VMF/VMF(AW)/VMFA–115 MARINE
A reunion group of former and current Marines attached to the
squadron from its inception in July 1943 at
Lynn Hagen, Editor and
Chairman,
Jim Gill, 1st
Vice Chairman, Robertsdale AL
Van McCarty, Executive
Committee,
James Brady, Executive
Committee,
“THE BEST
TOUR I HAD IN THE MARINE CORPS WAS MY TOUR WITH VMFA-115, ONLY I DIDN’T KNOW IT
THEN.” (A Marine Corps officer’s statement.)
REUNION AT
As
we now have all returned home from the last reunion in
We
started out Thursday in the Margate Inn on Paugus Bay of Lake
Winnipesaukee. This lake is located in
the White Mountains of New Hampshire and is within eyesight of
We started our reunion with the annual business meeting Friday
morning. We discussed where we would
like to have the next reunion. We
elected James Brady to replace Jerry Rudd on the executive committee. Jim lives
in
After the business meeting we boarded a bus to travel to the
Portsmouth Naval Yard at
The driver was telling about having third graders coming for a
tour and when he told them that next to the old Marine Barracks building there
was a graveyard for three Marine mascot bulldogs and a horse named “Old Tom”
who was ridden by a Col. Huntington, USMC about the 1898 era. The children always
asked for a special tour to see the graveyard.
Well, then came the VMF 115 group on a tour bus, also asking to see the
animal graveyard, the driver obliged and we saw the Marine barracks with the
graveyard next to it.
The
Marine Barracks have been closed for several years. The Marines arrived at
The Naval Prison for Marines and sailors was closed in
1974. 86,000 Prisoners went though
They also built the first submarines here
in 1917 and also the first
During WWII, in 1943, there were over 20,000 civilian workers at
the shipyard.
The first warship built in
North America, HMS Falkland was built in 1690 at
At
The first submarine was built with an all welded steel hull, was
the SNAPPER in 1937.
50% of all subs built during
WWII were built in
In 1944,
The tour guide gave each of us a history book of the shipyard,
titled “Cradle of American Shipbuilding”.
In the book, one page
describes the normal work day of 10 hours a day which was changed to an 8 hour
day for all mechanics, workmen, and laborers employed by or on behalf of the
Government of the
One of the advertisements that the Naval Board has used to
prevent closing of the shipyard in 1876 was that the harbor is open in the
coldest weather, and the port is at all tides and seasons accessible, is a
refuge for vessels coming from a sickly station with an epidemic on board, the
ships can occupy the outer harbor. The last statement was that there was a
large population in and around
The clock in the tower of the former Naval Base headquarters
building is reputed to be the first clock in the U.S. Navy to strike ships
bells rather than the hours. A shipyard worker received patent rights to the
striking mechanism in 1879.
In 1905 at the invitation of President Theodore Roosevelt,
envoys from
In 1941, three British and one French submarine were overhauled
under Lend-Lease. The British submarine in particular had seen considerable
service and required complete and extensive refits.
After the war, the shipyard
was ideally situated to receive the surrender of German submarines captured in
the
We were served a wonderful meal in the officers club on base and
then proceeded to tour the submarine museum.
We saw a devise used to rescue sailors from submarines, and a history of
the base, and many items of interest about the construction of submarines and
ships constructed through out the years at
Typical of Marines, one of our Marines said he would rather take
an airplane than have 800 feet of water above his head.
Friday evening everyone was on there own for evening meal.
Several of us went to a Steak and Seafood Restaurant just down the road that
had to be tops in all respect.
We
had a nice Ready Room for everyone to meet and spend time with new and old
friends. The room was decorated with
the current recruiting posters showing drill instructor giving a meaningful
command. Many of the wedding guests who
were also in the hotel gave our Ready Room a good look as they walked by. This year we were missing the normal
assortment of “cruise books”, squadron photos, photo albums that we have had in
the past. Next year we will try to get
back to having everyone bring mementoes of their time in the squadron. The word did not get out to attendees to
bring these along to share. It can be
hard to “drag” these things on a airplane when you are already carrying a
couple of heavy suitcases. We will see
about replacing our squadron banner that was stolen at the Beaufort
reunion. From now on we will be more
careful and hang the banners inside the building.
We were again happy to have Dorothy Alton and her son, Roy in
attendance. She has not missed a reunion. In the later years, either her son or
daughter has accompanied her. Dorothy lives in
Also in attendance was Carol Ann Egy, of Gulf Breeze,
Receipts: Those
who want receipts for funds they gave to me at the reunion, please let me know
and I will send you one. During the reunions things get hectic and rushed, so
feel free to ask for a receipt.
