USS SPROSTON (DD/DDE-577)
REUNION GROUP REPORT
MAY 2004
“Now hear this, now hear this, set the Special Sea Detail, single up all lines and make preparations for getting underway. The Sproston destination is San Diego. ETA 1200 hours on 15 September 2004.”
2004 REUNION, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA , SEPTEMBER 15-19.
Once again the Sproston crew is headed to San Diego for another memorable reunion. We are confident that we have a very interesting and fun schedule planned and we are anticipating a good turnout of crew, family members and friends. The itinerary includes a Memorial Service at Fort Rosecrans, a two hour harbor cruise and visits to Mt Soledad Veterans Memorial, the USS Midway and an active duty ship at Naval Base San Diego (32nd Street). San Diego is still a great liberty town and is a very popular tourist destination. The weather is always great. A detailed Preview and Registration form are enclosed. Once again, we strongly encourage you to please send in your Registration early. It really helps in our planning if we know how many will be with us. If once you are registered, it becomes necessary to change your plans your money will be refunded.
MESSAGE
Each year at our Reunions we are pleased that shipmates attend a Sproston reunion for the first time. Most first-timers don't know quite what to expect. They wonder if they will know anybody and if they will recognize shipmates. Most of us have gotten just a little older! We can almost guarantee it will be an enjoyable experience. There are no strangers at Sproston Reunions. You may hear sea stories of times long forgotten. One of the most frequently heard phrases is “do you remember when.....” Following our Niagara Falls reunion, we received the following message from first-timer Tom Gentry, a sonarman, who was on board from 52 to 55. “I thank you so much; my first reunion was most rewarding. I enjoyed the visit with the people who were before and those that came after my time on the mighty Sproston. Those people remind my why we all are proud of our country and what we as a people are all about. I was glad to see people I had not seen in so many years, in particular my old ASW officer, Mr. Ennis and Mr. Klein. I was also happy to learn the whereabouts of several others that I had not heard from in all those years”.
We will post additional information concerning the San Diego Reunion as it becomes available. We encourage all hands to visit the website periodically for information concerning our Reunion Group. We will also post the names of reunion registrants as they are received.
TAPS
We have been notified of the passing of the following shipmates:
Richard L. Bailey SN unknown
Richard Balmer SN Nam
Philip B Bollard Lt. WWII
Earl L. Cantrell GM1 WWII
James B. Roberts TM2 WWII
Anthony Ryfa EN3 Korea
May they rest in Peace. A message of condolence has been sent to their family members.
Jim Marlatt, President
Al Fitz, Secretary/Webmaster
Elmer Everidge, Treasurer