u  7-1-2009  USSVI OFFICIAL BUSINESS: SubVet News - #2009-027

Date: 6/27/2009
To: Distribution List

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OFFICERS-01: '4000 Men' Banner now available to order
Submitted by: Pat Householder on 6/26/2009
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I've designed a banner to honor the 4,000 men killed and 65 U.S. submarines
sunk that is made of 10 mil white vinyl and is 4ft wide and 30 inches high.

As you can see from the attachment, the end result is very striking and
attractive.  It is designed for display at meetings, events, parades and at
Tolling the Boat ceremonies.

The banner is designed to remind our members once again of our primary
mission, and secondarily as a potential recruiting supplemental tool.

There is no need to customize this banner with local contact information
because anywhere they would likely be displayed would have local shipmates
in attendance to talk with prospective members.

The cost is only $40 for the single sided version, reinforced around the
perimeter with three grommets across the top and two across the bottom, and
$65 for a two sided Parade version with a top sleeve pocket for a one inch
pole.  (Visualize two men carrying in-line so that both sides are displayed
to the passing crowd left and right.)

This pricing also includes free shipping.

For anyone who has priced such banners, you know this is a remarkable price,

actually less than half the typical commercial cost of such items.

USSVI member Edward Rabbitt produces these banners and you can obtain one or

more by contacting him at the address below.  (Specify the 4,000 men USSVI
banner.)

He does require payment at the time of order, however.  His contact info is
edrabbitt@centurytel.net, Phone 636-332-5344, 1420 Prospect Lakes Dr,
Wentzville MO 63385

For those interested in banners for boat association gatherings, he also
custom produces banners in sizes up to 52 inches wide and as long as
required.  Typically they are made to be hung in the lobby of your host
hotel.
http://www.ussvi.org/Documents/Online_Organization_Freedom_is_not_free.pdf

u  6-29-2009  USSVI OFFICIAL BUSINESS: SubVet News - #2009-026

Date: 6/29/2009
To: Distribution List

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NEWS-01: Museum Submarines
Submitted by: Pat Householder on 6/27/2009
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For submarine sailors, there are no monuments to valor scattered on the ocean battlefields of the world.

There is only the vast blue-black deeps where young men, now forever young, fought their last battle against an implacable foe. Now, all that remains are the memories of their valiant achievements and heart-wrenching losses.

The museum submarines remain as tangible testimonials to their valorous deeds.

Like silent sentinels scattered throughout the land, they also remind us of our common heritage regardless of our time or place in submarines.

They bear witness to hard fought battles of the past, and speak to the mettle of all those brave young men who sailed in harm's way.

We care about these retired submarines because they are part of our personal legacy. They tell our collective story as submariners and if we Submarine Veterans do not help to maintain and care for them, how can we expect others to care?

When you look in the mirror you will see a Sub Vet who surely cares about his submarine legacy, else he probably would not be a member of USSVI.

The simple truth is, we all must do more to protect our legacy as submariners.

If you live near one of these boats, get involved as a docent (a fancy term for expert guide), or pitch in on work parties to restore the boats.

If you can contribute financially to help our sub vets actually doing the work, so much the better, because our shipmates doing maintenance work on these boats are always short of funds.

Give to the USSVCF Museum Boat fund by sending your check to USSVCF, PO Box 3870, Silverdale,
WA 98383. It is a tax-deductible donation for those in a position to use it, and our Memorials Chairman will see that it goes where it is needed the most.

http://www.submarinemuseums.org/

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NEWS-02: Military Spouses - a Tribute
Submitted by: Pat Householder on 6/28/2009
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MILITARY SPOUSES, By Paige Swiney & Col. Steve Arrington

It was just another harried Wednesday afternoon trip to the commissary. My husband was off teaching young men to fly. My daughters were going about their daily activities knowing I would return to them at the appointed time, bearing, among other things, their favorite fruit snacks, frozen pizza, and all the little extras that never had to be written down on a grocery list.

My grocery list, by the way, was in my 16-month-old daughter's mouth, and I was lamenting the fact that the next four aisles of needed items would pass by while extracting the last of my list from my daughter's mouth, when I nearly ran over an old man. This man clearly had no appreciation for the fact that I had 45 minutes left to finish the grocery shopping, pick up my 4-year old from tumbling class, and get to school where my 12-year-old and her car pool mates would be waiting.