Saturday
we started out with breakfast courtesy of the motel, and then departed to
Saturday
evening we had our yearly banquet. We
started as usual with 4 Marines from the local area Marine Corps League presenting
the colors. Marine Corps hymn was then
sung by everyone with a wonderful meal of prime rib, strawberries and ice
cream, chicken, and a salad.
We did not have a special speaker this year. For a program, I introduced our WWII Marines,
Andy Moynihan, William Hodson, Dorothy Alton, Ken Goode and Don Sypkens. Also Andy Moynihan’s friend, Ed Davis who
served in WWII in VMF-214 was honored.
I then introduced the
Korean War veterans, and this is starting to be a sizeable group at our
reunions. Jim Gill, John Reader, Ken Uhl,
Ray Shinkle, and Tom Tucker.
We
want to thank Lisa Hazeltine and her father, Andy Moyihan for all the work they
did getting the reunion organized and the very good time we all had. Thanks.
James
Brady will be taking over the
position that was held by Jerry Rudd.
Jim lives in
Tom
and Helen Tucker, 18
Ed
and Natalie Davis were guests at the banquet. Ed and Natalie were friends of
our host, Andy Moyihan.
Ed
and Bonnie Malin, also friends of
Andy’s.
Dorothy
Alton and son/Roy, Longport NJ/Margate, NJ
John
and Mrs. Reader,
Ray
Shinkle,
Don
Sypkens,
Tom
and Helen Tucker,
Lynn
and Cindy Hagen,
Bernie
and Linda Blasko,
Jerry
and Elaine Carpenter, Port
Carol
Ann Egy, Gulf Breeze, FL
John
and Jane Gibson,
James
and Joyce Gill,
Ken
and Vi Goode,
Andy
Moyihan/family Liza, John, Andrew and Nate,
William
Hodson, wife Dorothy, and daughter, Patty, Brawley, CA
Ken
Uhl,
George
Martina,
Mr.
and Mrs. Ray Teague, Oak Leaf, TX
John
and Darlene Kennedy,
John
and Liza Chouinard,
Ron
“Skitch” Hendrickson,
Ray
and Emily Teague, 602 Shallow Creek,
Oak
Tom and Helen Tucker, made their first reunion. Tom was
in the squadron as ordnance during the Korean War. The Tuckers live in Crystal
City, Missouri. 636-937-6817
John and Darlene Kennedy,
Ron Hendrickson “Skitch” joined us for his first reunion. Ron served in 115 at
We welcome these
individuals and couples who made the first reunion and we expect to see them at
later reunions.
Bernard
and Linda Blasko who have attended
other reunions, traveled from
John
and Lisa Chouinard drove up from
PUBLICATIONS
ABOUT USMC AIRPLANES
The November edition
of “FLYING” magazine has an interesting article about
The July 2006 issue of Smithsonian “Air and Space” has an
article about the F4D Skyray aircraft.
There is a photo of a VMF(AW)-115
F4D aircraft in the article. It shows 19
F4D aircraft in a circle with all the ground support equipment and all the
Marines attached to the squadron. The article tells of all the attributes of
the F4D “Ford” aircraft. The 19 aircraft
are of VMF(aw)-115.
New Addresses and Emails,
Etc.
Red
and Judy Twomey has moved into an
assisted living center named
Lynn Guyer >guyer@isp.com
I
received a telephone call from Max Ballard, who saw our newsletter on
the internet site. Max was in 115 in
1970-71 and worked in engine shop with a MOS of 6024. Max is trying to locate Marines who he served
with. Max had spent several trips to Udorn Air Force Base in
Francis
A. Winnecer,
Don
Bussell, was in 115 from January 1982
thru May 1983 as Intel officer and Ground Safety Officer. He is presently flying for Delta Air Lines
out of
Andy Galante was in 115 from October
1962 to April 9, 1963, before being transferred to
Bill (Carlos)
Micheal A. Boudreaux (also known as Bozo), 707 S. 2nd
Street,
Paul
W. Long >pdlong@insightbb.com.
Paul was with 115 in
James A. Swindell Jim
served with 115 in Danang in 1966 with 115. He saw our notice of reunion in the
Legion magazine. Jim also served in
VMFA-314, the “Black Knights” squadron.
He said he still has his coffee cup with the 115 shield on it and also a
VMFA-314 coffee cup. He treats them with a lot of care.
Jim
deployed out of
THE PRESENT COMMANDING OFFICER OF VMFA-115
Lt.
Col. Randy “Fester” Nash, who took
the squadron to
I received a notice
from Don Emello about a mistake is the last newsletter. Don stated that Jack
Maas was the CO of the squadron taking over from Col. Tim Cole in the middle of
1953. This is a discrepancy from the 115 History book where I took this
information.
Ken and Vi Goode new
address is
Ed
MaGaa, pilot in the squadron in 1966
era emails a new address:
Bill
Harvey, was in 115 from 1967-68 in
Fire Control.
