a plaque honoring our visit of

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Rear Admiral Zarate, Commander of the PeruvianSubmarine Forces greets the troops inside his head-quarters. He also presented the trekkers with a giftpackage presented by his pretty assistant.

The Sea Poacher group begins a tour of the beauti-ful Peruvian Naval Academy

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Many intrepid trekkers tour the BAP Abtao whichwas built in 1954 in Groton, Connecticut.


March 9 , 2009 and a model of the Submarine La Pedrera.All of these artifacts will be at our Sea Poacher reunion in

Branson, Missouri in November 2010.Finally, Admiral Zarate told us that the Peruvian Submarine Force

has never presented their dolphins to anyone before. But he gottogether with the skippers of their six submarines and they decidedthat we exhibited the true love of our submarine USS Sea Poacher andthat they felt that we were one with them in spirit. So, the six skippers

presented the 11 of us with Gold Dolphins . Their tradition is that you take a full glass of Pisco, put the dol-

phins in, and then you need to drink the glass at one time whilst clamp-ing the dolphins in your lips.

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Members of the USS Sea Poacher/BAP LaPadrera crews pose by the salvaged prop of their old home. Thiswas another emotional moment.

Another truly emotional moment for these two oldtorpedomen was when they reached out to touch theinner door of tube #2. Don Schwartz, TM 54-55 and youreditor Jack Merrill, TM 61-63 spent many hours takingloving care of the torpedo tubes on USS Sea Poacher.

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Lanny Yeske, LTjg 61-63 and tour director extraodi-naire, leans into the shovel to uncover the noon meal.

Volume #7 Issue #2 U.S.S. Sea Poacher (SS406) Association 55

Sea Poacher Book CD’sNow Available!!!!

To order books please contact either BillBrinkman or Lanny Yeske

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Ivan Joslin, LT 59-63 presents a Sea Poacher ship’splaque to Adm. Zarate.

The eleven of us were in tears as this was quite a high honor andone not given before.

I was finally able to respond and said " Well, I don't know what tosay, as we are overwelmed by your presentations. However, now thatwe are Qualified Peruvian Submarine Sailors, we are ready and willingto sail with you at any time and also, we'll do it for no pay !" Then bothcrews and all present stood up and cheered!

Bill Brinkman, President of the USS Sea PoacherAssociation and Jack Merrill, Vice President accept theSea Poacher’s last flying Union Jack from Adm. Zarateand Chief Victor Funes, who has had custody of it since1974.

I hope that you now understand some of what happened duringour visit to Peru. We have been invited to come back to Peru for their100th Anniversary celebration of their Submarine Force on August 16,2011. Most of us who went to Peru this time have all ready marked our2011 calendars,

Needless to say, you need to mark your calendars and plan ongoing to Peru with us in 2011!

Also, we are continuing to strengthen our ties with former andpresent duty Peruvian Navy people and we in turn are inviting them tocome and join us in Branson for our 2010 National Reunion.

Bill Brinkman bids a fond “Adios” from the entireSea Poacher trekkers and thanks them for their kind-ness. He also extended an invitation to the Peruviansto visit us in Branson in 2010. From left to right isSharon Love, wife of John Love ET 58-61, Chief PettyOfficer Victor Funes and President of the Retired ChiefPetty Officers Association, Jose Mancilla

Ivan Joslin, LT 59-63 prepares to “dive for his dol-phins” This was a very moving ceremony with not justa few tears shed.


EDITOR’S NOTE: I have chosen toinclude our newest Sea PoacherAssociation member and Peruviantrekker, Vincent Sottile’s account of ourtrip. I am ediiting it liberally due to spacelimitations.

DDaayy 22On our

way to Nascato see theancient Nasca

Lines. We are going through the countryside.Real interesting. Barren, dry land, manyfields of vegetables, and fruits that are irrigat-ed by flooding the fields from this fast flowing murky, muddy water com-ing from the Andes mountains in the far off distance. Small towns andshanty towns of huts with dirt floors, no real roofs as they really don'tneed roofs because they only get couple of inches of rain per year.

The land is very dry and dusty. They say that the upper air off theocean keeps the air dry until it gets to the other side of the mountainswhere the rainfall in the rainforest is abundant. We have gotten to thearea of the lines. An amazing area barren, flat, and full of rocks of allkind and shape. Because it is so dry there are dust devils everywherethat actually keep the lines somewhat clean. The area is 350 squarekilometers in size, huge and flat between mountains. Due to the lack ofrainfall too, keeps the lines clean. We are now heading to the airport forthe flight over the lines.