I knew men didn't belong in a commissary, and this old guy was no exception. He stood in front of the soap selection staring blankly, as if he'd never had to choose a bar of soap in his life. I was ready to bark an order at him when l realized there was a tear on his face. Instantly, this grocery isle roadblock transformed into a human. "Can I help you find something?" I asked.

He hesitated, and then told me he was looking for soap.

"Anyone in particular?" I continued.

"Well, I'm trying to find my wife's brand of soap."

I started to loan him my cell phone to call her when he said, "She died a year ago, and I just want to smell her again."

Chills ran down my spine. I don't think the 22,000-pound Mother of all Bombs could have had the same impact. As tears welled up in my eyes, my half-eaten grocery list didn't seem so important. Neither did fruit snacks or frozen pizza. I spent the remainder of my time in the commissary that day listening to a man tell the story of how important his wife was to him -- how she took care of their children while he served our country. A retired, decorated World War II pilot who flew over 50 missions to protect Americans still needed the protection of a woman who served him at home.

My life was forever changed that day. Every time my husband works too late or leaves before the crack of dawn, I try to remember the sense of importance I felt that day in the commissary. Sometimes the monotony of laundry, housecleaning, grocery shopping, and taxi driving leaves military wives feeling empty¬the kind of emptiness that is rarely fulfilled when our husbands come home and don't want to or can't talk about work. We need to be reminded, at times; of the important role we fill for our family and for our country.

Colonel Arrington's portion of this essay begins here: Over the years, I've talked a lot about military spouses -- how special they are and the price they pay for freedom, too. The funny thing is, most military spouses don't consider themselves different from other spouses. They do what they have to do, bound together not by blood or merely friendship, but with a shared spirit whose origin is in the very essence of what love truly is.

Is there truly a difference? I think there is. You have to decide for yourself. Other spouses get married and look forward to building equity in a home and putting down family roots. Military spouses get married and know they'll live in base housing or rent, and their roots must be short so they can be transplanted frequently. Other spouses decorate a home with flair and personality that will last a lifetime. Military spouses decorate a home with flare tempered with the knowledge that no two base houses have the same size windows or same size rooms. Curtains have to be flexible and multiple sets are a plus. Furniture must fit like puzzle pieces.

Other spouses have living rooms that are immaculate and seldom used. Military spouses have immaculate living room/dining room combos. The coffee table got a scratch or two moving from Germany, but it still looks pretty good. Other spouses say good-bye to their spouse for a business trip and know they won't see them for a week. They are lonely, but can survive. Military spouses say good-bye to their deploying spouse and know they won't see them for months, or for a remote, a year. They are lonely, but will survive.

Other spouses, when a washer hose blows off, call Maytag and then write a check out for having the hose reconnected. Military spouses will cut the water off and fix it themselves. Other spouses get used to saying "hello" to friends they see all the time. Military spouses get used to saying "good-bye" to friends made the last two years. Other spouses worry about whether their child will be class president next year. Military spouses worry about whether their child will be accepted in yet another school next year and whether that school will be the worst in the city -- again.

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NEWS-03: 4th of July ... Did you know?
Submitted by: Pat Householder on 6/29/2009
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During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the American colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.

After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author.

Congress debated and revised the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4.

One of the most enduring myths about Independence Day is that Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, but most delegates actually signed the Declaration on August 2, 1776.

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NEWS-04: Origin of the "Twin Dolphins"
Submitted by: Pat Householder on 6/29/2009
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The origin of the US Navy Submarine Service Insignia dates back to 1923.

On 13 June of that year, Captain Ernest J. King, USN, later to become Fleet Admiral and Chief of Naval Operations during World War II, and at that time Commander Submarine Division Three, suggested to the Secretary of the Navy, via the Bureau of Navigation (Now Naval Military Personnel Command), that a distinguished device for qualified submarines be adopted.

He submitted a pen-and-ink sketch of his own, showing a shield mounted on the beam end of a submarine, with dolphins forward of, and abaft, the conning tower. The suggestion was strongly endorsed by Commander Submarine Divisions, Atlantic.

During the next several months the Bureau of Navigation solicited additional designs from several sources. Among the designs were a submarine and shark motif, a submarine and shield, and submarine and dolphins.

A Philadelphia firm, which had done work for the Navy previously, was approached with the request that it undertake to design a suitable badge. Two designs were submitted by the firm, and these were combined into a single design.