Len
Fuchs, >leonard.fuchs @cox.net,
Len was a 1st Lt.
In the squadron in 1970-71, was in S-4A, Buildings and Grounds. He retired from
USMC as a
Stephen
Stockwell sstockwell@FOAMEX.com Stephen read about us in the March/April
edition of Vietnam Veterans of America magazine. Stephen was in 115 from February 1971 to
November 1971 as a
“Editors note”: Maybe we should plan a reunion in the future
for PA. There are a lot of Marines from 115 in
Paul W. Long, was with 115 in
Jimmye L. Jones jimmyej@cox.net Jimmye “served four tours in VMFA-115,
Cherry Point in 1962-65, Atsugi from 65-66, Vietnam1966, and
Jim
Perry, Perry2656@aol.com, emailed
asking about reunions. He said it is
difficult to travel with his wife, but is interested in our organization. Jim was in the squadron from October 65 to
September 1966. He asked if I was there
when the squadron broke 1000 combat sorties.
Jim was a friend of 2nd Lt. James Pitts, who took his
own life in November 1966. Lt. Pitts was a friend of Jim’s and they had served
in VMF-251 and had made a Med cruise together as well as countless deployments.
Lt. Pitts was the Maintenance control officer.
Jim said that the best tour I had in the Marine Corps was his tour with
115, only he didn’t know it then.
Mike
Gollihur, was in 115 from November
1967 to December 1968.
Mike stated that when he checked into Avionics, B.C. Kidd and
Dave Horne were in charge of the radar shop. He served under 3 CO’s, the last
one being
Paul
and Naomi Vess with a new email
address: >panavess@peoplepc.com Paul
and Naomi were planning to come to
I have a copy of the original orders for the squadron to deploy
from Cherry Point to
Jack
B. Maas, Jr. “Cactus Air Force” VMF-112, CO of VMF-115 in
Jack Maas was our guest of honor and main speaker at our reunion
in
In the June 2006 issue of a magazine called “WORLD WAR II, they
have written a complete story about Jack’s USMC career.
The story starts with Jack being assigned to VMF-112 flying F4F’s,
leaving
Jack tells about
May 13, 1943 Jack shot his next aircraft down, a Japanese Zero and
got a probable west of
He was assigned to VMF-451 at Mojave, that was preparing to go
aboard the USS Bunker Hill to return to the Pacific, but changed squadrons as
joined VMF-322. The USS Bunker Hill was
damaged on May 11, 1945.
Jack then transferred with the squadron to Kadena,
Jack made “ACE” with his fifth kill flying out of Kadena flying
a FG-1D. A Goodyear Aircraft built
version of the Corsair. He was credited with shooting down a
“Tojo” , a Japanese interceptor
aircraft (Nakijima Ki44 )and a half
share credit north of Izena Shima to Ie Shimaon May 25, 1945.
Upon returning to the
states, Jack became an instructor at
After returning stateside he did tours at
We were excited to have him as our main speaker at our
banquet. He told about pre-flighting an
aircraft, then getting ready to fly, when the plane captain told Jack he
couldn’t fly this airplane, the engine had been removed.
Our reunion
normally starts with some people arriving on Thursday. Come Friday morning, we will start by having
our required annual business meeting.
After the business meeting, we normally have some type of bus tour to
visit something with a military/aviation/Marine theme or other interesting
places in the area. Friday night we all
go out for supper in small groups or as one large group. This is a time to take
your “old buddies and their wives” out for a quiet dinner.
Saturday
again starts with another tour, trying to have a noon meal with the tour, and
then returning to the hotel early to prepare for the banquet.
Saturday
night we have a formal banquet. This is
a formal affair. Marines who drive their own vehicles like to wear their suits,
those who fly are excused due to the amount of luggage they carry.
We try to have a program and/or a main
speaker. Then we bring the group again to attention, and the Marine Honor Guard
retires the colors.
In
At
The costs of the reunions for each person attending is
determined by the total costs of bus trips, ready room rental, ready room
snacks, banquet room rent, banquet meal costs and small miscellaneous
expenses. We try to determine the cost
in advance, and let everyone know the costs.
