FAREWELL AMERICAN WARRIORS
FAREWELL TO PETER TARE
Sorry Earle that you did not get to the Newport Reunion. We had over 50 people in attendance, but only 21 PT Officers; the rest being spouses, widows and family members.
Probably the most important item is that the next reunion will be held at the Embassy Suites Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana from Thursday April 19 to Sunday April 22, 2007. New Orleans is the home of the Higgins PT Boat, and also many designs of Landing Craft. We will visit the "D Day" Museum, where one wing will be devoted to the Higgins PT Boat.
It will also be our last reunion, since the Board of Directors decided that we should dissolve the corporation on the last day of the 2007 reunion.
At the Newport reunion, Officers elected: President, Ben McClure; Vice President, Bill Paynter; Secretary, Ed Burke; Treasurer, Ed Jepsen; and Executive Secretary, Ed Jepsen. Directors, Class of 2009 are Grover B."Ben" McClure, John "Marty" Warther, William K. Paynter, Robert McDowell, Hugh M. Robinson, Cecil C. Sanders and James R. Thompson. Directors, Class of 2008 are Ray Anderson, Earle Palmer Brown, Edward E. Burke, Thomas A Dent, Edward P. Jepsen, Joseph Stell and William J. Ward. The Class of 2007 directors are William R. Carter, Joe F. Deegan, Jr., Jack V. Franck, C. Ross Littig and Franklin D. "Duke" Snyder, Jr.
The Newport reunion (April 23 - 25, 2006) included a Lunch at the Officers Club of the Naval War College, a tour of "The Breakers" Mansion, built (1893 - 1895) for Cornelius Vanderbilt. We had a clam bake and lobster dinner at the Atlantic Beach Club that night.
On Tuesday, April 25, we went by chartered bus to Fall River, Mass. to Battleship Cove. We got to see the two PT Boats on display, and the PT Squadron Exhibits on the Battleship Massachusetts. After Lunch at a nearby restaurant, we returned to the Hyatt Regency Hotel. On the way we had a brief stop at Melville, RI, the site of the PT Training Center during WWII. The reunion concluded with Dinner at the Hyatt, the annual meeting and memorial for those who had "Made their Last Patrol"
After retiring any remaining debts and turning over the remaining funds to PT Boats, Inc. our organization will cease to exist. PT Boats, Inc. at its future reunions will provide opportunities for Peter Tare members to participate as a group.
Ed Jepsen
Five Presidents in the Pacific Theater of World War II
Duane Hove has written a book detailing the Navy careers of Presidents Kennedy, Ford, Nixon, Bush and Johnson. With five years of research and countless interviews, Hove has outlined the Naval careers of the Presidents who served in the Navy in the Pacific Theater of WWII.
The book also provides extensive details of President Kennedy’s ill- fated mission of PT 109. It is very interesting and is available for $24.95 from the BURD STREET PRESS, P.O. Box 708, Shippensburg, PA 17257-0708.
REPORT FROM BAYONNE
I just found the Peter Tare website and have just begun to explore it. It looks great.
I’ve lived in Bayonne, NJ all my life, quite close to the ELCO Naval Division plant there. I’ve, therefore, always had an interest for the boats. I was born in 1945, and can only imagine what it was like to have served on them. I admire the courage of all who have served in that capacity – my hat’s off to all of you.
On a sad note (and you may be aware of this), a developer is in the process of building new homes on the site of the ELCO works. The project is called "The Boatworks". Local historians have asked that the original ELCO launching crane be preserved and included in the new housing development. The builder initially agreed, but has since changed his mind. The historic crane has been disassembled and is now in storage somewhere in Bayonne. The city hopes to someday include it inland, on a proposed city recreational parksite. The historians (and many locals, like myself) are not happy with the movement of the crane from its original site. The ELCO building 21, on Newark Bay with it’s large painted "ELCO NAVAL DIVISION" sign has already been demolished, after suffering a major fire.
Anyhow, just wanted to let you know that I’m enjoying the website. Thanks for providing it.
Walt Stupinski
USS BULKELEY (DDG 84) JOINS THE FLEET
The Navy's newest Aegis class guided missile destroyer, named to honor Vice Admiral John D. Bulkeley, was placed in commission on Sunday, December 8, 2001, in New York City. Mrs. Bulkeley, Alice, participant in many Peter Tare events, and the Bulkeley family were featured in the ceremony.
In his welcoming talk Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani recalled that John Bulkeley, a native New Yorker was given a ticker tape parade when he returned from the Philippines in May 1942 the first hero of World War II. He pointed out that the skipper of the Bulkeley, Commander Carlos Del Toro, while born in Cuba, grew up in New York's Hell's Kitchen and the Bronx.
Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England recounted some highlights of Admiral Bulkeley's 55 year active duty Navy career: his leadership of RON 3 in the first months of World War II, the dash out of Manila harbor carrying General MacArthur to safety, his service as a destroyer captain in the Normandy landings, his defiance of Fidel Castro while commanding the Guantanamo Naval Base, his long service as president of the Board of Inspection and Survey. The other speakers included Admiral Natter, CINCLANT; Admiral Fargo, CINCPAC; and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul D. Wolfowitz.
