2020 Norfolk Reunion Cancelled First of all, I hope everyone is doing OK. I am sorry to advise you due to the Coronavirus the reunion scheduled for this year has been cancelled. We recently sent out an email blast asking whether we should cancel the reunion and overwhelming the members told us to cancel it for this year. Anyone who has sent in their money for the Reunion (including raffle tickets) has been sent their money back. However, if you just sent in money for the Raffle tickets we will be holding on to it until the April 2021 reunion. If anyone has any questions as to whether you are included in the group for which we are holding tickets and money until the next raffle I will be glad to let you know. If anyone wants to withdraw from the raffle and wants their money back, let me know. Change of Command Announcement I am relieving Charlie from the Treasures duties and he is taking on the VP duties of the Association. Effective May 2020 the organizations officers will be as follows: President: John Ward Vice President: Charlie Estelle Treasurer: Guy Veni Secretary: Rick Rolfe Going forward either send all monies to me or pay online through the website. My information is as follows: Guy Veni c/o USS Tutuila Association 60 Sugar Pine Drive Pinehurst, NC 28374 |
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ALL HANDS HEAR THIS! Liberty Call, Liberty Call 2021 Reunion - Nashville, TN April 14 - 18 2021 |
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Noel has everything just about ready for us to go on leave in Nashville. Once we have all the details we will send out a newsletter to all members. Should be a good time for all especially since they are know for Whiskey and sure have a lot of Nashville drinks. Nashville is the capital of the U.S. State of Tennessee and home to the Legendary country music venues that include the Grand Ole Opry House, home of the famous “Grand Ole Opry” stage and radio show. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and historic Ryman Auditorium are Downtown, as is the District, featuring honky-tonks with live music and the Johnny Cash Museum, celebrating the singer's life. In our next newsletter we will be sending our complete details and have the information on the website. You will have two options to register for this event online when we get all the details. - Print a fillable registration form and raffle tickets and mail it to me with your payment.
- Register and pay online.
For those of us with no email address, you will be receiving this newsletter in the mail. Please, if you do get this newsletter by mail and have an email address please let me know so we can save postage costs. |
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Website Update I have made some cosmetic changes to the website and had it set up to book the Norfolk Reunion which I have taken down. At the last meeting some of you requested we add PayPal to the site. The good news is that we have and it is now available. As always this is our site so any ideas or recommendations is appreciated. REMEMBER! You can now upload your pictures to the website. If you are unable to upload to the website, you can either email or mail them to me and I will upload them to the website. If you chose to upload your own pictures, just go to Contact Us and click on “ADD YOUR PICTURES” or go to on the below link. https://www.usstutuila.org/picture |
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Membership We need new members to keep our association going. New membership has slowed down. After losing some members and adding a few we are currently at 187 active members supporting the membership. So, if you know of any shipmates. please ask them to join and support our Association. If you haven’t paid your dues, please send them in or pay online. You can check your dues status by going to the Membership List on the Website where you can see your dues status. The below link lets you pay online or join. Click Here to Join or Pay Your Dues. |
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Binnacle List - Taps I am happy that I have not received any reports from shipmates or their families of any health problems or that anyone has passed on to be with our Lord. |
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Ship Mates Corner Rick Rolfe Wrote: Hi Folks, 10/16/19 I wanted to let you know I mailed the plaque to Walt Rogers on Tuesday 10/15/19. It should arrive by 10/22/19? I did try to call you before I mailed it, but you were probably traveling again, so I decided to send along a short note of my own to explain the reason for this whole "Prank". I sent a copy along with a copy of the invoice, I hope that you like it? I decided to pay for the postage & insurance myself (it's the least I can do), so all you owe me is the cost of the plaque! Hope to See You Soon, Rick Great Tut Family! |
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Rick Rolfe and Walt Rogers wrote... Rick sent the below letter to Walt. Greetings Shipmate, 10/12/19 I hope that you enjoyed the Savannah reunion. (I'm sorry that we missed it), and I'm sure that you are enjoying your new home! I was told that you were very disappointed that you didn't win the "Tutuila Ship Plaque"! Don't be sad I finally won a plaque the year after I decided to buy one myself. HOWEVER, I received instructions from the FAMOUS (or INFAMOUS), Doug. Skinner "LORD of FORD" that all sadness should be removed from your life! The Great & Good Lord Skinner has proclaimed that this "Tutuila Ships Plaque" shall be procured and shipped to you Via the next launch of a pirate ship, or the next UPS truck, whichever is fastest? When you receive the plaque it must be quickly placed in a special spot on the wall of your new home, or on the "Fantail of your Yacht" (wherever you spend most of your time) This order must be carried out before the next reunion or else the plaque will self destruct! NOTE: From Rick, the other option was to require you to give Doug a kiss & hug at the next reunion, if the plaque was not displayed properly_ Please, take a picture of it on display, to avoid option 2! Now that you have read these instructions you can open the box which will activate the self destruct timer! Hope to see you again soon, Rick Walt sent back Doug & Carol, It was quite a surprise to get the Beautiful Tutuila Plaque. I have been hoping to win for years. It brought me a smile to my face and hangs proudly in my Den. Can't Thank You and Carol enough. Hope your Christmas is great like you tow are. See you in Norfolk in April Walt (Jeanne Too!) |