We try to keep under budget and normally do. One of the costs is renting tour buses. These normally are $650.00 to $700.00 for a
full day, or an hourly rate for partial time, and we divide the costs by total
attendance. The larger the group, the lower the cost. We had full bus loads at
We will try to attend the graduation ceremony at the Marine
Corps Recruit Depot in
Located approximately 15 miles from downtown
These patches are available from Sgt. Mike’s catalog. The Joe’s Joker patch of VMF-115 is the
patch that Walt Disney created for Joe Foss for his new squadron. Sgt Mikes
telephone 1.866.776.2607
STORY ABOUT THE F4D SKYRAY AIRCRAFT
In the July 2006 issue of Smithsonian Air and Space
magazine, there is an article on the Skyray aircraft. VMF(AW)-115 flew this aircraft from April
1955 to September 1963 when the squadron changed to the F4B Phantom. These
aircraft were used by the Navy and Marines during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The
F4D that are available in museums include the
TAPS
During a telephone conversation
with Leroy Blonshine who was in the metal shop in 1966-67, said his brother-in-law,
Merritt Smith died of Agent Orange cancer, lymph nodes, shortly after returning
from
AGENT ORANGE IN 115 PERSONNEL
In the future, if
anyone would like to participate in writing a “buddy letter” to the VA for an
agent orange claim, maybe we could keep a confidential list of those having
agent orange troubles. Many Marines
that I have talked to are having trouble with agent orange. Marines serving at the Danang air base seem
to have the most diagnoses of Agent Orange problems. There is a possibility
that we could get those with AO problems to send a letter to the VA. The more letters, the better the chances are
for a claim.
Many people have contact me for information and want to be added
to the roster. I ask them if they have any problems with agent orange and I get
many “yes” replies.
Information from Marines wanting information, or in
need of something, etc.
Hank
Salvatore would like to know if any
of the WWII group (1943-45) would have any of the dates and islands that
the VMF-115 squadron was sent to during WWII.
He would like to hear from anyone who can help him with this.
Paul
Martinello, who is the son of the
late Joesph Martinello, inquired about the
Looking for: GySgt. Theodore J. Thomas, USMC retired is
looking for a Sgt. Larry Anderson who was in avionics with 115 during the
1966-67 era. Mr. Thomas was his “best man” at his wedding in 1963. 615-595-2480 >tedgaye@bellsouth.net
Capt.
Chamberlain, a current Silver Eagle
pilot was asked by his skipper to find any alumni associations. He said we qualify. Hopefully we can get together with the
squadron again for a 65th or 70th anniversary reunion of
this squadron. 1943 + 65 years will be 2008.
We had a very good time having the 60th reunion at Beaufort in
2003 and look forward to doing this again. >chamberlinba@ 2mawbft.usmc.mil
DUES
This was a subject we brought up a few years ago to sustain our
organization. We decided on a $10.00 per year dues. This pays for the cost of publication of the
newsletter, envelopes, mailing costs, costs of our legal matters, (State of
We are printing between 300 – 350 copies of the newsletter. Also
I have costs related to “new discoveries”. Those who just discovered us and
would like a copy of the roster and I throw in some old copies of the
newsletter and mail to them.
Please, if you enjoy receiving the newsletter and would like for
this group to continue, please mail your dues. What we ask is that the checks
be made out to the VMF/VMF (aw)/VMFA-115 Marine Reunion Assn. Inc. or a
shortened version of same. The mailing address is
Our contract has been
signed for the 2007 reunion. This will be held at the Holiday Inn San Diego Bayside. The web site for the hotel is www.holinnbayside.com. Telephone (800)-650-6660,
(619) 224-1787
The charge for hotel rooms is $115.00 single or double. To make
reservations for the guaranteed rate, please tell the representative that you
are with the VMFA-115 group. If you are planning on attending, please mark
this on your new calendar.
This hotel is located
near the bay in
The Marine Corps Air Station at
In downtown
Our reunion will start Friday morning with our annual business
meeting. This is mandatory that we have
this after breakfast. After the meeting
we will load buses and hopefully head for Marine Corps Recruit Depot for
graduation ceremony. This is a must for
those who have not been a part of it or those who have not seen it. We will try to have a tour bus to make easier
access onto the base. There are
bleachers to observe the graduation events.
This is a place to wear your Marine Corps or the VMFA-115 cap to
identify yourself as a Marine. At past
graduations, they call attention to former Marine units, and maybe we will be
so honored.
After the ceremony, if possible, we will let everyone have the
noon meal at the Recruit Depot. You will also have time to take a short walk
around the depot to see what has changed over the years. (They now park on the parade deck).
After the noon meal, we will head for the Marine Air Station at
Saturday, we will try to see if possible to take everyone to the
Navy’s aircraft carrier, the USS Midway that is tied to a pier in downtown
This itinerary is just the ideas that I have planned. They are
subject to change. I must contact all of
these organizations to make firm arrangements.
If anyone has any ideas for a tour on Saturday beside the USS Midway,
please feel free to contact me.
1969 Edition of the VMFA-115 Cruise Book
We have been donated a copy of the cruise book of this era by
Jerry and Elaine Carpenter. The C.O. in the front of the book is Lt. Col.
R.R. Norton (Nov. 68 - July 69).
Remember,