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Association History
 Marlin Roberts and Gus Martin were Naval Officers during World War II and remained in touch after the war. In 1975, they conceived the idea of reuniting former members of their flight squadron, Navy Patrol Bombing Squadron 102. From a list of former squadron members with whom they were in contact, they compiled a roster containing 46 names. The squadron compliment in the Central Pacific during 1944 and 1945, was 222 Officers and Crewmen.
They began to set plans for a squadron reunion for June, 1976. Gus and his wife Pauline, volunteered to host the first reunion. The reunion was held in Seminole, Oklahoma at the estate of Pauline's parents. On the scheduled day, 18 squadron members and 11 wives arrive in Seminole for the reunion.
It is interesting to note, that the estate was later deeded to the State of Oklahoma and is now an Historical site.
A short meeting was held during the reunion to determine if it was feasible to hold future reunions. Items such as how to determine where and when the reunions would be held was discussed. It was decided that they would be scheduled on a biennial basis and that a volunteer would be solicited for each subsequent reunion.
In 1978, Bob and Nita Kirk volunteered to host a reunion in San Diego, California. In the meantime a search was launched to locate additional members. This was many years before the computer became a fairly common household "appliance," so the efforts to locate additional members was more difficult.
In 1982, the reunion was held in New Orleans, Louisiana. During this reunion, a vote was taken and it was decided that Navy Patrol Squadron 14 would be invited to join the Association. Therefore the Association designated name was changed to Navy Patrol Bombing Squadrons 102/14 Association.
A total of twelve (12) reunions have been held in the past 20 years at various locations throughout the
country. Below is a listing of the year, location, attendance and hosts.
1976 (1) Seminole, Oklahoma
(18 members and 11 wives)
Hosts: Gus and Pauline Martin; Marlin and Vera Roberts
1978 (2) San Diego, California
(65 members and 49 wives)
Hosts: Bob and Nita Kirk
1980 (3) Virginia Beach, Virginia
(83 members and 65 wives)
Hosts: Art and Mary Singleton
1982 (4) New Orleans, Louisiana
(83 members and 73 wives)
Hosts: Chris and Barbara Capdevielle
1984 (5) Sacramento, California
(63 members and 54 wives)
Hosts: Gordon and Joyce Miller
1986 (6) Washington, DC
(97 members and 81 wives)
Hosts: Al and Barbara Dresner
1988 (7) Pensacola, Florida
(113 members and 99 wives)
Hosts: Bob and Kitty Dimmitt
1990 (8) Tucson, Arizona
(83 members and 75 wives)
Hosts: Ted and Betsy Marshall
1992 (9) Seattle, Washington
(102 members and 79 wives)
Hosts: Bud and Florence Gebhard
1994 (10) Minneapolis, Minnesota
(90 members and 73 wives)
Hosts: Harvey and Audrey Skaar
1996 (11) Boston, Massachusetts
(62 members and 57 wives)
Hosts: Ken and Louise Thoman
1998 (12) Pensacola, Florida
(75 members and 58 wives)
Hosts: Bob and Kitty Dimmitt
A Volunteer Committee has assisted the hosts in most of the
reunions listed above.
The next reunion is scheduled for Fall of 2000 at San Diego,
California.
Our Association has no formal structure. The current reunion host assumes all the duties associated with administering the day to day functions of the Association. Following the reunion, the Host passes on these duties and responsibilities to his successor. The only permanent position in the Association is that of the Association Coordinator. This person assumes responsibility for coordinating all Association, functions, documents and rosters.
At one time
there were 326 squadron members on the roster. As the years pass, we continue
to lose members as a result of age. As of January 5, 1999, our roster now
stands at 276 members. We are continuously attempting to locate former
members of the squadrons. However with our youth behind us, it is becoming
more and more difficult.
If you know of anyone who has flown with either VPB-102, VB-102 or VP-14,
please let them know about us. We can be contacted through our "Association
Coordinator" or by filling out the "Association Membership Application Form"
which can be found on our Home Page.
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