Reunion Update and Taps

On December 10 I mailed postcards and emailed  shipmates the notice of the upcoming reunion in April 2013 in Newport RI area. The announcement is also posted on this blog dated December 9.
I have been getting responses and at this time I have received notice that 10 shipmates are planning to attend and 15 are still not sure. That is  total of 25 at this date.
When I make notification of a reunion I get address changes as well as notices that shipmates that have passed on. I have received 2 Taps notices so far this month.
William Vogt passed away on May 17, 2012 . Bill served on the Hazelwood in 1960-63 as an ET in  the Operations department.
Laddie Novak passed away almost 3 years ago on December 24, 2009. Laddie served on the Hazelwood in 1945 and was a deck hand.

2013 REUNION INFORMATION

For your information, I have sent the following email to my email list and I have sent a postcard with the same information to shipmates without an email address. Jim Julian

 

Fellow Hazelwood shipmate,

The RADISSON HOTEL PROVIDENCE AIRPORT has been confirmed as our reunion site. The dates are April 27-29, 2013. The room rates at the hotel will $79.00 or $99.00 for an executive suite plus taxes. These rates area available from April 24 – April 30. You must refer to HAZELWOOD REUNION to get these rates. Call (800) 967-9033 for a reservation.

FRI APR 26 – Bull Sessions all day for those arriving today or earlier.

SAT APR 27 – Naval Sub Base Tour, New London, CT & Mystic, CT. - $25 pp

SUN APR 28 – Battleship Cove Tour and Luncheon, Fall River, MA- $57 w/deli lunch & $61 w/Buffet

MON APR 29 – Newport city and Naval Base tour & Luncheon.- $54 pp

MON APR 29, EVENING – Banquet at Radisson Hotel – Chicken, $33 – Fish, $34 – Prime Rib, $38

Please send me an email letting me know your plans. In other words answer one of the questions below.

( ) I am planning to attend. There will be __________ in my group.

( ) I am not sure yet. Keep me on future mailings.

( ) I know I cannot make the 2013 reunion. Keep me informed of future reunions. No more

mailings will be made to me about the 2013 reunion.

There will be a $30.00 reservation fee for the reunion. This covers the cost of mailings, hospitality room, and refreshments in the hospitality room. If you plan to attend, you can mail a check to Jim Julian, 318 Salt Creek Drive, North Port, FL, 34287 or it will be added to your reservation costs. The fee is fully refundable if you do not attend.

A complete reservation form will be sent in January to those planning to attend. Caps and shirts will be available for purchase. Updated prices are being checked on.

Smooth sailing, Jim Julian

Fred Butler's passing

I recently received the sad news that Fred Butler passed away on October 27, 2012. Fred served on the Hazelwood in the engineering department during the kamikazi attack at Okinawa.
I am inserting the newspaper account of his passing and I hope you are able to read it. If you click on it you will be able to see a larger picture of it.

Smooth Sailing, Jim Julian

USS Hazelwood returns to Newport RI

Yes, The Hazelwood is back in Newport RI (area). That is the model of course.
Carol and I delivered the model and other reunion information to Richard Ernst and he has it safely stored in his company warehouse. For those of you who have not seen the model, it is constructed at a scale of 1/8" to 1 ft. That makes it about 48 inches long. Is mounted on a fine piece of oak and enclosed in a glass cover. All of that then is in a shipping case for protection.
It was made from"scratch" by John Hankinson, a pattern maker and son of one of the 1940's crew.

Here is the model as it was displayed at the 2011 reunion.

While in Warwick, RI, just across the bay from Newport, Richard and Ann showed us the hotel where the reunion is to be held. It is a fine facility and the staff is being very cooperative. The rates they have arranged for us are very reasonable. Free shuttle from the airport will be provided.
While there we took some time to  check out the lounge as you can see in the picture below.

 So mark your calendars for April 26 -29, 2013 and plan to attend the reunion. A mailing and email of detailed information will be sent out in about a month.

Smooth Sailing, Jim Julian

Menford Sutton passing

In Memory of

Menford Lawrence
Sutton

Obituary for Menford Sutton

Menford Lawrence Sutton, 88, passed away peacefully at Arlington Memorial Hospice Unit on Sunday, August 19, 2012. A long time resident of Arlington, Texas, he suffered from Alzheimer Disease for the last thirteen years.

Menford, known to all as “ML”, was born to Jesse Lawrence Sutton and Mattie Ola Harris Sutton on October 11, 1923 in Harrold, Texas, and was the oldest of five children born to his parents. ML was preceded in death by his parents and brothers; Frank Ellis Sutton and Lloyd Paul Sutton.