It is the design in use today: a bow view of a submarine, proceeding on the surface, with bow planes rigged for diving, flanked by dolphins in a horizontal position with their heads resting on the upper edge of the bow planes.

On 20 March 1924, the Chief of Navigation recommended to the Secretary of the Navy that the design be adopted. The recommendation was accepted by Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., acting Secretary of the Navy.

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NEWS-05: Joe Buff sez, "Don't Ignore Growing Threat From China"
Submitted by: Pat Householder on 6/29/2009
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U.S. must build two Virginia subs a year to offset Chinese gains,  By Joe Buff      Published on 6/28/2009 in "The Day"  

....The United States must strike the proper balance between today's "Long War on Terror" and adequate preparation to dissuade or, if necessary, win a hypothetical future "Big War" with China or Russia, or whomever. The U.S. Navy's New Maritime Strategy explicitly recognizes that such a big war would be severely destructive, and thus deserves to be planned against now.

The doctrine for striking this now-versus-later balance is at present in a formative stage and making the right choices depends on avoiding wrong assumptions or outright rhetorical blunders.

America's 2010 fiscal-year Pentagon budget, to be finalized by Congress later this year, will set a lasting tone regarding two critical things. One is how much money America will be spending soon on defense. The other, much more fundamental, is how rationally or irrationally we will develop our annual national security budgets for a generation to come. This hard work needs to be driven by top-down global strategy, not bottom-up partisan bean-counting, with an emphasis on crisp intellectual rigor.

Click on the link for the entire story...

http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=5be4754b-1444-42bc-9b3d-1970b0bff3ab

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NEWS-06: New Museum dedicated at home of USS Silversides in Muskegon, MI.
Submitted by: Pat Householder on 6/29/2009
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The new $1.4 million, two-story 16,500-square-foot Great Lakes Naval Memorial and Museum on the Muskegon Channel, home of the museum sub  USS Silversides, was dedicated as the Robert G Morin facility.

"Bob Morin is the best friend the sub vets have had," said Don Morell, WW II sub vet from Spring Lake who is the vice chairman of the museum board. "I know he spent a lot of time and grief getting the Silversides to Muskegon. He stayed right with it."

Morin - a retired Muskegon businessman and community volunteer - was the driving force behind the moving of the WW II submarine to Muskegon from Chicago's Navy Pier in 1987. He continued as a long-serving member of the Silversides and Great Lakes Naval Museum board, which always had the vision for a facility like the one now named in his honor.


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NEWS-07: Navy Has Begun Early Tech Development Of Next-Gen SSBN - Focus is on missile tubes
Submitted by: Pat Householder on 6/29/2009
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The Navy is in the "early stages" of technology development for the next-generation ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) and the primary challenge will be building new missile compartments, as that sector of the industry has been dormant for four decades, Rear Adm. Stephen Johnson, director of the sea service's strategic systems programs, said last week.

"The first work will be on the missile compartment," Johnson said during a June 23 presentation at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington. "It has been four decades since we have designed or built items such as seagoing ballistic missile hatches or heavy missile tubes. This part of the industry must be revitalized."

The Navy plans to start construction in 2019 on the next-generation SSBN, which will begin replacing the sea service's 14 Ohio-class SSBNs in 2028. The submarines, which fire Trident missiles with nuclear warheads, make up the sea-based arm of the U.S. military's nuclear triad.
Navy officials are still determining what form the next-generation SSBN will take. The new Virginia-class attack submarines are too small to carry the massive missile tubes required to fire a Trident missile. However, officials plan to "leverage the success" of the Virginia-class cost reduction effort, Johnson said.
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By Dan Taylor, Inside the Navy, June 29, 2009

http://www.insidedefense.com/

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NEWS-08: Scavenger Hunt time .. Your help requested
Submitted by: Pat Householder on 6/29/2009
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Regarding Marlin, Bill Lee sez...

Guys, after doing a lot of searching, guess we need to find an eye piece for the Periscope on the Marlin. (Mod No 92KA30/19).  I'll include a couple of pictures that show where it goes and the info on the periscope.  (See link below)

Any help as to who to ask or where to find one will be appreciated.

Also, I am looking for some Navy blankets and sheets for the four bunks on the boat.

Something else I am reading up on is Navy Grey Paint and whether it is best to put on a primer that takes care of the rust or to use some other method.

Contact Bill Lee (sub_ssn589@yahoo.com)


http://www.submarinemuseums.org/forum/index.php?topic=717.0