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RAO Bulletin

This information is created by Lt. James “EMO” Tichacek, USN (Ret), Director, Retiree Assistance Office (RAO).

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RAO Bulletin March 15, 2011 RAO bulletin


RAO BulletinApril 15, 2011 RAO bulletin


RAO BulletinJuly 1, 2011 RAO bulletin


RAO BulletinAugust 1, 2011 RAO bulletin


Veterans Legislation

This is a complete listing, by House or Senate bill numbers, of all proposed acts that effect vets.

Veterans LegislationVet Legislative action 03/13/2011

Veterans LegislationVet Legislative action 03/29/2011

Veterans LegislationVet Legislative action 04/12/2011

Veterans LegislationVet Legislative action 06/28/2011

Veterans LegislationVet Legislative action 06/28/2011

Veterans LegislationState Benefits - Maine

Veterans LegislationState Benefits - Maryland

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Veterans LegislationState Benefits - Nevada

Veterans LegislationAgent Orange Ships List - May 2011

Veterans LegislationTri Care Quick Tips 2011

Veterans LegislationVets Mortgage Forclosure Avoidance


Veterans Corner

This information is provided to us by shipmate Donald Valentine.

Veterans CornerVeterans Corner March 2010

Veterans CornerVeterans Corner May 2010

Veterans CornerVeterans Corner June 2010



News from sister-ship J P Kennedy (DD850)

Ships in the picture are Fiske, Rush, Kennedy at 50's ComDESRON8 change of command

J P Kennedy DD/DDR 850A

Received the following message from our sister-ship USS J P Kennedy (DD850) at Battleship Cove, MA.

May 2011 Field Day Newsletter  


The last few months leading into May have accomplished the prepping of the Motor Generator Room for painting, prepping of the Port side rails of the Signal Bridge, working on sound powered phone circuits, painting the blackout area of the 01 passageway near the ASROC deck, and many other tasks.  Yet we always look forward to the May Major field day aboard DD850 to reunite old friends and really get some work accomplished.  

Our May 2011 Field Day did not disappoint as we had over 54 volunteers report aboard for our 5 day field day.  Once again, the greatest asset we have is our volunteers who represent a mix bag of ships, stations, and civilian capacities.  So let's get into our people and work projects.

Walt Crew (USS Rich)
Bob Hanrahan (USS New)
Vince Rositani (USS Fiske)
Vince Rositani Jr
Jim Ganley (USS Brush)
Charlie Winters
Jim Weber (USS Briscoe, USS The Sullivans DDG)
Howard Swanson (USS Brownson)
Howard Swanson II (USS Puget Sound)
George Swanson (USS Gearing)
Carl Swanson
Paul Swanson
Gary Strouse
Jim Weiskal (USS Fred T Berry)
Bill Radar (USS Compton)
Frank Brennan (USS Basilone)
Charles Bosio (USS Sturtevant)
Max Cerulle
Bill Hamilton (USS Barry)
Barry Zimmer (USS Neosho)
Ted Hayes
Tony Accatatta (USS Harwood)
Mike Lester (USS Forrest Sherman)
Blair Sandri (USS Forrestal)
Phil Zeglin
Mike Kenney (USS Jonas Ingham)
Ed Zajkowski (USS Keppler)
Wayne White (USS Charles R Ware)


Mike Angelini (USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr)
Rich Angelini
Rob Angelini
Dan Pillie (USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr)
Jim Caruso Phil Martorano (USS Miller)
Bill Albert (USS Miller)
Lee Jones (USS Stormes)
Jacob Deschamps
Bob Kilkelly (USS Perkins)
Richie Calabro (USS Charles Roan)
Bob Jensen (USS Barb)
Bob Washburn (USS William R Rush)
Bobby Young (USS Patterson)
Owen Hayes (USS Waldron)
Jim Mulvihill (USS Waldron)
Maury Crotteau (USS Harwood)
Ron Almeida (USS Franklin D. Roosevelt)
Dave Levesque (SeeBees)
Lee Levesque
Charlotte Levesque
Nate Levesque
Ben Levesque
Al Lundgren (USS John Paul Jones)
Frank Prescott
Dave Stawicki (Shipkeeper)

