A newsletter for the former crewmen of the USS Kenneth D. Bailey (DD/DDR-713)

Vol. XXVII April 2012 #2

2012 USS KENNETH D BAILEY REUNION RECAP Between Thursday, April 12 and Sun-day, April 15, 2012, thirty-eight former sail-ors from the USS Kenneth D. Bailey (DD/DDR-713) and twenty-two of their guests enjoyed a reunion in Washington, DC at the Crowne Plaza National Airport Hotel. John and Gail Carrillo were the first to register and to begin the long weekend of fun and fellowship with their shipmates and friends. As the afternoon wore on, more guests arrived and made their way to the hospitality room where they were greeted by their fellow shipmates. Drinks and snacks were available, and memorabilia from the ship was on display in the hospi-tality room. At 5:00 PM everyone moved to the private banquet room for the first offi-cial activity of the reunion—the Welcome Reception. Bob Nowak welcomed everyone and introduced first-time attendee, Ken-neth Kelley to the group. Meatballs, a vege-table tray and quiches were served as eve-ryone got acquainted and made plans for the rest of the evening. No more planned activities were offered for the evening so that everyone could just relax and get caught up on the lives of their former ship-mates and friends. After breakfast at the hotel buffet, Fri-day’s tour was ready to leave at 9:00 AM for the Washington Navy Yard and tour of USS Barry. The Yard serves as a ceremo-nial and administrative center for the U.S. Navy, home to the Chief of Naval Opera-tions and is headquarters for the Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Historical Center, the Department of Naval History, the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s

Corps, Naval Reactors, Marine Corps Insti-tute, the United States Navy Band, the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command and numerous other naval commands. After arriving at the Yard, the group toured the Navy Yard and the USS Barry. Devoted to the display of naval artifacts, models, documents and fine art, the museum chronicles the history of the United States Navy from the American Revolution to the present conflicts. Interactive exhibits com-memorate our Navy’s wartime heroes and battles, as well as peacetime contribu-tions in exploration, diplomacy, navigation and humanitarian service. USS Barry is one of only three remaining Forrest Sher-mans. She is the third ship to bear the name of the illustrious Revolutionary War naval hero, Commodore John Barry. She supported the 1958 Marine and Army air-borne unit landing in Beirut, Lebanon. In 1962, she was a member of the task force that quarantined Cuba in response to evidence that Soviet missiles had been installed on the island. USS Barry earned two battle stars for her service during the Vietnam conflict. She was credited with destroying over 1,000 enemy structures. In the early 1970s she was home ported in Athens, Greece as part of the Navy’s forward deployment program. USS Barry was decommissioned in 1982. She began her new career as a permanent public display ship in 1984. She is also used for training and shipboard familiarization, and as a ceremonial platform. After visiting the Yard, the group en-

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Special Points of Interest

2012 KD Bailey Reunion Review

Reunion atten-

dees list Carl Siegel’s

Bean Bags Shakedown

Cruise Lanier Phillips Company Name

Change Reunion Photos

USS BARRY

BAILEY NEWS Volume XXVII Issue 2 Page 2

joyed a quick riding tour of Wash-ington, had lunch at a small deli recommended by the tour guide, and then headed for the Navy Me-morial for a tour of the museum and see the IMAX film, “At Sea.” They departed for the hotel at 2:30 PM and arrived back at the hotel about 3:15 PM. Numerous com-ments were made about the excel-lent job the tour guide Jim did and the impressive driving skills of bus driver, Nicole, as she handled the bus in all those tight places. Every-one enjoyed the day and was ready for a little rest and relaxation be-fore the evening’s events. Friday evening’s dinner was a plated meal of Chicken Marsala, followed by entertainment in the form of a Memory Game. Members were given a “quiz” sheet with 25 questions about old commercials or radio/TV programs. For exam-ple, one of the questions was “__________. It floats.” Answer: Ivory Soap. Four couples got 14 correct answers, so an additional 5 question tie-breaker quiz was given to those four couples. This round and the overall winner was Captain and Ruth Small, with four out of five correct answers in the tie-breaker. Captain Small won a $100.00 gift card to apply to next year’s reunion. He in turn donated it to Mr. Foreman, with whom he had served on two ships. The eve-ning was a great success and eve-ryone seemed to enjoy themselves very much. Saturday’s tour to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum near Dulles International Airport de-parted at 9:00 AM with 40 mem-