A member of the “Greatest Generation,” ML enlisted in the U.S. Navy immediately following the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor and spent his wartime service in combat in the Pacific aboard the USS Hazelwood (DD-531). Following two years of combat operations, a kamikaze attack on the USS Hazelwood off Okinawa killed all senior officers and 67 enlisted men on April 29, 1945. As the remaining crew struggled with onboard damage control, ML was tasked with inspecting the exterior integrity of the damaged hull at the water level. That assignment completed and temporary repairs made, the Hazelwood and its survivors returned to Pearl Harbor for permanent repairs. ML and other members of the crew received Honorable Discharges from the US Navy on October 25, 1945, while the Hazelwood continued to serve until decommissioned in 1965.

Following World War II, ML returned to North Texas and entered the Southern Baptist Seminary in Fort Worth where he received his PHD in Theology. He also attended TCU while in the Seminary. Following graduation, ML served as a pastor to a Baptist church in Vicksburg, Mississippi from 1949 – 1951. He then returned to Fort Worth where he went to work for Bell Helicopter until his retirement in 1993.

His hobby and love was aviation. A pilot since 1950 and aircraft owner until his illness, ML was enthralled with rocketry and was a pioneer in the model rocketry industry. In the late 1950’s, he and partner Gene Dickerson started Coaster Corporation, a maker and marketer of model rockets. ML’s model rockets were industry leaders. According to Bell Helicopter News, one, the four foot tall Mercury, flew faster than the speed of sound at an altitude of more than half a mile. In 1963, ML and his partner sold Coaster Corporation and its asset ultimately became a part of Estes Industries, the world leader in model rocketry. One model rocket developed by ML Sutton is still in production after more than fifty years.

ML was a long-time supporter of the Big Brothers Big Sisters in Arlington, and he served as a “Big” for many years, mentoring numerous boys supported by this organization. He was an active supporter until his illness.

His survivors are his three children, Dorinda Sutton Cavender and her husband, Hugh C. Akin, his sons, Rodney L. Sutton and his wife, Jeanie LeMoine Sutton and W. Harold Sutton, his six grandchildren, six great grandchildren and one great-great grandchild, two sisters, Evelyn Sutton Roberts and LaVerna Sutton Pugh and numerous nieces and nephews.

ML will be buried at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, 2000 Mountain Creek Parkway, Dallas, TX 75211, on Thursday, August 23rd , at 12:30 PM. The assembly point for ML’s interment will be at the cemetery’s “Lane C” at 12:15 PM.

In lieu of flowers please make donations to Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star, 450 East John Carpenter Freeway, Irving, Texas, 75062 or the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America.

Another Interesting Email

On August 12, I received the following email.
Dear Jim -
My name is Meridith Constant and I am a granddaughter of Menford L. Sutton, who was a yeoman second class during WWII and was on the USS Hazelwood when it was hit. One of my uncles is named for two friends that perished that day, and I have heard a story that my grandfather swam the boat to aid in determining if it was taking water. He is currently in hospice with advanced stages of Alzheimers; so unfortunately, I have not had an opportunity to talk to him about many things and he rarely if ever talked about that day or others during WWII. I came across your USS Hazelwood blog today and thought I would write to see if you have any information about that day or on my grandfather, I know the family would appreciate hearing/learning more.

Sincerely,
Meridith Constant

I did some searching  in our files and found this card with a picture of Menford,

Using that picture and some help from Meridith I was able to identify Menford in the 1945 picture of the crew in front of the Hazelwood as well as in one of the pictures of the crew taken in Pearl Harbor after the attack. If you look at those pictures you may find  him easily as he was still wearing his hat jauntily on the back of his head.

Smooth sailing, Jim Julian

Re: Who was commnading at the Kamikaze attack?

As you may recall I got this comment several months back:

"I was reading the history of the Hazelwood and was wondering why Cmdr. V.P. Douw is listed as the commanding officer when according to official records my uncle, LtCmdr. Walter A. Hering took command on January 24, 1945 of the USS Hazelwood. LtCmdr. Hering was killed aboard the Hazelwood by enemy air attack on April 29, 1945"

While doing some searching in the records I  have, I found a list of those Killed In Action that fateful day.

In that list it shows WALTER ANDREW HERING, LT CDR as one of those KIA. It also lists VOLKERT PETRUS DOUW, CAPT as KIA.
There was also a copy of an article in a San Francisco newspaper of June 15 with the following: 
"..... Among those listed as dead or missing were Commander V. P. Douw, USN of Abington ......and his relief, Lieutenantant Commander Walter Hering, Jr, USN of ..... GA"

Based on this information and the recollection of at least 2 crew members present, it appears that a formal change of command had not yet taken place and that DOUW was still commanding at the time of the attack.

Smooth sailing, Jim Julian