Electrical:
Repaired lighting in compartment A-411A
Repaired Passageway light in the forward officers passage
Repaired coffee brewing machine
Restored ventilation and lighting to Mt 51
Rewired controller and start switch on No #1 air compressor in the Aft Engineroom.
Repaired and relocated pressure switch on No #1 air compressor in the Aft Engineroom
Repaired lights in B-4 Aft Engine Room.
Isolated and repaired switchboard grounds in DASH hangar
Fixed wiring on lower level B-3 Aft Fireroom

Mechanical Maintenance:
Removed all vent covers for summer service
Sealed 2" pipe on torpedo deck
Repaired and closed all hinged covers on torpedo mounts
Repaired and sealed optical doors on Mt 51 to prevent water intrusion into the gun mount.
Installed watertight door mechanism on door (01 level to torpedo deck, port side)
Fixed door to Burke Museum

Special Projects:
Bow to stern bilge crawl--photo documentation of hull conditions
Bow to stern bilge crawl--ultrasound of hull, selected areas on main deck
B-4 bilge cleaning of all pockets for debris.


Painting Projects (Major man power efforts was given here)
Prep and priming of interior of Mt 51.
Needle gunning and wire wheeling the overhead and bulkheads of the starboard side main deck forward of the breakwater.
Use of needle gun, and deck crawler to prep and prime the fantail.
Use of deck crawler to prep and then paint the DASH flight deck.
Prep, prime, and finish coat to 25 feet of overhead on the port side main deck.  This is the last area on the port side main deck needed to be completed.
Prepped, primed and painted the port side signal deck and bridge wing.  Continued to prep and prime forward rail of Signal Deck as well.        

General Restoration:
Cleaned out ASROC magazine of spare and unwanted material.
Completed upholstery restoration on Messdecks.
Added protective coatings to Bridge wing wooden trim.
Made new Plexiglas panel for wing urinal and changed out mounting hardware to stainless steel.
Installed and secured both bridge wing voice tube weather covers.
Installed fire wand retainer bracket port side main deck at Frame 80
Installed CO2 Foam canister rack in main passageway that was taken from HORNE.        

Field Day specific:
Manned Galley and Messdecks to provide meals to all hands from Thursday night to Sunday morning.
Cleaned, sorted, and manned storeroom for field day.
Participated in "Meet the Veterans" program

Tidbits about the Field Day:
1.  We had 2 members of the Board of Directors of the museum, 6 family teams, 1 ww2 vet, 4 men over 80 years old, and 7 kids under the age of 18 working aboard.
2.  Appreciation to Ed Zajkowski for coming up early so volunteers could report for duty by Wednesday.  Also special thanks to Dave Stawicki for all the support getting materials ready and supporting work efforts throughout the weekend.
3.  First time volunteer, Jim Weber, who also works at Bath Iron Works received permission to allow us the loan of a ultrasonic thickness tester so we could test our hull and decks for wear.
4.  A huge BZ to everyone who came to the field day as their teamwork and work ethic got us through a thunderstorm and our very optimistic goals for the weekend.  Our manpower was put towards putting the look of the ship first with preparation and painting the major goals.  As many said, "we never worked this hard in the Navy but now this ship represents everything to us".  
5.  All volunteers were given a Green KENNEDY work hat and coffee mug for their efforts.  Yet there is a deep passion and love for this ship that exists in the hearts of many that gifts could never replace.