Nasca means the land of pain and suffering. What a ride and whata sight! To be out in the middle of nowhere with probably no one insight how these drawings could have been made is to say, even tothem, a mystery!

Good thing we ate after the flight. It was small six seated Cessnathat would dip right and dip left for thirty five minutes and it was windy.After the flight it was off to Nasca cantina for food and the meal wasdelicious. I had beef but Bill Brinkman said don't ask what kind of beefit was!?! When you wash it down with Peruvian beer you kill all thegerms.

Now for our six hour ride home. The back of this touring bus hasa long seat for me to stretch out on. The highway we’re on is thelongest of it's kind called the Pan American highway which stretchesout 14,000 miles from Alaska thru Central America down to the tip ofSouth America. Very famous highway. We should be back to our hotelby about 10:30 pm. Long day but worthwhile experience, if not just see-ing the small villages, towns, earthquake areas, and shanty townsalone was worth the price of admission.

Day 3OK so halfway through the night I unplugged the ipod to charge

my phone and in my grogginess I turned the iPod off which happenedto be our alarm clock. We were supposed to be up at 5:00 with thealarm, oh well Cal got up anyway. The front desk did phone us at6:00 so I did get an extra hour of sleep anyway, but you know I didhave to pay for it, "get up, your alarm didn't wake us, you need to throw

that thing away it doesn't work, what you turned it off in the middle ofthe night, YOU DUMMY!" Cal did let me eat breakfast with the group.I forgot to say that our bags had to be outside our door @ 6:15 am tobe picked up to be put on the bus that would take us to the airport. Wemade it before we went to breakfast. This tour group is on the ball, weare impressed. We've found out that the airlines are now privatelyowned out of the hands of the government. The flight to Cusco isbreathtaking the city is 11 thousand feet above sea level it is high on aplateau in the Andes mountains in the middle of no where. On to ourhotel. We muster in the hotel for our first of many coca leaf teas. Ithelps with the altitude sickness. We eat a light lunch and off to seeingthe Inca sights of the town. Interesting how this was a city of gold thatwhen the Spaniards arrive they stripped the buildings of the gold andstarted melting it down. In the main Inca building the top edges of thewalls were covered in gold and all was stripped and removed to be

melted. Where ever we go there are locals trying to sell something. So

here I am surrounded with them selling their wares and dressed in tra-ditional Inca garments and llamas to have their picture taken. If youtake their picture it is the custom to tip them. Let’s say everybody getstipped.

Back to the square, all of a sudden as I was surrounded by thelocals, they started running and here comes the police with a wagontruck and they stop and catch the two llamas which are being held witha death grip by the locals who don't want to loose them, but the policepushed them away, grabed their llamas, and throw them in the back ofthe truck.

Now on to the main cathedral of the town, got my three wishes, itwas very beautiful. From there went up to see more of the sights.Where we ended up was at the top of Cuzco. Everything the Incas didhad purpose for their religion and their community. They were totallyfor their people. It wasn't about me... The Incas took care of their peo-ple. Even with work you must give to the community 3 months out ofthe year, no matter what it was and in return you and your family were

Sea Poacher Peruvian Trip

Sandra Merrill poses with local Inca girls just beforetheir llamas where confiscated by the police.

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Vincent Sottile


provided for. It never was about wealth it was about family, and that'show they looked at life. Even with all the wealth in gold that they weresurrounded by, it wasn’t about the gold.

What I'm leading to when I said every thing had meaning andpurpose there is a formation that engulfs the town in the shape of apuma. The heart of the town is the cathedral of Cusco, the head of thepuma is the archeological site of Sacsayhuaman, and guts of CuscoisKoricancha. We did go up to and walked thru Sacsayhuaman whichthe locals call, "sexy woman", which is the head of the puma. Leavingthere we went to an alpaca store when they make the alpaca clothing.Here they gave us an education on the different alpaca thread thatgoes in the alpaca clothing whereby the baby alpaca thread is the soft-est and most pure. Their clothing was beautiful, reasonable and peo-ple you could bargain with. After another long day we returned to ourhotel for food, shower, and bed.