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Medical appointments possible at home via VA Video Connect Got a fever, cold, cough or flu-like symptoms? Are you worried that you have a viral illness? |
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Sometimes the last thing you want to do is to get out of the house to see the doctor, exposing yourself (and others) to more potential bugs and viruses. VA can make it easier and safer to get back to health with virtual care through My HealtheVet and the VA Video Connect App on your smartphone, tablet or computer. VA can make it easier and safer to get back to health with virtual care through My HealtheVet and the VA Video Connect App on your smartphone, tablet or computer. What is virtual care? Virtual care means you can contact your VA provider (and health care team) through Secure Messaging or receive treatment by telephone or video. Last year, Veterans had over 20 million virtual engagements with VA. Any Veteran who qualifies to receive VA care and lives in the U.S. is eligible to use virtual care. Virtual care is personalized and can connect you with your providers more effectively than ever. Ask your health care team if virtual care can help meet some of your health care needs – whether through in-home health monitoring with tailored technologies, connection to specialists, or even remote scans and data. Virtual care is safe and effective. Imagine the benefits to you and to your fellow Veterans if you don’t have the hassle of going to the hospital or clinic with a with a cold, flu or other viral illness. You can stay at home and avoid battling for a parking spot and spending time in a waiting room. Most importantly, you won’t put other Veterans at risk of a highly contagious illness. Staying home can be easier for you AND safer for the community by helping contain the spread of infectious diseases. You probably already know My HealtheVet is a great way to manage your care – with online Rx Refills, VA Appointments, and your labs and tests, radiology reports, and images. And with Secure Messaging and video appointments, reaching your providers while at home can be easy, too. While not for use in emergencies, a secure and private session begins with a simple request with a Secure Message for a video appointment. Sign in and request one next time you need to see your doctor or other providers. Your health care team can also set up an in-person appointment if needed. However, if you’re feeling seriously ill, or your symptoms may require immediate care, please – come in! Read More (click below) VA Video Connect (allows you to test your equipment compatibility) Reach Your VA Care Team Over Live Video (YouTube) VA Telehealth Services Influenza (Flu) |
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VFW Post in Arizona gets ‘All Hands on Deck’ Post and Auxiliary members had raised $29,000 and delivered more than 6,000 care packages, while hosting a free drive-thru breakfast May 21, 2020 |
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A VFW Post and its Auxiliary in south central Arizona opened a food bank amidst the COVID-19 crisis to help feed those most susceptible to hardship.Post 1677 in Casa Grande, Arizona, about 47 miles south of Phoenix, opened a food bank in late March to safely provide food and water twice a week for the elderly, homeless and 19 patients at a local VA cancer treatment center. Arizona's District 7 commander James McCormick, right, helps fellow VFW members and their Auxiliaries unload good for those in need during the COVID-19 crisis in April.By May, Post and Auxiliary members had raised $29,000 and delivered more than 6,000 care packages, while hosting a free drive-thru breakfast special on Wednesdays and Saturdays for anyone in need of a meal. “Our Post has been very engaged with the community in helping them through this crisis,” said Hugues Byrne, VFW Post 1677 commander. “We’ve got a very energized Post and Auxiliary, and all hands are on deck to help where we can.” Prior to launching the food bank initiative, Post 1677 invited two local healthcare professionals to train its members on handling the food and how to protect themselves and the community from coronavirus exposure. The knowledge and preparation allows Post 1677 volunteers to safely deliver supplies and food for the elderly at their respective homes. It also prepares them to deliver lunch to the 19 patients at Alliance Cancer Care Arizona at Casa Grande, a ward of the VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic. “This kind of preparation has allowed for tremendous success with the program,” Byrne said. “And the community has responded with an outpouring of support.” Byrne added that with incoming financial support from the Casa Grande community, the Post plans to continue running the program for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. |
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The US Navy selects Fincantieri design fornext-generation frigateBy David B. Larter WASHINGTON – The U.S. Navy’s newest surface combatant has Italian heritage, the Navy announced Thursday. In a major win for Wisconsin’s Marinette Marine shipyard, the Navy selected Fincantieri’s so-called FREMM design, an acronym that stands for “European multi-purpose frigate,” in its original Italian. The shipyard, which is also on the hook for building the remaining mono-hull littoral combat ships and a frigate version of it for Saudi Arabia, is now a major player in U.S. Navy shipbuilding. | | |
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Ship’s Store Don't forget while you can't shop outside you can order online from the Ship's Store. If you can't order online at our website just contact Rick Rolfe directly 480-659-2747. Click on the button below to go to the Ship's Store... |
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Well That's it for Now.... Please remember to send me stories or anything you would like to see in the next newsletter and also for the website. Thanks to all who contributed to this newsletter it is greatly appreciated. Guy Veni Quote: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 |
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