NEXT REUNION

Our next reunion hosts will be from the San Diego area. We thank them for coming forward and taking on this project. You will be hearing from them later, of course. Right now, we need to give them time to organize who, what, where and when ..... In case you need contact the Leon's, Walton's, Aylward's, Weimer's, the Van Nostrand's have agreed - with the Kirk's as coordinators.....

VP-14, VB-102, VPB-102 - A Chronicle

Your book is now part of the collection of the National Archives, Washington, DC and listed on their web site. It is also a part of the collection of the Naval Aviation History Center, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, DC. The Navy Museum, Pensacola, Florida is also in possession of a copy. Terry Dell, son of Ambrose Dell, has dedicated his time and expertise to creating a Web site in our name as a memorial to his dad. Terry and Bob Kirk have worked closely gathering material for this project with Terry posting it. We owe these two men a great debt of gratitude. Bob has been the dedicated motivator whose work, behind the scenes, since the very beginning, has made this very successful association what it is.

We have only 8 copies remaining of The Chronicle from the original printing of 200 copies. Thank you for your incredible support. Please send any further orders, along with your check for $20.00 each, including postage costs, made out to Navy Squadron 102/14 Assn., Chronicle, as soon as possible, to Louise Thoman, 86 Driftwood Lane, Trumbull, CT, 06611-1861, so a decision can be made as to whether or not to print further copies.

Association Website

Our Web site can be accessed at: https://members.tripod.com/~vpb_l02/
Please note that all letters are typed in lower case. The character preceding VPB is a "tilde" ( ~ ) and the character following VPB is an underline ( _ ) character.
(sorry, I forgot to insert the tilde in the last Tale Spins Issue)

Association Dues

It's Dues Time, again. For those of you squadron members who have not paid for the coming 2 years ('99 and '00,) either by mail or at the reunion, $15.00, each member, is due now, to remain on the active list and receive all mailings. You will be sent your new roster as soon as we receive your dues. Be sure to note any change of address, telephone number, deaths, new zip codes or area codes. We can not find you if we do not have these up to date.

Please mail your dues to Bob Kirk, 4371 Logrono Drive, San Diego, CA 92115-5623. If you have not attended a reunion and we have not heard from you recently, your name will be removed from our mailing list and roster. So, let's hear from you .....

Auxiliary Members

At the business meeting held in Pensacola, it was adopted unanimously, that widows of deceased former members will no longer be required to pay dues if they remain active, attending reunions or keeping us informed.

Association Member News

NITA KIRK has a new "heart beat", her friendly pacemaker - and is feeling better but being watched closely. Her smile is just as radiant as ever and her determination just as strong.....

WILLIAM McCLINTOCK sent word that he can not attend our reunions due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease but sends his regards to his friends.

BARBARA CAPDEVIELLE could not be with us because surgery was scheduled around that time due to a problem with her voice after suffering a stroke earlier. We wish her the very best, MARLIN (Robbie) ROBERTS had a stent introduced in an artery in '97. Wife, Marge, suffered a stroke in '98 but is recovering well. Son, Capt. Mike, is the author of a book on the history of the Navy VP/VPB Squadrons. It should be available on the Naval Aviation History branch web site early in 1999 and a printed volume in late '99 or early 2000.

RALPH BOATMAN is confined to home with Parkinsons.

VERNA SCHUR, wife of William Schur, passed away 1/91/98.

EDWARD F KEELER died on 8/22/98 after a long illness and was buried at Arlington with full military honors. He was a member of Stan Oset's crew.

The family of ANDY BRANNON who was one of those lost over Marcus Island, have found us and sister Frances Vick has been added to the list of Association Auxiliary members. We welcome them.

HARVEY SKAAR is having a time with uncontrollable arhythmia, after a stent insertion, causing hospitalization on occasion but is otherwise fine. We all know that a few crazy heart beats can't keep this good man down.

On the SICK LIST

Helen Andrews, Dete Detour, Art Singleton, Bill Alcorn and Mary Lindsay. We wish them all a speedy recovery.

CORRECTIONS

For those of you who have our book, The Chronicle, George H Weimer's name was omitted as a member of Oset's team on pages 110 and 144. Also, C W Haddenham was an AOM2C. My apologies to Clarence Ponder for listing him as deceased. He is alive and well living in Pine Bluff, AR.

HISTORY

It was voted, at the reunion meeting, for Louise Thoman to undertake FURTHER RESEARCH into the history of VP-14, VB-102 and VPB-102. The Archives of both the Navy at Washington and the Museum in Pensacola will be accessed further.

YOUR MEMORIES of events large and/or small, personal memories of incidents shared with buddies, terrifying moments, the things you all did to keep the fear at bay, are very important to the over all picture. All of this information will be catalogued and kept available with the Squadron memorabilia and eventually donated to the Navy where it will be available to future generations who are losing sight of what life is like during a war of that magnitude.

Remember that the Navy recorded ONLY the significant events not the "routine" patrols you made. There are many incidents you shared with your crews that were never written up and could not be recorded in personal diaries. The only place they exist is in your mind. Please share them. Send COPIES of your diaries, log books to Louise. Share what you have with the Squadron.....

Don't worry about how they are composed or written. They will be edited, if necessary, and typed for the records. Whenever space allows in the TALE SPINS, pieces of history will be included.

An Important message from Bob Kirk

Individual awards pages are being constructed for our Web site. We presently have the two Congressional Medal of Honor recipients (John W Finn and Bruce Van Voorhis) posted. We would like to create pages for ALL association members that were awarded the NAVY CROSS and/or SILVER STAR.

If you received either of these awards, please send the following information to Bob Kirk: 1. A clear photo Copy of the Citation 2. A Picture of yourself in uniform 3. Date, place and by whom the award was presented. (A LASER copy of your original picture would be acceptable but, if you choose to send the original and would like it returned, please write your name and address on the reverse side being careful not to mar the picture by pushing too hard. Affixing a return address label would be accepted. We would very much like to include all the recipients of these awards, so please help us by sending the above information.

THANK YOU!

I feel that it is way past time to give special thank you's to all those people who have made this Association what it is --

The people who have made the effort to attend reunions often at great cost to themselves, for the sake of being with friends of long standing, dear friends with whom a distant war was the original common bond;

The couples who have hosted each event for the past 24 years, working for 2 years, sometimes, to be sure that everything will be just right, then working right through the event seeing to it that all goes off as planned for you.

Those who have kept your Memorabilia, organized it, put together your history, put out your own news sheet twice a year, prepare your mailings that keep you informed. People like Bob Kirk who has continued to work year after year - 1st, using his wiles to find over 300 men BEFORE the Internet was even heard of, continuing to maintain our roster with all its continual changes. He and Nita hosting a reunion and now active in a 2nd one, and now the incredible job of preparing all the material for the Web site -- and incredible dedication.

Let these people know how much you appreciate their efforts and enjoy the fruits of their labors ......

Like most volunteers, their pay is your appreciation......

PICTURES