Day 4 Four alarms including room service wake us at 5:00 am. This

early rise is killing me. Good thing there is coffee and continentalbreakfast. No complaints only to say that even the coffee was too thickfor me. Off again, on the bus at 6:15 am to meet our train for the trip toMachu Picchu. The train goes sixty miles also a river parallels thetracks that flows to Machu Picchu. The emperor that lived in Cusco hadthis built as a retreat home for himself and other higher ups of the Incanation. After only being built for 80 years something happened and ithad to be abandoned. It could have been disease, warring nearbytribes, drought, the Spanish in Cusco, or whatever reason life in MachuPicchu ceased to exist. The town, like the royal center walled building,had a lot of the same construction techniques and symbolisms. Thesun, the moon, the land, honoring and worshiping mother earth.Because the Spanish didn't find the ruin the Inca culture was notdestroyed. It is an amazing place for many reasons. The remoteness,the position on top of this mountain that was full if not dripping with Incathemes cultures. The main position had to do with the three temples tothe mother earth, the sun, and the sky. The main elements facing theeast. The biggest feast that was a great celebration was the winter sol-

stice on June 21, which had the sun the furthest away from MachuPicchu, wishing father sun to return to the mountain with the changingof the season. All of this and the breathtaking presence of just being atthe top of this peak with all the other peaks looming near and far wasalmost too much to comprehend. Enough said about that, now I reallywanted a picture from a higher vantage point, so I left the group andwas on my own. Our tour guide told me where and how to get the pointwhere I would be up and above the ruin to take pictures of the ruin.Coming down the short cut, that Carlos our leader told me about, weresix llama on the trail and I'm booking' it trying to get to a bus to take medown to the village. So I become the llama herder and herded themdown the path out of my way. No pictures cause of the afternoon show-er. I did good and although I didn't come down with them on the busand missed them for lunch, I did meet the group where I was told to beat the train station at 3:00. I had time to go to a restaurant have a smallpizza and coke, get my boots shined by two brothers, and be at thegate before the group arrived.

The shoe shine was a hoot. Two young dark native brothers want-ing to polish my LL Bean duck boots. So one boy got one boot and theother got the other boot. You would have thought they were the privateshoe shiners for the White House.

We were about to board the train for the trip back to Cusco. Theygave us something to drink and eat and once again let's sell Peruvianclothing so they had a fashion show on the train with the aisle as therunway. It was great, they even pulled two of the young people fromour group to join in the show. When we got back we went to the diningroom and had dinner. We start at 5:00 am and ate dinner at 8:00 pm,now shower and bed. Good news, we can sleep to 8:00 am, yeah right,GET UP YOU'VE HAD ENOUGH SLEEP. Let's go, that's when the pil-low goes over my head.......

Day 5Ohbamba - Sacred Valley of the Incas

Although we were able to sleep in today, I was up awake but notmoving at 6:30 am without Cal's reveille, "come on man get up we got

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A view of the magnificent stone work of the ancientIncan people of Sacsayhuaman.

Machu Picchu

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88 USS Sea Poacher (SS406) Association Volume #7, Issue #2

to go!". Today we go on a countryside journey to Pisak into the SacredValley of the Incas. We are in the valleys of the Andes. Our journey isto be a hundred mile loop. Our first stop is a small llama and alpacafarm. Here we walk among the animals they give us stalks of alfalfa tofeed the animals. There are several varieties of the species includingthe alpacas. I told Cal not to upset them so that they'd spit at you. Notonly do they have the animals, they have demonstrations of shearingthe beast, spinning the yarn, dying the thread, weaving the materialsinto shawls, scarfs, wall tapestry, blankets, etc.

These people can do it all and with a spirit and just matter of fact-ness about whatever they do. The mother and children are born sales-man. The children start at a very young age peddling their wares. Oncewe left the alpaca area we were now headed to the valley and the firststop Pisak.

Cusco is 11,000 ft and to get to Pisak we had to go up over14,000 ft. plateau before we could come down to the sacred valley at9,000 ft. But getting back to the children, they knew the photo spots onthe road down to Pisak. Our first view point, which all were incredibleand breathtaking, had two little girls in the Inca dress, two llamas, andtwo small puppies. Everyone on the bus took pictures of themselveswith the children and the llamas, bought whatever they were selling,and did manage to take pictures of the view, too. We finally came downthe mountain.

These people are persistent but not pushy. This town like many inthis area shares the farm area. Everybody shares for the betterment ofthe town. These people are farmers and the crops are for everyone.Once in town we proceed to their open market. They give us about 45minutes to browse and shop. So much stuff at reasonable prices butstill everything is negotiable in price. Just walk away and the pricedrops, You can get what you want for the price you want and in the endas you get on the bus the children are still there with whistles, fingerpuppets, colorful wrist bands and whatever they can sell. From herewe travel in the valley toward our lunch destination.

