Reunions

2021 Albuquerque a success

Great hotel and meals, friends new and old, plus a super tour package! Thursday tour took everyone along the TURQUOISE TRAIL and historic route 66. Historic buildings along the way and in SANTE FE. The tale of a mysterious wooden spiral staircase captivated everyone. Lunch in historic Santa Fe plus the Georgia O’Keefe museum and the Palace of the Governors. Groups gathered after for small dinner groups at several restaurants within walking distance of our hotel. Then back to our hospitality room for more stories.
Friday, our breakfast buffet was ready before heading out to tour the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History. Fascinating exhibits inside and a complete Air Museum outside. Members viewed a B-52, B-47 and B-29 bombers. Full scale rockets and actual casings of recovered A-bombs from “Broken Arrow” events. Lunch followed in historic Old Town Albuquerque. After lunch the group took time for remembrance and reflection at the New Mexico Veterans Memorial. New Mexico is a very respectful and patriotic state. This memorial, inside 7 acres of dedicated ground, celebrated every aspect of service from the call to duty to the home coming. A fitting end to our tours. Dinner groups formed again for wine and food. Two restaurants across from our hotel provided fine food for all.
Saturday – we finished our annual business meeting knowing our finances remain the third week in September. [More information as our hotel search narrows down.] The annual white elephant auction netted a new record $2400 for the treasury, including the drawing for the 4-day room prize.
Our final banquet included an annual tradition newly named for Piper Jim Healy who passed away in 2021. The tradition will continue – including the piper leading us into the banquet room. This banquet food and service will be hard to beat. Pictures before and after show how much everyone enjoys our reunions. New attendees echoed “I can’t wait to sign up for next year.

2020 VIRTUAL REUNION EVENTS
Below is the schedule for the Final 2020 Reunion events

Virtual Reunion Social on line

November 8th - 1944-1955 Crew, relatives from– Sunday afternoon,
1pm Pacific, 2pm Mountain, 3pm Central and 4pm Eastern time.

November 9th - 1955-1965 Crew, relatives from– Monday afternoon,
1pm Pacific, 2pm Mountain, 3pm Central and 4pm Eastern time.

November 10th - 1965-1971 Crew, relatives from– Tuesday afternoon,
1pm Pacific, 2pm Mountain, 3pm Central and 4pm Eastern time.

2020 Reunion Social: Join your shipmates for a Zoom meeting by phone. Please call on your assigned group day .

Call: 1-669-900-9128, When prompted, enter the meeting ID number: 972 962 3283. There is no participant id required, so just press the # sign. You will then be notified you are in the "waiting room".
Your host, Steve Cross, will identify himself and welcome the group. He will then call on individuals to speak for a few minutes.

If you are having trouble entering the meeting, please call Harry Chandler at 928-925-9490.
THIS IS A CHANCE TO JOIN SHIPMATES IN THE COMFORT OF YOUR HOME!

Our annual WHITE ELEPHANT AUCTION is on line this year.
Auction opens Sunday November 8th at 12pm Eastern time and
goes through Saturday, November 14th, 5pm Eastern time.

