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June Newsletter Wm. “Bud”
Kautz-CCBW, 34782 Hiawatha Trail, McHenry, IL, 60051 - (815)344-6326 e mail: REDLABELBUDDHA@ aol.com Another reminder: Our reunion will be in Oakbrook, IL September 15 thru 18, 2005 There are still a
number of post cards that have not been returned. Please send them
back as we need to have an estimate of attendees. Be sure to mention
USS Lowndes Reunion when making reservations to get the best rate. See page Mar.
2005-8 for reservation sheet to be returned to hotel. |
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Hilton Garden Inn Oakbrook Terrace (630)941-1177 |
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The following have indicated their intentions to be in
attendance at Oakbrook,IL |
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Max Cole John & Lebby Dyer Pam & Mike Hennessey Dick & Roseanne Jones Bud & Jean Kautz |
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Don & Shirley
Lorenzi Margaret McGrody
(?) Mike & Jerry
Michalski |
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Dallas &
Lorene Stratton Bill & Amelia
Taylor Jan & Perry
Trober John Vernale |
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Leo &
Margaret O’Brien Arthur &
Marjorie Rauseo |
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David &
Joanne Long Earl & Frances Robertson ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++4-++++4-+++++++++++4-++++++++++++++++++++++-S- No set times yet
but here is what has been set up for a tentative schedule of events: When schedule is
definite it will be made available in next newsletter. |
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THURSDAY |
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FRIDAY (day) FRIDAY (night) |
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- Sept. 15 - Sept. 16 |
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Meet & greet Guided
sightseeing tour, approx. 0900-1500 Drury Lane dinner
theater, approx. 1800-2300 |
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SATURDAY |
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- Sept. 17 |
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SATURDAY |
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Day visit Navy
Pier & cruise on Lake Michigan 0930-1530 Return to hotel
for business meeting in hospitality room Group photo &
banquet - cash bar |
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SUNDAY |
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- Sept. 18 |
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So long - farewell ‘til we meet
again |
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Please have suggestions for the 2006 reunion &
present them for consideration at the business meeting in Oakbrook Date & which city we will give the honor to host it. |
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My Father, Paul Rogers R. Watkins, Chief Electrician
Mate (T), SV-6, USNR Served on board the
USS Lowndes and the USS Reumus (ARL-40) during
the time period of about 10/30/1943 to December
1945. He never spoke a lot about his tour
of duty, only that it was in the Pacific. He received
the Asiatic-Pacific and Philippine Liberation
medals. If anyone has any information about
Paul, I know it would be a miracle if anyone remembered
him, but stranger things have happened.
I am completing a family tree and book and
biography, so any information available will be greatly
appreciated. Paul passed away in September
1967. His wife is 90 years old and is still mentally
alert and living in Fruita, Colorado Where my
Dad entered the service and returned upon his release
from the service. My address: 4468 Territorial Loop Sierra Vista, AZ 85635 (520)439-9748 Checking the current roster list I find that Donald Lorenzi and
Arthur Rauseo are the only Electrician mates
listed. Have forwarded Jack’s e mail to them
with hopes they can provide him with some info. What say fellows? Thanks for the article of my great nephew, Carl Pavano I
was in Fort Myers, FL from December 20 and
left March 31. Cold and snow does not agree
with me. Not doing much, just relaxing. Sorry
I didn’t write sooner. Had a wonderful time in
Branson, the girls did a great job, my thanks to the
both of them. See you in Chicago. I plan to have the fantastic Chicago giveaway. Any and all
gifts will be greatly appreciated. Big or
small doesn’t matter. I am working on
Chicago/lllinois trivia to make some gifts. Let's get behind Jan to help pull this off successfully. |
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Sorry for the slow
response to your 17th reunion request, but
Cindy and I will be unable to attend the reunion
this year. About a week before we received
your inquiry, our daughter picked September 17th
for her wedding date. Se thought that would
be before the reunion. To keep family peace,
I figured going to the wedding would be the
best choice. Cindy and I really enjoyed
attending the reunion in Branson last year. We enjoyed
meeting all of you and listening to the
experiences in the Navy. Dad didn’t talk very much
about his time in the Navy while I was growing
up. I am forwarding a CD of the pictures we
took at last year’s reunion. You may use any of
the pictures you want. Thanks again for a
good time in Branson. We hope the Chicago
reunion is as successful and are looking forward
to attending future reunions. The CD that Jeff
sent contains about 100 photos that I
will insert into the current album for viewing.