As an oasis in the desert we come upon a small hotel with an out-doors dining area. This luncheon is probably the best food we've hadon our trip, consensus of all. Dining is under a large thatch roofedgazebo.

The landscape and the climate here keep the environment green.Lots of farming, oxen plows in the fields preparing for another growingseason, the climate is such that they have three growing seasons.Their seasons are such that it's dry or rainy and the mountains they’regreen from top to bottom. The mountains are shear drop offs straightup and down rising thousands of feet from the valley floor straight up.All of this as we wind around these mountains on the valley floor at9,000 ft. Today Carlos's goal is for us to see first hand and to beimmersed into the local culture. Our next stop is a local “chicharea”hole where he explains how the chicha the corn brew daily and whenthe brew is ready a red flag hangs on a pole so that they know theafternoon brew is ready. At the end of the day what ever brew is leftover is thrown away and they start fresh tomorrow. While we were herewe had an honorary dolphin pining ceremony for Carlos. In a glass withthe chicha and a dolphin pin Carlos had to drink the brew without swal-lowing the dolphin pin. After he drank and caught the pin Cal pinnedthe dolphin on his chest, although no blood.

On to the next and last town, where we will enter the home of alocal family to see how they live. The first thing you notice are the

guinea pigs on the dirt floor in the house, 20 or 30 of them scamperingon the floor like big rats and droppings everywhere. Many suppers!The next thing is the dried fish and meat hanging in the middle of theroom. The whole house is approximately 15x20, 300 sq ft. Beds on oneend a cooking area in an adjacent corner of the house. Next to thecooking area was the religious altar. Above the altar and in a hole inthe wall were the skulls of their ancestors, on the altar table was asmall doll with a cigarette in his mouth and fake money - for health andwealth.

This family consist of a mother, father, and two children a boy anda girl. The mother and children attended to the daily chores of thehome and the father as most fathers, is a farmer who was working inthe fields. The children as always were very friendly. The young boyhad a deck of cards that because he shuffled the deck so much thatthey were about the to tear in half. I gave him one of the decks of cardsI keep in my back pack. This town was built by the Incas so many ofthe water supply troughs were every where. At one trough a youngman was washing his clothes. Normally the mother an children takecare of cleaning the clothes, too. When we entered the area, you entera courtyard off the alley. The courtyard is for four homes and theclothes were hanging from the line. We can’t compare their conditions

Continued from Page Seven

At a local Chicharia, Carlo, our tour guide, was pre-sented with a pair of dolphins and was introduced tothe age old tradition of “Diving for His Dolphins”. He isnow a proud submariner.

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Parade Float Helpers WantedI have gotten from the AFLOAT TRAINING GROUP SAN

DEIGO the Sea Poachers call sign letter flags to be added to ourdecorations for the upcoming reunion in Branson, Mo. Nov 2010.

To all shipmates.. Any sugestions for decorating the ducks forthe parade would be greatly appreciated.

Also any and all help will be put to good use.Your shipomate and decorating chairman (IE open mouth insert

foot — HA HA)

James Halbert FA TO MM1(SS), (MMCSS RET )


to ours because this is the life and environment they are accustomedtoo. As different as it is in comparison to what we have, they do havecell phones.

This was another priceless moment. After this we continue onback to the hotel. OK I now am having an unexpected glitch in the trip.The credit card and pin# don't work! I have to borrow $5.00 from Calto get out of Cusco tomorrow to fly back to Lima, not good!!!!

Tonight we go on a short stroll through the shopping area towardsour dinner and show. The restaurant is just a standard sized one andthey had a few musicians who were very entertaining. Although the alti-tude has taken it's toll on the group, the moral has remained high. Mostall will be glad to be being back to 0 altitude tomorrow. Back to thehotel 4:30 comes early.........

Day 6 4:30am wake up call...let's not go there. We're up eating breakfa-

stand in the lobby to pull for a 7:40 am flight to Lima. Goodbye Cusco,hello Lima. Great flight one hour down to the coastline. We're all here,even our luggage made it. The tour company, Gate 1, is first class andon top of things.