(Continued from page 1) bers and guests aboard the bus. The museum is the newest of the Smithsonian Institute and features a world class collection of exhibits and displays. Some of them included Commercial Aviation, Human Space Flight, WWII Aviation, Vertical flight and rockets and missiles. There were dozens of displays in each ex-hibit. Even those without a great interest in aviation found this to be an amazing place. Lunch was on one’s own at the cafeteria at the museum. After lunch it was back to Washington for stops at the WWII, Korean, and Viet Nam Memorials. There was a lot of walking involved in visiting these memorials, but all agreed it was worth the effort. Once again Nicole and Jim did a yeoman’s job getting around the city and de-scribing the many points of interest. The tour returned to the hotel about 3:30 PM, and everyone was ready for some coffee or a soft drink and a snack in the hospitality room be-fore heading to the annual business meeting. Capt Robert Small was voted to serve as the group leader for the 2013 reunion, with Bob Nowak assisting him in any way pos-sible. Dates and location for the 2013 reunion will be determined by a committee and will be announced in the Bailey News Newsletter when a final decision is made. At 6:00 PM the pre-dinner social hour and photo session began with everyone arriving in a bit more for-mal dress for the Memory Book pho-tos and the 7:00 PM banquet. Ed-ward Schultz and Lewis Vermillion impressed everyone by arriving in their uniforms and looking great. The banquet began with Chairman Capt Robert Small’s welcoming re-

marks and introduction of first time attendees Edward Foreman and Paul Wagner. Following the meal of sliced London Broil, roasted pota-toes, asparagus, dessert, tea and coffee, a raffle was held for five cash prizes. Winners were $50.00 won by Thomas Goodwin, $60.00 won by Judy Maricque, $100.00 won by Jasper Cunningham and $150.00 won by Bruce Barricklow. The grand prize of $200.00 was won by Joan Nowak. Sunday morning after breakfast at the hotel buffet, the group met for this reunion’s last time to re-member the shipmates who had passed away or whose deaths were learned of since the last reunion. The 2012 Memorial Service was led by Capt. Small, who served as Chaplain and name reader, and Carl Siegel as bell ringer. Those remembered from this year’s Honor Roll were as follows: Frank Cole, William Dennis, Thomas Fitzgerald, Herman Fritzke, David Greathouse, James Handley, Gerald Hughes, Charles Laws, William Maricque, John Nourie, Jack Ozment, Nicholas Peterlin, Lanier Phillips, George Rabold, Cecil Reazin, Claude Smith, Donald Tingen, Jimmy Toler and Henry Wood. The 2012 USS KD Bailey reun-ion closed with the typical hand-shakes and hugs from this close knit group of shipmates, spouses and guests. This reunion was one of the best: attendance was up, which is always a good sign, and everyone really enjoyed being to-gether in our nation’s capital. We hope everyone can make the 2013 reunion even better by encouraging other shipmates to give it a try.

NEW ADDRESS FOR KD BAILEY WEB SITE

Check out Ernie Pina’s website for the KD Bailey. The new address is: http://www.usskennethdbailey.com

ATTENTION E-MAIL USERS Please remember to notify KD Bailey Association when you have a change in e-mail address. Send change to Ernie Pina at cpopina@cox.net or Premier Reunion Ser-vices at karen@mlrsinc.com. Thank you.

Financial Statement: The cost of this issue is $376.00 mailed to 207 members.

PO Box 11438 Hickory NC 28603 USA

BAILEY NEWS Volume XXVII Issue 2 Page 3

Bruce Barricklow John Bencivengo Edward Budzynski John & Gail Carrillo Jasper Cunningham Charles & Patricia Debich Edward Foreman Myron (Mike) Gerchak Thomas Goodwin George Huey Milton & Rebecca Irwin Fred & Kate Karshick Kenneth Kelley Raymond & Margaret Lisecki Donald & Marcia MacGillivray Ed Mager Judy Maricque & Jon Gilbertson Armond & Tracy Mastro & Joe Succo Colin & Olivia McLaurine Worth & Carey McMains Robert & Joan Nowak Ernie Pina Charles & Barbara Rich Jerry Rogers Jerry Sader Edward & Lois Schultz John Senda Carlton Siegel Capt Robert & Ruth Small LeRoy & Helen Smith Thomas & Annie Smith Reginald & Linda Thomas Peter & Suzanne Van Haaren Lewis & June Vermillion Paul Wagner Bruce & Catherine Wright Dale & JoAnn Wright Total Members: 38 Guests: 22 GRAND TOTAL: 60

TAPS The Bailey News was informed of the deaths of the following former crewmembers since the last news-letter. The entire crew extends our deepest sympathy to the families and friends of the deceased.