Jeff is the son of John and Marilyn Hess and
I’m sure he made a wise decision. I assume
that John and Marilyn will forego the Chicago
reunion too. If not, I’m sure they will be in
deep trouble. There is an
interesting e mail that has been going around the
internet for a while. I really admire all the
service men and women that have served and
protected our country. Here is a link which
will detail which part of that e mail is myth and
which part is fact. The same website, http://www.snopes.com/ is helpful in finding out what is
what, when it comes to the net. There is also
some fascinating reading there. Here is the
link to the specific, topic of the unknown soldier.
One thing I found interesting and
confusing is why the Vietnam Veterans tomb still
remains empty? Does anyone have any
further info regarding why remains have not been
replaced? Here is the link: http://www.
snopes.com/military/unknown.asn |
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Reuben Johnson - cont’d I returned to Seattle with grand thoughts of state-side duty
with our crew. Not to be out done, the Navy needed
two men to complete the compliment of a
new ship. Another crewman and I were
chosen for this duty. It was good bye
state-side at this point, nut by the grace of God,
hello state-side after VJ day. I had only heard of
amphibious assault action and my training was
day to day from the day the Lowndes was
commissioned. I didn’t know anyone on the crew I
was working with. I was a CM3c and made the
repairs on the side of some of the boats.
Good men working as brothers to get a bad
job done. After all the goings and comings,
taking wounded to Guam and going after
replacement boats below the equator it was quite
a feeling to head back to the States. Who would
have thought we would be in San Francisco
on VJ Day which was a very wild for sure.
Service men were restricted to their bases and
ships. At this time my length of service and points
qualified me for discharge. Sent to
Great Lakes Naval Station for processing and
left my Navy career at the end of September 1945 Hi to all of you: Sorry I haven’t been responding to anyone
since April or before. Just got home Monday
evening, May 23rd from Omaha Methodist
Hospital. Spent the best part of 5 weeks there and
had three operations to relieve pressure on
my brain. Was rushed down twice by
ambulance. No more got home and had to go back.
Had 4 mini-strokes since the weekend of April
17th. I guess two of them were before that
time. But don’t ask me as I was pretty much out
of the loop. Hopefully will be able to make our
annual reunion, but nothing definite at
this time. Have a ways to go to re-gain my
strength and control of y legs and body. Left side very
weak but am able to walk with a walker. Guess that was the reason not being able to get in
touch with Wally. Have him in our thoughts to
recover and be himself again. Hope to see him
and Jackie in Oakbrook this Senfem her Good
luck fella! |
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BIRTHDAYS ANNIVERSARIES |
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J. Hess |
5/19 |
Bomhorsts |
5/9 |
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F. DuBois |
6/3 |
Pappenhausens |
5/22 |
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B. Warnburg 6/4 |
Hess’ |
6/5 |
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A. Rauseo |
6/10 |
Hydes |
6/18 |
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J. Freitas |
7/21 |
Johnsons |
6/21 |
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T. Baker |
7/21 |
Dyers |
6/24 |
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J. Born |
7/23 |
Borns |
7/1 |
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T. Godby |
8/3 |
Brubakers |
7/? |
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L. Nedeau |
8/3 |
Longs |
7/12 |
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B. Taylor |
8/7 |
Feists |
8/? |
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S. Hyde |
8/8 |
Linebacks |
8/22 |
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P. Lineback 8/17
Erlandsons B. Tracz 8/22 E. King 8/26 A bit of trivia |
8/31 |
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Officers in the “Old
Navy” (before WWII) joined the Wardroom
Mess and paid for their meals. They were not
entitled to meals from the General Mess and
usually had to buy into the Wardroom if
membership had value. The Wardroom purchased
from “the beach” as well as from the Supply
Officer and had a separate menu and facilities
(galley and stewards) to prepare foods. That
has been so long ago that I can not remember
how and when the changes came about
officially. The separation remained but there
was a gradual change in the duties of the
Wardroom Mess Officer (usually a junior
officer who had little time or desire to propose a
menu and buy provisions and collect funds).