Our tour today was to the Cathedral of St. Peter a couple ofblocks away the Franciscan Monestary. The cathedral is not open fortouring on Sunday due to the mass schedule. The monestary wasornate and beautiful, the important significance was that the head ofthe order was able to bring the Inca indians and the Spaniards togeth-er by saying to the indians that the God they worship and the God ofJesus we worship are the same God and that there is only one God.

This started the first true dialog between the Indians and theSpaniards. Under the floor of the cathedral are catacombs with thebones of the deceased monks and rich benefactors who were allowedto be buried there.

There is a private family who is friendly to Gate 1 travel who livein Peru and have the world's largest collection of manger scenes.Spectacular and their home was equally impressive. His name wasHavaeree Luna and his wife opened their home to us and all wereastonished.

At 7:00pm we're having at casual dinner with some of thePeruvian officers and their wives, nine of them total. Speeches weremade, dolphins and plaques were presented, toasts were made, piscosours were consumed. This restaurant was part of a shopping mall thatwas built on the cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, another beautifulsetting. This mall was also a boardwalk which was close enough thatwe walked to our hotel, the same one which we stayed in our first tripto Lima. This hotel does have comfortable beds for a good night'ssleep.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Please refer to Page One for coverage of thetrip to the Peruvial Submarine Base.

ReflectionsLet me start by saying that the day before I was to leave on the

trip, as always, I was up to ears with alligators, you know the feeling somuch to do so little time to do it in and here I am leaving my wife in the

Special ProjectsOfficer

Lanny YeskeLT 61-63

[email protected] and Jack are putting together a 40 page addendum to our

Book (20 pages printed on both sides). Therein we will detail theevents of our incredible March 2009 travel to Peru.

It will include our amazing day at the Peruvian Submarine Baseon March 9 and the surprising new information we have on SeaPoacher's final disposition, more details of which are still anticipated.Half will likely be narrative and the other half photographs. If we canfind them, we will also provide you with a sleeve to insert theAddendum into and to glue on the inside back cover of your book. Ithink about 20 pages is the most we would want to place inside theback cover. The cost will likely be about $5 to $7 to cover the costs ofpackaging, mailing, and the supplies (paper, sleeve, toner, etc) to putit together. We are going to need to know about how many packagesto prepare, so either tell me by email to [email protected],phone 434-385-7117, or write to me at 1063 MacArthur Place, Forest,VA 24551. I really think you are going to want to have "THE REST OFTHE STORY" in your books.

(Continued from Page Eight)

ADM Donnelly's letter is an absolute 'gem', and indeed I dohope RADM Zarate fills him in with lots of details and impressionsfrom our visit. Not that we need any additional boosts, but themore ADM Donnelly hears about our trip FROM THE PERU-VIANS, the more the true purpose of our visit is validated andstregthened.

Though we're prejudiced in our thinking, probably no otherNavy Ship of any description, and most certainly no otherSubmarine can truly boast of what we have going in our SeaPoacher Association! I've not heard of any Reunions that havethe attendance we have, and I still find it most interesting that alarge percentage of our 'core group' comes from the 1960-1963years when Len Kojm was our "Skipper".

Leadership defintely impacts long standing relationships fora lifetime, and no group symbolizes that any stronger than we"Peru Trekkers"!

I love ALL you guys and gals!

Warmest regards,Ivan

To the editor:

Another Reflectionon Peru Trip

(Continued from Page Sixteen)

11 00 USS Sea Poacher (SS406) Association Volume #7, Issue #2

Letter fromVice Admiral John J. Donnelly,Commander Submarine Force

Volume #7, Issue #2 USS Sea Poacher (SS406) Association 11 11

Raymond E. Binns GLOUCESTER - Raymond Emmett Binns, 75, died Jan. 6,

2009.He was born in Elkins, W.Va. He was an active member of St.

Therese Catholic Church. Ray served his country in the U.S. Navyand was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, FleetReserve, and Holland Club. He was also a member of the commis-sioning crew on the USS Nautilus and worked as a nuclear powerplant start-up engineer before his retirement in 1993. His retire-ment passions were family, golf, and talking politics.

His survivors include his wife, Marie Therese ConstanceBinns; children, Matthew Koly and wife, Karen, Karen Paetow andhusband, Gary; grandchildren, Matthew Koly Jr. and wife, Amanda,Marie Koly, Andrew Koly, Stacy White; great-grandchildren, Amber,Rachelle, Andie and Hannah; sisters, Carmelle Binns, Mary G.Reynolds, Eleanor Sainato and husband, John; brothers, ThomasJ. Binns, Terence Binns; and a host of nieces, nephews and a dearfriend of the family, Deo Hobbs.