Douglas Patenaude

(1951-52) PN3 1st Div Date of death not reported

Leo Mazzeo

(1954-56) ME3/MRC Ret Died March 8, 2009

Robert Owens (1950-52) BM3

Died April 21, 2008

David Cochrane (1957-58) RD2 Died August 30, 2002

Holland Jackson (1949-50) SN

March 7, 2010

George Graden, Jr. (1945-46-Plankowner) SN Died November 15, 2004

Robert Smith

Died November 8, 2000

John Kaiser (1957-58) SA Date of death not reported

James Butler

(1959-61) Capt. USN Ret XO Died January 17, 2011

Jimmy Toler MM3

Died October 5, 2011

Lanier Phillips (1957-59) SO1 Died March 12, 2012

Alfred Marrama Died May 7, 2007

Curtis Strickland

(1953-56) EM3 E Div Died July 23, 2010

Michael Mennette (1947-48) ICI/C Eng Div

January 24, 2008

Gerald Hughes (1962-64) BM3 Died February 7, 2012

Roy Palmgren (1946) TM1

October 1, 2006

Roy Wilder (1961-62) HMC Date of death not reported

Harry Prost (1946-47) MM2

Died November 20, 2010

Lawrence Roberge (1966-68) SN Died September 2007

Donald Smith (1945-50)

Died July 27, 2008

Angelo Manfready (1945-46) SF3 Died November 22, 2007

John Connolly (1946-47)

Died January 27, 2001

William Minton (1969-70) RM2 Died April 8, 2011

Frank Cole, Jr (1963-64) GMCS

Died September 17, 2011

Lum Hawkins (1952) SN Died November 26, 2010

Cecil Reazin, Jr. (1953-54) FN

Died August 4, 2011

CDR David Greathouse (1967-69) CO

Died November 22, 2011

John Greene (!954-56) YNC Died November 15, 2011

William Hood (1950-52) SN

Died October 26, 2002

Anyone learning of the death of a former crewmember is requested to notify the Bailey News so their passing can be acknowledged in TAPS and also on the Honor Roll at the next reunion memorial service.

____________

2012 REUNION ATTENDEES

Published by: Premier Reunion Services PO Box 11438 Hickory, NC 28603 828-256-6008 (voice) 828-256-6559 (Fax) dina@mlrsinc.com karen@mlrsinc.com WWW.MLRSINC.COM/KDB Our Reunions Work So You Don’t Have To.

BAILEY NEWS Volume XXVII Issue 2 Page 4

At least you can thank him for the version the National Football League officials use today. Actually, what Siegel -- a retired local football referee -- did was re-fashion the prototype "beanbag" NFL referees used to use. "And actually," says Siegel, "it's not beans in the bag. It's fishtank gravel." The problem with the old weighted markers, Siegel said, is that they were only weighted on one end, and refs who looped them over the waistbands or belts of their pants have them constantly fall off. "So I thought, what if I put a small weight on either end of the bag, and put the waist flap in the middle?" Siegel said. "I made some, and I started giving them to guys in the local association, and it branched out from that.” It seemed to catch on, so Siegel sent 120 of them to the NFL's head-quarters in New York and just gave them to the league. "It got so I sold them to the NFL one or two times when the league was running NFL Europe," Siegel said. "There's not a big market for it," says Siegel, who calls this a "hobby" more than a business. "I don't make a lot of money on it. There's not a lot of turnover for NFL referees." Siegel has made the markers for all of the seven on-field referees, the five backups, and the two press box officials slated to work Sunday's Su-per Bowl game between the Patriots and New York Giants. The bags, which measure two inches wide and about 8 1/2 inches long, are double stitched with both ends filled with fishtank gravel so either side can flap over a belt or a waistband. They are monogrammed with the Roman nu-merals for Super Bowl XLVI, and each referee's number. "For example," Siegel said, "this year's referee is John Perry. His number is R132. So that's what the bag says." Siegel says he's been providing the NFL with the bags for more than 25 years, and has made them for at least 15 Super Bowls. He also pro-vides them to college officials, includ-