Here are some pictures of the May 2011 Field Day.  Click to expand.

dashChip Rust

Starboard SideWork Party

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Membership E-mails

Today, November 29, 2011, Gil Beyer, the Ship's Historian, E-mailed us the following:

...asking our Shipmates if they have a cruise book for a specific cruise?  I recently had a request from Shipmate Barrett Clisby looking for a copy of the 1970 Cruise.  I don't have one and neither does the Navy Historical Center. 
     If we could find one it would be a great addition to our archives and, eventually, the Navy Historical Center.

Gil

The following E-mail was received on March 2, 2011 from Rich Angelini, Assistant Curator, USS J P Kennedy (DD850).  This museum ship moored at Battleship Cove, Mass.  Within the E-mail are several links to videos at YouTube about life on destroyers.

All Hands,

It has been a rough winter in Fall River, Massachusetts this year with an amount of snow fall that we havent seen in a long time. Ice forming around the hull of DD850 makes even the most optimistic volunteer a bit nervous. Through the high winds, punishing snow, and ice, USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr DD850 rides out these weather conditions with her volunteers in anticipation for warmer weather and the tourist season.

We have taken on a few interesting projects over this winter aboard this Gearing class Destroyer:

1. Since the end of November 2010, we began the restoration of First Division Berthing (enlisted quarters under the Mess Decks) with the intention to bring back the look of the late1960s with the correct paint scheme and the addition of missing equipment/items. With the removal of the bunks, a three month effort of intense chipping, cleaning, and masking was accomplished by volunteers, NAPS students from NAVSTA Newport, and employee Dave Stawicki. The removal of paint from original labels revealed references to the old MT 52 and its systems. While the work went about with good progress, it wasnt without bad news. While removing decades of tile glued together behind some lockers, we found that the steel deck of the old ship had rotted through in some areas to a store room below on the Stbd side. Work immediately stopped as we scraped out the remaining rotted areas. Plans are to have a team of staff and volunteer welders put new decking in during the May field day (we Hope!). Moving forward and one step back, we primed the entire space in preparation for a top coat that will be applied after the metal work is done. We hope to complete this overall project within the next few months as welders become available.

2. The Motor Generator room on the main deck starboard side is being prepped for primer and painting to restore this space to its early 70s in Port Electrical shop/MG Room configuration. Prepping is well on the way and we hope to have it completed within the next few months.

3. John Bisbano and Bob Ledux mentioned to me that though they love working on the Radar repeaters, they have gotten them all working and even restored the signal switching gear in the RADAR room to send target information to any repeater from RADAR. I was asked, "What else is interesting that we can looked into?". Over a week ago, I mentioned how great it would be to activate the 1MC stack in the IC Room to use the General Quarters, Chemical, and Collision alarms. While our 1MC loudspeakers have always operated, we have not had the alarm system operating in at least a decade. Fast forward to last weekend, volunteers were quietly going about there business when "Clang Clang Clang" came over the speaker system. It seems that John and Bob fixed a wiring problem in the No 1 Signal generator over the week and got the system operational. All I can say is excellent work to them both. They are reworking Signal Generator No 2 and then plan to trace down and fix all the alarm actuators throughout the ship. It was a exciting time to hear the ship come to life and all the volunteers went home with a smile on their face.

4. Bob Washburn (USS William R. Rush )and a group of NAPS students are reworking the Bridge wing teak railings at Naval Station Newport for a spring installation. Bob is instrumental in organizing our monthly NAPS program

5. We have a excellent weekly crew of Owen Hayes (USS Waldron), Tom Publicover (USS Robert Owens) , Maury Crotteau (USS Harwood), Jim Mulvihill (USS Waldron), Al Lundgren (USS John Paul Jones), Dana Reed (USS Laub), Mike Angelini (USS J.P. Kennedy Jr), Ted Hayes, and Bobby Young (USS Patterson) that meet the maintenance and on-the-spot issues aboard this 60+ year old ship.