John RabuseVIRGINIA BEACH, VA — John W.

Rabuse, 80, passed away November 5.2008, in Sentara Bayside Hospital. Anative of New Your City, he was the sonof the late John and Emily Rabuse. Heretired from the New York City Board ofEducation as a stationary engineer after30 years of service. He was a member ofOld Donation Episcopal Church, PastMaster of the Jamaica-Queeens VillageMasonic Lodge and a member of theUSS Sea Poacher (SS406) Association.

He is survived by his wife, Jean M. Rabuse; his daughter,Jacqueline R. Nawrocky and husband Pete of Virginia Beach; threesons, John William Rabuse and wife Barbara of Queens, N.Y.;Robert Ben Rabuse and wife Kathryn of Arlington, VA; and AndrewCharles Rabuse and wife Stacy of Chesapeake; his sister GloriaBitetto of Franklin Square, N.Y.; and nine grandchildren, Kate, JohnThomas, Christina, William, Kristen, Nathaniel, Emma, Taylor andAlexander.

John L. Jensen Jr.John Lawrence Jensen Jr.,

Captain, US Navy (Ret), 83, died Dec19, 2007 at home. A native ofCenterville, Iowa, he graduated with theCHS Class of 1942.

He was the son of Mr. and Mrs.John Jensen. His father was a well-known merchant in Centerville.

John enlisted in the Navy in 1943.His 33-year career spanned WWII,Korea, Vietnam and the Cold War andincluded service in 10 ships, seven of

them submarines on which he made a total of 3,116 dives. He hadcommand of two submarines, command of a division of five sub-marines; command of the Advanced Undersea Weapons Schooland two tours in Vietnam in command of the USS Vesuvius.

His final tour of duty was on the staff of the Chief on NavalOperations in the Pentagon as deputy director of the LogisticsPlans Division. Captain jensen was a graduate of the US NavalAcademy, Annapolis, Maryland in 1948 and he subsequentlyearned a master’s degree in public administration from theGeorge Washington University.

Following disability retirement from the Navy in 1976, heworked for three consulting firms in the northern Virginia area asa senior analyst or engineering specialist. His military decorationsinclude the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the NavyCommendation Medal and the Vietnam Navy DistinguishedService Medal.

He and his wife settled in New Bern, North Carolina in 1996,where he became a member of the First Presbyterian Church. Hehas been a trustee of the Naval Academy Foundation since 1989where he was a member of the President’s Circle and the Athleticand Scholarship Programs Division. He became a trustee emeri-tus in 2007. He was also a member of the Heritage Foundation,Naval Academy Alumni Association, Navy league, DisabledAmerican Veterans, Navy Submarine League and the MilitaryOfficers Association of America. For several years he was com-mander of the Craven County, North Carolina, Chapter 40 of theDisabled American Veterans.

He is survived by his widow, Beverley; three daughters,Cynthia Hill (Mark) of Anchorage, Alaska; Julia Salo of Richmond,Virginia and May Carraro (Robert) of New Bern, North Carolina;nine grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter. Beverleyresides at 2038 Colleton Was in New Bern, North Carolina 28562.He is also survived by three sisters: Helen Hoppe (Richard) ofWaterloo, Peggy Jensen of Windsor Heights and Karen Bailey(William) of Waukee.

He was buried with full military honors in Arlington NationalCemetery.

Obituaries


Sea Poacher Picnic 2009 in Bartow, Florida

From left to right, back row: Jack Nims EM 57-63, Bob Bradley TM 58-62, John Snook QM 59-62, Jack MerrillTM 61-62, Ron Godwin ST/Ens 58-61/66, Jackie Graham IC 61-63 and Bill CookTM 60-64

From row, left to right: Richard Clubb QM 62-63, Doug Bishop IC 63-66, Bob Acor QM 59-60, Charlie AuclairMM 60-63 and Gene Dempsey LTjg 60-62.

Ron Godwin and Richard Dempsey receive theirHolland Club certificates that signifies having been quali-fied in submarines for 50 years from Jack Merrill, BaseCommander of Sea Poacher Base, USSVI.

Jerry Coutu came all the way from SouthCarolina to win a mouse pad.

John Sohl RM 46 andhis wife Audrey attendedfrom Eustis, Florida.

Ty Merritt MM 65-68 and his wife Patcame over from St.Augustine, Florida andwon a set of SeaPoacher coasters.


