Tim Brown presents Jerry Loeb with a Certificate of Appreciation from GPS. Jerry’s son is on the left.
I received great response to Jerry Loeb’s presentation. What an exciting situation and so well-told by Jerry. Even Jerry’s son, Jay, who attended, had not heard the whole firsthand account of the action. Thanks Jerry!
This month we will have as our speaker, CAPT Dave Leue’, USN (Ret), who has authored two books on his experiences flying F4U’s and F9F’s in Korea and A4’s over Vietnam. Please send your email reservations or make them over the phone early so we have enough seats available.
On 8 January, LtCol Steve Rainey, USAF (Ret), will tell us about his days as a test pilot on the F-22 program. Although I have not heard his briefing, some of our members have attended a briefing by Steve and came away with a new appreciation for the aircraft and its capabilities.
Another item of interest for you guys who were looking for extra large ANA tee shirts, is that we will have 14 XL’s at the December meeting. We called back to headquarters and they found a stash that they are sending to us. The shirts will be available for purchase as mentioned elsewhere in the OpPlan.
On Veteran’s Day, Ray LeCompte and I flew up to Alameda to attend the unveiling of the WWII Carrier Air Group 11 Exhibit aboard the USS Hornet. As some of you know, my father, CDR James S. “Bud” Brown, was a Naval Aviator. He started his career before the war and was with CAG-11 for both war cruises, hence my interest in the display. If Hal has room, he will include a photo of Ray with Tom Constable, a docent on the Hornet, Kermit “Tim” Enander (former historian for CAG-11), and my cousin Steve Wells with his wife Brigett on the hanger deck of the Hornet. It was a long day, but the ceremony and tours were awesome.
Then on 22 November I attended a Memorial Service for CAPT Mel Blixt, USN (Ret), a former C.O. of GPS whom I had met on many occasions. I believe that Mel was one of the original members of GPS and was the third C.O. Maj Denny Bowen, USMC (Ret), who is a former C.O. of GPS and a GPS Fellow also attended the services. The Reverend who was conducting the services read Mel’s list of accomplishments and assignments in the Navy and it went on for quite awhile. I am not sure how many folks in attendance really appreciated the extent to which Mel served his country.
I want to end on some news about our SOQ awards program. Thanks to George and Sel, with the able help and assistance from Senior Chief Jeff Reeder, we put on an excellent ceremony. Although we were still short one sailor who could not attend due to official Navy commitments, the other sailors and senior NCO’s seemed to really appreciate our efforts and accolades. Thank you too, to CDR Erik Franzen, USN, who is the X.O. at NWSSB, for attending and participating. And finally, I believe that all of the personnel enjoyed