News:

1. Our sister ship, USS Orleck DD886, is planning for a early April opening in Lake Charles, LA. We wish them great success and look forward to a working relationship with the new organization. Visit them on the web at: http://orleck.org/

2. Many of you have seen the Ernest Borgnine video that we have posted on our YouTube channel for Tin Can Sailors' effort to "Save our Historic Destroyers". I would like to thank all that have viewed it and have contributed. Our Destroyers desperately need help for their long term survival. I would ask you to also mention to your friends about joining the membership of theTin Can Sailors Association. TCS is a organization dedicated to the preservation and historical recognition of destroyers. A strong TCS means a strong Destroyer fleet. Enlist a shipmate today at http://www.destroyers.org

3. For the past few years, we have provided a US Navy video about Destroyer life at Sea aboard DD850 for our visitors. This video is a 15 minute film produced by the US Navy in 1970 aboard USS Gearing DD710. It is a excellent representation of the period in time that the KENNEDY represents and the traditions of our sailors at that time. So, as a service to our sister ships and friends, this video is now available on YouTube.  Go to http://www.youtube.com and type j p kennedy in the search box.  The first three videos are about destroyers.

4. Ever wonder what these Sumner-Gearing class Destroyers looked like in the 1940s when first built? Ed Zajkowski (USS Keppler) has provided us a unique opportunity to view images of these as-built CANS on navsource at http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/interior.htm . It is well worth a look!

5. Lastly, our busy field day season is soon upon us with the Major May field day on May 19-20-21-22 . Please start planning to come aboard and help us with our restoration. If you have any questions, please drop us a email. We hope to see you all aboard in May!

Fair winds and following seas,

Rich Angelini

Asst Curator, USS J.P. Kennedy Jr DD850

VietNam Era Shipmates --  Important Information Regarding Agent Orange

The following E-mail's were sent to us in mid-January 2010.  Please open and read these documents.  They are both in PDF format so everyone should be able to open and read them.  You need not have a specific word processing program. 

AgentOrange1Feb2010.pdfDenny Steinberger sent this E-mail to us on 1/22/2010

AgentOrange2Feb2010.pdf  Don Valentine sent this along to us on 1/23/2010

More information about this important topic will be posted here and covered in greater detail in the next scheduled Fiske Newsletter.

The following e-mail on the same topic was received on 1/27.  Please read:

From: Robert Mitchell [mailto:rmitchell@saratogacountyny.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 14:05
To: don\diane valentine
Cc: james rapson
Subject: Fw: Veterans Corner February 2010

Please notify all USS Fiske shipmates that served on board during the vietnam cruise June 16-21 1966 that they may be entitled compensation if they have any of the AGENT ORANGE presumed disease's.

THE BELOW 4  WAS JUST ADDED:
B cell leukemias
Hairy cell leukmia
Parkinsons disease
Ischemic heart disease


Acute subacute transient peripheral
ALS
Chloracne
CLL
Diabetes (type 2)
Hodgkins desease
Multiple myeloma
Non-hodgkins lymphoma
Porphyria
Prostatr
Respiratory cancers, and
Soft tissue sarcoma (other thanosteosarcoma,chondrosarcoma, kaposi's sarcoma, or mesothlioma)

Also, if any of these shipmates died of any of the these disease's the WIDOW can filed a DIC clam with the VA. These WIDOWS should make contact with American Legion, VFW service officers, or any county/state veterans service agencies in their area. Never file a claim on your own. Always use a professional ADVOCATE.  Filing on youe own mat delay your claim.  If you need help call me.