Many members of John Rabuse’s family were on handto accept the Sea Poacher Memorial Plaque. From left toright: Ed Thompson, EM 53-55; Jean Rabuse, widow ofJohn Rabuse, EN 47-51 who entered his final patrol inNovember 2008; Jack Merrill, TM 61-63; JohnieDavidson, EN 63 and John Romeo, IC 68-69.Jeanne was a very generous hostess serving coffeeand pastries. All had a great time reminiscing aboutJohn and his love of the Sea Poacher. John was a fix-ture at all but the first reunion and was looking forwardto Branson in 2010.

From left to right presenting a Sea PoacherMemorial Plaque to the wife of John Jensen LT 55-57Beverley Jensen is George Graveson LT 61; TommyThompson, IC 55-56; along with Jack Merrill, TM 61-63.

Bev put on a delicious spread for the group andthey had a great time reminiscing. Also attending wereseveral of John’s family members.

Letter from Bev JensenDear Jack and Sandy, Tom and George and Nancy,Thanks you all for the presentation of the beautiful prayer. It’s

hanging in a place of honor in the study.We all enjoyed your visit so much. It was really kind of you all

to come. We were all touched by your kindness and caring andfun!.

Take care — Bev JensenEDITOR’S NOTE - Also received along with this letter was a

most generous check to the Submarine Memorial Fund in Bartowfor $500.

Tom Nein, FN 52-55 and Jack Dubbs, EN 48-54????present a Sea Poacher Memorial Plaque to June Wysewidow of George Wyse, EN 48-53

Jim Weston reports: Lanny picked me up at 0800 and we drove tothe home of Troy and Earline Law in Cascade (a few miles West ofDanville, Virginia). As we pulled into their yard, I could see that they arecountry folks just like me. Earline immediately made coffee; and Lannyput out the coffee cake he had brought for the occasion. Earline alsopassed out the best oatmeal cookies I have ever eaten (I need therecipe). Both Troy and Earline looked marvelous. Troy has obviouslycome through his Chemo treatment without any of the expected sideeffects. We visited (told sea stories) for a little over an hour, then tooka few pictures before returning to the Lynchburg area.

Jim Weston ET 59, left and Lanny Yeske LTjg 61-63,right visited with Troy Law FN 52 at his home in Virginia.They reported his is doing well and looking forward toBranson.


Sea Poacher Ships’ Store

_IAfgan __ $52.00 _____

Keychain `__ $3.00 _____

Ships’ Patch __ $5.50 _____

Ballcap __ $14.00 _____

Plastic Mugs __ $12.00 _____

Golf Shirts - Sizes M, L, XL & 2XL (w/o pockets)__ $22.00 _____

Golf Shirt with pockets __ $25.00 _____

Etched Glass Tankard __ $20.00 _____

Framed Service Certificate __ $35.00 _____

Unframed Service Certificate __ $10.00 _____

Sea Poacher Ship’s Plaque __ $25.00 _____

Gerald Levey Painting __ $35.00 _____

Stainglass Sea Poacher __ $110.00 _____

Challenge Coin –– $8.50 _____

Dolphin Vest chains, gold or silver __ $25.00 _____TOTAL _____

Please make check payable to Bill Brinkman and mail to: Bill Brinkman, 4500 Tiffany NicoleSt., Round Rock, TX 78664-9466. Prices includes shipping

!

Service Certificate in-cludes a picture of the boat inthe configuration as youserved aboard and alsoincludes a list of all the ship-mates with whom you served.Printed on high gloss photopaper. 11x14 frame subject toavailablility.

ITEMS QUANTITY PRICE TOTAL

This copy of the GeraldLevey painting, donated bythe Stahl family, is for salefor $35, shipping and han-dling included. It is printedon high quality photopaper and measures 13x18inches. Profits from thesale of this painting will goto the Humanitarian Fund.

This nicely painted resin SeaPoacher plaque created by Jack Merrill,TM 61-63 is mounted on a handsomepiece of exotic hardwood donated byMark Markham, TM 48-50

This beautifully craftedstainglass piece of Sea Poachercreated by Annette Snook, wifeof John B. Snook QM 59-62. Thispiece will be a crafted byAnnette as we receive orders, sothere will be some delay in deliv-ery. Piece measures 17”x10 1/2”.