Perhaps I should ask a twenty-first century
Supply Officer how the Wardroom Mess exists
now to get up to date. Bud, you too are history. This a reply to
my question to Clark. I had just finished
reading a book, '‘Condition Red” where this
subject of Officer's mess came up and Clark
being an officer in the Navy I wanted to get it
direct from a reliable source. While on the
subject of food, it is a known fact that
hot dogs and hot-dog buns are sold in different
quantities, but that is going to change two
companies have agreed to sell buns and hot dogs
in the same numbers. Sure this will delight
outdoor cookers. |
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Sending a news
article from the Indianapolis Star
concerning the Indianapolis Athletic Club where
the Umbargers hosted our reunion a few years
ago. I received this article from some friends who
remembered that we had enjoyed the
reunion there. There are a few historical facts
regarding the club. To me, the article is a reminder
of the many good and entertaining reunions
we have experienced. Some of the well known celebrities and individuals who have
taken advantage of the Club and visited in past years: First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson,
Presidents Harry S. Truman and Lyndon B.
Johnson, Benny Goodman - King of Swing and
Archduke Otto von Hapsburg with a
family reunion. Also to mention importantly
and most noteworthy the USS Lowndes reunion in 2002. Thanks Bill, always on the look out for items of interest
for the newsletters. Sorry you haven’t heard from me for a while. I don’t really
have any stories about my Dad except how Mom
told me that he had been up late on a
Saturday night and instead of waking up his
fellow sailors crawling up to his upper bunk, he
grabbed a newspaper and was reading the
Sunday funnies in the head when his ship was
attacked at Pearl Harbor. His ship was the one
mostly saved because the Arizona was tied
up next to it and protected from the torpedo
bombs. Still, he lost a lot of friends that day. Mom
told me his life and the appreciation for it
started anew after that experience. Since I
was only one when he died I don’t have any
other stories. The picture of him crossing the
Equator is one of the few I have. I’m really
thankful for that one that was sent to me. I went
through the same ceremony when I went to school
on ‘Semester at Sea’. It’s great knowing my
Dad did the same thing. I |
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appreciate what is
being done for his shipmates and
understand the cost of doing it. Once again, I will
always appreciate the picture and the story that
his shipmates shared about him. Yes, I remember Chief
Watkins, nice guy, however he had
an efficient crew and there was little for
him to do , he did not get involved with our day
to day work assignments. If it wasn’t broke he
was not about to fix it. However, I do recall
him getting a workout on one night during the
invasion of Iwo Jima. The anchor got stuck in
the down position due to a problem with the
control panel and we could not debark that night
with the rest of the ships. This was such a
serious event that word had it- it was not to be
trusted to lower ranking personnel. I’m sure
he got direct orders from the Captain. The one
thing I do thank the chief for is that when he
got transferred (war was over) the 1 cEM made
chief and I was promoted to 1/c.
Sorry I can not report , time has erased many
memories. If anything comes to mind I will
certainly get back to Jack. This is Donald’s
response to Jack Watkins’ question
regarding his Dad, Chief EM Paul R.
Watkins. Use the enclosed
check for necessary cost of supplies. If
I owe any more, please advise. Appreciate receiving
the Lowndes newsletters. I’m
still uncertain about attending this year’s reunion,
but want to contribute something towards
postage, etc. |
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Be kind to your
children because they will be the ones to
choose your nursing home. |
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Day is done Gone the sun From the lakes From the hills All is well, safely
rest. |
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God is nigh Fading light Dims the sight And a star Gems the sky. |
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Gleaning bright From afar, Drawing nigh, Falls the night. Thanks and praise, |
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For our days, This
we know, Neath the sun, God
is nigh. Neath the stars, Neath the sky, As we go, |
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Robert |
DUNBAR |
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Wm.
F. |
&ACKSTETTER |
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Ed. |
MINTON |
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James |
PIERCE |
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Ernest |
SCOTT |
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Paul
R. |
WATKINS |