It is with great sadness I have to announce that on March 24th, LtCol Melvin E Locke, USMC (Ret), took his last cut. Mel was C.O. of Grampaw Pettibone Squadron in 2006, and was one of the nicest men whom I have ever known. He was a great leader and he will be missed by those who knew him and served with him. Services will take place on 6 May 2017 at 10:00 a.m. and will be held at St Mark’s Lutheran Church located at 2323 Las Lomitas Drive, Hacienda Heights, CA 91745. Lunch will be served in the gymnasium following the service where family members will greet the guests.
Recently, Vince van den Brink and I visited the USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) in San Diego. It was a dockside visit with tours conducted by crew members. Groups of about 10- 15 were shown many spaces on this big destroyer. We got a pretty good idea about how the new ship works and some of its capabilities. The trip was sponsored by the Orange County Council of the U.S. Navy League. If you have an interest in taking these kinds of trips, talk to Vince van den Brink who doubles as XO and Trips Officer. The trip was possible because they had about 40 people willing to pay $50 a person for a bus ride to San Diego. I know that Vince has tried to put something together for Gramps but has had a lack of interest from a large number of members.
In closing I want to again thank the volunteer staff who do all of the work that is necessary to make our business model work. Unfortunately I am running out of gas and will have to finish my “thank you” comments next month.