ONLY 4

LEFT

NEW


From theTreasurer:Hubert Jackson

EM [email protected]

From theWeb Guru:

Jon K. NagleMM 62-63

[email protected]

Well, another quarter has passed and a lot of wonderful news.Our group of Sea Poacher Shipmates had a fantastic trip to Peru andmost importantly returned safely. I know we are all looking forward toreading about and seeing all the great pictures. Well done guys andladies! You make us proud. Report follows:

December 2, 2008 Beginning Balance in the following funds was:Memorial Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550.00Humanitarian Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1235.00General Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24613.93Bank Balance (General+Hum.+Mem.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26398.93

December/2008 Debit Activity:Check# 155 for Picnic cost & News letters. . . . . . . . . . . 2182.00Total Debits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2182.00

December/2008 Deposit Activity:December 26 to General Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140.00from Life & yearly membership duesTotal Deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140.00

Ending Balance as of December 31, 2008 in the followingfunds is:Memorial Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550.00Humanitarian Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1235.00General Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22571.93Bank Balance (General+Hum.+Mem.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24356.93

January/2009 Debit Activity: Check# 156 for postage to mail Memorial Plaque -16.18Total Debits - 16.18

January/2009 Deposit Activity:January 14, 2009 to General fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301.00This included 220.00 in Life and Yearly membership dues & 81.00 inship's stores sales

January 23 to General fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344.00This included 210 in Life and Yearly Membership dues & 124.00 inShip's stores salesTotal Deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645.00

Ending Balance as of January . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,200.93 Memorial Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550.00Humanitarian Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1235.00

General Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23200.75Bank Balance (General+Hum+Mem) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24985.75February/2009There was not any Debits, Deposits or Banking activity of any type dur-ing the Month of February Balance unchanged.

March 1,2009 Beginning Balance in the Following Funds:Memorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550.00Humanitarian Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1235.00General Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23200.75Bank Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (General+Hum+Mem)-24985.75

March/2009 Debit Activity:Check# 157 for postage & supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.47Total Debits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.47

March/2009 Deposit Activity:March 25 to General Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2048.00This included 1800.00 from Bartow picnic proceeds, 30.00 in yearly membership dues & 218.00 in ship's stores sales.Total Deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2048.00

Ending Balance as of March 29,2009 is:Memorial Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550.00Humanitarian Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1235.00General Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25218.28Bank Balance (General+Hum+Mem)= . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27003.28

All hands on Deck. If you haven’t looked at our web page late-ly you are missing the boat. Let me fill you in on the new additions.First, is a new greeting that will bring back memories of the SeaPoacher to everyone. Also new is an “In Memoriam” video, withsound, that is a very moving tribute to those on Final Patrol. We alsohave a new video on the history of US Submarines.

All of the e-mail addresses have been updated for all hands.Check yours and let me know if it is incorrect. We also have the2010 reunion information and reservation page

Plus all the gadgets from the ship’s storekeeper.You could say a plethora of additions to the web page. As

usual, if you have an idea or feature you would like included, just e-mail “jondryvac.com”, call 843-991-0641 or write to 1381 BlackRiver Dr., Mt. Pleasant, SC 29466

Now, make a hole as I’m going below to get some shut eyebefore the charge.

USS Sea Poacher (SS406)Association

916 W. Pearl StreetBartow FL 33830-5417

sseebbaaggoojjaacckk@@hhoottmmaaiill..ccoomm

Sea Poacher web site: http://seapoacher.com


middle of a week and coming back in the middle of a week. If youleave Friday afternoon and come back the following Sunday it’s 4weekend days and 5 work days, you feel that things will be alright tillyou get back. Which for all practical purposes, everything was fine butwho doesn’t worry? Retired Sea Poachers!!! I told my wife as I waspacking, “You know I could send young Vince in my place, that’d beOK! Sharon said, “ you’re crazy, you’d regret it for the rest of you lifeif you didn’t go.” She really bit the bait, not go, ridiculous!!!~ pack andgo, and don’t lose the camera, the ipod, or the cell phone while you’reaway although you’re with my dad and HE won’t let that happen!?!Well coming back with two out of three is OK, right?

This trip, I’m sorry, too many clichés, priceless, the time of mylife, a trip I’ll never forget, or I’ll take it to my grave. All of the above…All I want to say to you all is ……..Thank You.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Somewhere on Day 5 or 6 Vince lost his cam-era. If you have extra photos you care to share with him he can bereached at: [email protected]

(Continued from Page Nine)

Documents

Sea Poacher Association · Sea Poacher Association Dedicated to the men who served on this great fighting ship! Posing in front of the Submarine School in Callao, Peru is the entire