Forrest Wilder (1961) 601 Seminole St

Auburn, AL 36830 334-821-7402

sdwauburn@yahoo.com

Joseph Figueroa SFM3 260 N 2nd St

Chowchill, CA 93610 559-665-3023

Roel Rodriquez RM3 731 W Rosewood Ave San Antonio, TX 78212 mezskr@hotmail.com

Bill Hampton

billhampton11@gmail.com

Bill Hightower tanganekin1@yahoo.com

Frank Mitchell (1960-64) MMC

44 Iron City Rd Anniston, AL 36207

256-831-0857 ___________

WELCOME MAT The USS KD Bailey family proudly welcomes the following re-cently located shipmates. We hope to see you at the next reunion. You are invited to become an active member of the association.

Marblehead's Siegel Has Super Product in Refs'

Beanbags By Steve Krause / The Daily Item If you've ever noticed those dark blue bags referees throw onto the field to mark where punts land, or where kicks go out of bounds, you can thank Marblehead's Carl Siegel for them.

ing those from the Atlantic Coast Conference. "And," he says, "I'm making 150 of them that will be monogrammed for an officials group in Maryland that's going to have a referee school." Siegel says that he may have invented the modern beanbag, but he didn't patent it. "It's my mistake," he said, "because it's since been copied. I saw them in a catalogue a few years ago, saying they were offering the 'new slim NFL-style beanbags.' "It would have run out with the statute of limitations anyway," shrugs Siegel. "It's a novelty." Steve Krause can be reached at skrause@itemlive.com.

Carl Siegel holding one of his bean bags.

DID YOU EVER WONDER? Why doesn’t Tarzan have a

beard? Why did Kamikaze pilots wear

helmets? If people evolved from apes,

why are there still apes? Is there ever a day that mat-

tresses are not on sale? How come you never hear fa-

ther-in-law jokes? Why, in winter, do we try to

keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we com-plained about the heat?

BAILEY NEWS Volume XXVII Issue 2 Page 5

Editor’s Note: For the April issue of the KD Bailey newsletter, I requested that you send in a story about a de-ployment that you remember. From the internet I found some examples of cruises or deployments that you might have been a part of. Some of the ones I found were as follows: Operation Portrex & Caribbean 1950 Northern Europe Midshipman Cruise 1951, 52 Med Cruise 1954 Operation Keystone & NATO Exer-cises 1954 LANTMIDCRU 1-62 LANTFLEX2-1962 & 65 Springboard 1965 Phiblex1 1967 Poker Hand III 1966 Operation Leapfrog 1966 Only one response came in. Here is his story: From Bill Hampton, YN3: During a shakedown cruise on KDB in the fall of 1963, I came aboard the day before the ship headed out to ride a hurricane at sea. Quite an intro to sea life! I was sea sick for two weeks, and carried a bucket around with me. The ship did a 6-week Caribbean cruise that win-ter (it may have been part of the shakedown cruise) then in March 64, I think, went to the Med for 6 months. We spent 45 days cruising around Cyprus during the Cyprus crisis that spring. The roughest water I was ever in, bar none, and I saw a lot of deep water in my enlistment. I transferred to a carrier, CVA-43 Coral Sea. We did a year-long WesPac, which I think was the long-est tour since WWII of any ship. We spent 5 months at sea at one point. Lost most of my paychecks playing poker, but who needs money when Uncle Sam is feeding you.

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LANIER WALTER PHILLIPS passed away on 3-12-12. He was living in a veterans home in DC but moved on to the same type home in Gulfport, MS. I spoke with him one time when I first tracked him down and he is quite an interesting fig-ure. He's all over the internet when you do a search. When you read about him you'll understand why Canada thinks so much of him. Passed away on a Monday and would have been 89 on Wednesday. From Ernie Pina