Bob MItchell, Dir
Sartoga County
Veterans Service Agency
518-884-4115

Received the following e-mail in mid November from the Ship's Historian, Gil Beyer.  Please read and share your tales with Gil:
Historian’s Report 11/16/2009
Here it is seven weeks after our gathering in Idaho and I just realized that only about 8 of you that attended the Reunion fulfilled my request to complete your ‘Blue Books’ with stories of your time onboard. Either I’m as dense as a post or I’ve had other things on my mind – your choice.
To those of you that did give me, or send in, your stories I am deeply indebted as you have given me some much needed details of the years you were onboard. Your stories have given texture and depth to the bare details of deck logs and operations reports.
I’ve also received a great DVD from Shipmate Lou Nigro (1956-1960) that he put together from his 8mm movie he took during his time onboard. Shipmate Ernie Starcher is shown working on a UHF antenna on the yardarm of the forward mast and dozens of other scenes of shipboard life and liberty ports. This is the type of material that gives life to our time onboard Fiske.
There is another DVD that I received from Shipmate Bernie Cobetto of the Fiske’s first Around the World Cruise when she went to Korea in 1951 and crossed the Equator. There are some excellent scenes of King Neptune’s initiation of the Pollywogs.
Dr. Cobetto was the Squadron Medical Officer during that cruise and treated the 13-14 Fiske crewmen that came done with polio after visiting one of several Far Eastern ports on the way back to Newport. Dr. Cobetto turned After Officers Quarters into a quarantine ward for those infected. The Fiske was denied access to Marseilles because of this infection and those shipmates infected were transported off the ship at Gibraltar to be airlifted to the States. Anecdotal information seems to indicate that all but one of these shipmates recovered completely – a not insignificant number in those days – with only one shipmate suffering permanent disability. Does anyone have any further information on this event?
All of these little vignettes are what give life and breathe to the Fiske. I want to preserve these stories and only you can help me do that. All of you that attended the Reunion received a ‘Blue Book’. I ask that you complete the task I asked you to do at the Reunion – tell me a story. A story about anything that happened while you were onboard Fiske. Be it funny, sad, scary or simply one of the ways that we used to fill the hours and hours of boredom that was routine steaming.
I don’t want to be too depressing but I’ll say the same thing now that I’ve said previously – we aren’t getting any younger and when we go these stories go with us if they aren’t written down and filed somewhere. I have been in contact with the Navy Historical Foundation and they will happily receive and archive anything we choose to send them. I’ve already just about doubled their photo collection of the Fiske with copies from the Association files.
So as not to leave out any one that wasn’t fortunate enough to attend the Reunion in Post Falls I have limited number of Blue Books available for those that wish to help me complete my quest to full all the gaps and holes that currently exist in our history and maybe, just maybe, give me some material for the book that Sandie and I are trying to put together. Drop me a line or an email and I’ll send out one of the books I have left for you to fill up with whatever you want.
Gil Beyer
Association Historian

Received the following from Charlie Thompson on October 24th:
Good Morning Gentlemen,
I would like for this message to be posted on the website and also in our next newsletter. Thanks
I received the check from the USS Fiske Association for $357.50 today for my Rifle Shell Pen project I am doing for our soldiers fight for our freedom in Iraq.
As I stated at the reunion, it cost a little over $4.00 per pen and your help to assure my mission continues, I THANK YOU and the Association.
I wish had kept better records but I'm guessing that I have sent at least a 1000 pens to our troops. This will assure that about 80 more soldiers will receive pens compliments of the Fiske Association. Since the reunion I had one request for 28 pens and they were shipped out upon my return from the reunion. Then I had a First SGT request 50 pens for his soldiers and they were sent out and I just received word from him that they arrived and he will pass them out.
Since the reunion I have received word from two of our shipmates that they have rifle shell casings that they will be shipping to me. If any other shipmate has access to spent .308 rifle shells, I would really appreciate getting them. They can be sent to me at:
Charlie Thompson
117 Park Place
Panama City Beach, FL 32413
This past Thursday I had the opportunity to visit with a WWII soldier and I gave him one of my pens and he was truly touched by receiving it.
I will continue to make this rifle pens and ship to our soldiers who are currently fight for our freedom. This project will continue as long as I am physically able to do the work.
On behalf of our troops, I thank the USS Fiske Association for your contribution.
Charlie Thompson
QM2, 1960-63



NOTE: E-mails earlier than 2008 have been removed.

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