Mrs. Fargo and the three Bulkeley daughters, Joan, Regina and Diana and daughter-in-law Carol Bulkeley, were the ship's sponsors. Alice Bulkeley and Carla Fargo were the ship's matrons of honor. Alice went to the speakers' platform on the arm of the ship's bridge during the ceremonies and spoke the order to "man the ship and bring her alive." Next Peter Bulkeley, the Admiral's son, presented the long glass to the officer of the deck. Bulkeley granddaughter, Kelley Alice Lindsay, sang, unaccompanied, the National Anthem to begin the ceremony and sang it beautifully.
The crowd in attendance numbered perhaps 3000, many of them relatives of the 300-man crew. Others were active duty Navy people from the New York area, numerous Navy veterans including Peter Tare invitees Tom and Mike Dent and Bill and Jane Paynter. Security was tight, equivalent to the new airport access. Tickets were required. Some thought had been given after 9/11 to moving the ceremony away from New York, but several speakers observed that Admiral Bulkeley would not have tolerated such a change. The site was the pier used by USS Intrepid, the carrier turned museum, and the Bulkeley was moored at the next pier. A reception followed on board Intrepid.
Bulkeley was built by Northrop-Grumman Ship Systems at Pascagoula, Mississippi. She is described as "the most sophisticated and capable combatant ever built." Six torpedo tubes, various missile systems, two helicopters and just one gun (5:62 caliber) are among the equipment. There are four General Electric gas turbine engines coupled to two controlled pitch propellers. Top speed is in excess of 31 knots.
AMERICAN GUERRILLA GOES ON LAST PATROL
Iliff David Richardson, 83, died October, 10, 2001. He was XO of PT 34 in John Bulkeley's Ron Three. He stayed on in Leyte after the squadron was disbanded and served as a Major with the Philippine Guerrillas for the next three years. He was the subject of Ira Wolfret's book "An American Guerrilla in the Philippines" which was made into a movie of the same name. Tyronne Power played Ensign Richardson. In lieu of flowers, those desiring may send contributions to Defenders Of America Naval Museum, PO Box 36: Kemah,TX 77565
NEW ADDRESS
Peter Tare Inc. has moved its headquarters office to California. Here's the new address:
| Peter Tare, Inc. c/o Jepsen Compass Services 2030 Oakland Avenue Piedmont, CA 94611-3544 Phone: 510-655-3544 Email: jepsencompass@pacbell.net |
PT BASE AT TULAGI HARBOR
TO RUSSIA WITH LOVE
While rummaging through the material from Moose Garvey's closet which Bill Paynter was kind enough to send me, I ran across this attractive rendering of PT 504. The 38- ton 504 boat was one of the last of ELCO's 103 class. The 38-ton 504 boat was one of the last of the ELCO 103 class to see action. Commissioned on November 1,1944 she was assigned to Ron 34 and took part in the Normandy invasion on D-Day and continued to see action in the English Channel until October, 1944. She was lend leased to the Russians on December 30, 1944.
NEW ADDITIONS TO OUR WEBSITE
1) An article from the March/April 1996 issue of WoodenBoat magazine about the history and development of PT boats and their early forebears has been added to the Lazaret Library.
2) Did our Navy sponsor PT boats during the Vietnam war? According to an article in the Winter issue of PT Boater, newly de-classified documents indicate there were 20 boats acquired for raids into North Vietnam. They were 80 feet long, constructed of mahogany and fiberglass, and were powered by twin 3500hp Napier Deltic diesel engines. You can learn more about them and their actions by going to our LINKS section, or by going directly to www.ptfnasty.com.
3) Tradedy at Sea, a report of the loss of PT's 346 and 347 to friendly fire in April, 1944 in the Solomon Islands may be viewed by clicking on the LINKS section at the top of page. It was sent to Peter Tare by the son of the Skipper of PT 347, the late Robert J. Williams.
LAST PATROL
RADM Irwin Chase, Jr. of Deep River, CT died on June 3, 2001. He was the son of Irwin Chase, the designer of the Elco PT boat and the inheritor of lot of PT memorabilia from the closing of the plant in Bayonne at the end of WWII.
On the recommendation of Moose Garvey he was made an honorary member of Peter Tare at the time of the Newport reunuion (1995). He had contributed material to the museum at the War College, which mounted a big PT exhibit at the time of the reunion and unveiled a bronze PT memorial. The admiral was an aviator, graduate of USNA, skipper of a carrier.
ALL THE PT BOAT ADS YOU'VE NEVER SEEN
Pat Matthews of West Bloomfield, Michigan is a PT fan and a model builder. He is currently working on a 1/20-scale model of a 77-foot PT boat. In doing research he ran across a number of wartime magazine advertisements featuring PT boats.
He combed through all issues of Life Magazine from 1942 through 1945 and collected the ads. In addition to the obvious ones from ELCO, Higgins and Packard they represent corporations like Bell Telephone, Bendix, Camel cigarettes, Champion sparkplugs, Prestone and US Steel.
There are more than 60 of them and you may view them by clicking on the following link: http://www.geocities.com/ptboatads/