___________ The internet article about Lanier Phil-lips follows: Lanier W. Phillips (March 14, 1923—March 12, 2012) was a survi-vor of the wreck of the USS Truxtun off the coast of Newfoundland, a re-tired oceanographer and a recipient of the US Navy Memorial’s Lone Sailor award for his distinguished post Navy civilian career. Phillips is an African American who was raised by sharecroppers in Lithonia, GA and who became the US Navy’s first black sonar technician. Phillips died on March 12, 2012, at the Armed Forces Home in Gulfport, MS. While growing up in the segre-gated South, Phillips witnessed the terror of the Ku Klux Klan and was taught to fear white people. “Never look a white man in the eye...if you do you’ll get a whipping or maybe lynched,” his great-grandmother once warned him. In order to escape the South, Phillips joined the Navy in 1941. Al-though the Navy was still segregated and blacks were confined to duty as mess attendants, Phillips considered this the lesser of two evils. On February 18th, 1942, Phillips was aboard the USS Truxtun (DD-229) while it was battered by a se-vere winter storm. Eventually the Truxtun and the supply ship the USS Pollux (AKS-2) were forced onto the rocks of the southeast coast of New-foundland. Hundreds of men from both ships died, but Phillips was

among the survivors. Initially afraid to leave his doomed ship because he thought he was off the coast of Iceland where he had been told blacks were forbidden to go ashore, Phillips boarded a lifeboat which capsized as it reached shore. Exhausted and covered in oil that had leaked from the sinking ships, Phillips collapsed on the shore. Gently prodded to his feet by a local resident who told him he’d freeze to death if he didn’t get up, Phillips was confronted by an experience that was totally new to him; “I had never heard a kind word from a white man in my life.” Phillips was taken to a place where the local women were wash-ing oil from survivors, and when they realized they could not scrub his skin white, he was afraid their kind treatment would end. Instead, a local woman, Violet Pike, insisted that he come home to her house where she nursed him with soup and put him to bed with blankets and rocks she’d warmed in her stove. Profoundly touched and forever changed by the kindness of the resi-dents of St. Lawrence, Newfound-land, Phillips went on to become the Navy’s first black sonar technician and vowed to do everything in his power to repay the kindness he had experienced, eventually donating enough money to St. Lawrence for them to build a children’s play-ground. After giving speeches at schools across the US, Phillips was awarded an honorary degree from Memorial University of Newfound-land in 2008 for his efforts to end discrimination. In 2011, Phillips was given hon-orary membership into the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador for his work in civil rights in the US.

___________ Note: Lanier Phillips served aboard KD Bailey from 1957-59. Submitted by Ernie Pina

__________

MAIL CALL

LANIER W. PHILLIPS

BAILEY NEWS Volume XXVII Issue 2 Page 6

Other than the name and mail-ing address change, you should not notice any differences in the ser-vice you receive. We pledge to con-tinue providing you with the best possible reunion at the best possi-ble price! Dina Coffey, General Manager

STATEMENT OF PUBLICATION

The Bailey News is the official publication of the USS K D Bailey Association. It is be published in January, April and September. The Newsletter is funded by Association dues. All members are encouraged to support the voice of the Bailey News. A financial statement ap-pears in each issue of the newslet-ter. The newsletter is intended to be a vehicle for the members to ex-press opinions, make suggestions and especially share experiences. Unless otherwise stated, the views and opinions printed in the newsletter are those of the article’s writer, and do not necessarily repre-sent the opinion of the Association leadership or the Editor of the Newsletter. All letters and stories submitted will be considered for publication, except unsigned letters will not be published. Letters requesting the writer’s name be withheld will be honored, but published on a space available basis. Signed letters with no restrictions will be given priority. Letters demeaning to another shipmate will not be printed; letters espousing a political position will not be printed. The editor reserves the right to edit letters to conform to space limi-tations and grammar. ML&RS, Inc. is not responsible for the accuracy of articles submit-ted for publication. It would be a monumental task to check each story. Therefore, we rely on the au-thor to research each article. You are encouraged to ac-tively participate in the newsletter family by submitting your stories and suggestions.

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Effective Jan 2, 2012, Military Locator & Reunion Service, Inc was sold to Premier Reunion Services, LLC. 2012 will be a transition year as we switch from the old name and contact information to the new. We will continue to use both names and post office boxes for this year, but you can start using the new one right away!

NAME HAS CHANGED, SERVICE REMAINS THE SAME

SCENES FROM 2012 REUNION

Opening remarks at 2012 Reunion by Capt Small

Enjoying the 2012 USS KD Bailey Banquet