2019 Reunion in San Diego, CA. Sept 18-21

Hello Albuquerque; Good bye San Diego!!
   Our largest turnout in several years enjoyed three days of events highlighted by the 75th Anniversary of the launch and commissioning of the USS Frank Knox – the first of the Gearing class destroyers to launch and be commissioned. Final banquet seated 75! Spectacular fall weather held throughout the events. Our hotel was centrally located in OLD TOWN, surrounded by shops, restaurants and museums Little Italy, Naval Training Center and Harbor Drive. Some took advantage of the 100’s of
world class restaurants to enjoy dinner and a view.
   Thursday featured a tour of restored and vibrant NTC San Diego and Little Italy followed by the harbor cruise and lunch. Everyone received a FULL tour of San Diego Harbor from nuclear subs to the new Zumwalt class destroyer. Every minute there was a new view of San Diego sights and sea life including sea lions, harbor seals and other marine life. Following the cruise members split their time between the USS Midway CV-41 (with complimentary tickets provided by Steve Cross), the Maritime museum and Veterans Park with the Kissing Sailor Statue and Bob Hope Memorial. A day to remember!
     Friday the group departed early to see the beaches, surf sites and parks that make San Diego the site to visit – 35.8 million folks visit the city annually keeping prices reasonable and the choices infinite. From La Jolla beaches to Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial took just a few minutes. Mt. Soledad is the highest point inside the City. We celebrated the view. Then as the piper called, we mustered to start the dedication ceremony. President Harry Chandler started the program and introduced Captain Larry Eddingfield, USN to give the invocation. Steve Cross, reunion organizer, introduced RADM Denny Conley who spoke about the ship that carried us all safely and followed by Captain Jerry Harken USN who reviewed the history of the ship. CDR Jim Lasswell spoke of the special teamwork on the ship. RADM Conley then unveiled the plaque along with the oldest attendee, LCDR Russ Judah to applause from the crowd.
     Friday’s lunch followed at beautiful Kate Sessions Park under shade trees (Kate Sessions is the founder of San Diego’s famed 1450-acre park, Balboa Park). After lunch, it was over to Coronado Island via the famed San Diego Bay Bridge. Coronado is the site of the famed Hotel del Coronado, NAS North Island and the famed US Navy SEAL training site. On the way over the bridge we were saluted by the USS Coronado passing under us. Back over the bridge to Balboa Park, Little Italy and home to our hotel where dinner plans took groups to different restaurants within walking distance.
     Saturday’s business meeting selected ALBUQUERQUE NM as the site of the 30th Annual USS Frank Knox Reunion in mid-September 2020. If you like hot air balloons, spectacular scenery, native American crafts and the famed Turquoise and Santa Fe Trail then make your plans for Albuquerque.
   Our final banquet seated 75 for dinner and hung spell PIPER JIM HEALY FRANK KNOX VETS AT MT. SOLEDAD PLAGUE DEDICATION bound as WWII veteran Art Webster talked about adventures and sinking ship recounted in his book “Down to the Sea”. The glorious evening ended with friends spinning stories and affirming plans to meet again in Albuquerque.

2018 REUNION IN BUFFALO, NEW YORK
“REUNION 2018 FRIENDS, FAMILIES AND FELLOWSHIP”

AMAZING BUFFALO NY – The host of our 28th Reunion last September. WEDNESDAY evening a group of early arrivals walked to Pearl Street Brewery for sunset drinks and a meal overlooking Lake Erie. We discovered that Pearl Street Brewery would “Tap the Pumpkin” the following evening where we could taste the famous fall beer selections. THURSDAY morning, we boarded our tour bus for to visit Niagara Falls State Park, Bridal Veil Falls, Horseshoe Falls, Maid of the Mist and Cave of the Winds. The park was immaculate, crowds light and there was a mini-bus transportation throughout the giant park for those who had difficulty walking. The weather was perfect and the falls truly spectacular. We returned to our hotel to meet new arrivals and several first timers. Members from the ’62-’65 years welcomed their medic and traded stories the rest of the evening. A group of four returned to the Pearl Street Brewery to “Tap the Pumpkin”; two sailors and two skeptical wives. The brew master and owner met the group, gave us a short tour before the tasting began. “OMG this is so good!” exclaimed the wives. The four left happy and headed for the original home of “Buffalo Wings, world famous Anchor Bar”. We weren’t disappointed. Fat, juicy wings, lean beef, local rolls and more local beer! We returned to report the results and the rush was on to sample the best wings ever! FRIDAY morning our bus dropped us at the Erie Canal (the original) where it empties into Lake Erie. We took a two-hour narrated tour of historic Buffalo River and surrounding area including the famous General Mills plants that make all those famous cereals. One story caught everyone’s attention – the story of an unmanned freighter breaking loose in the dead of winter, drifting into another large freighter. The two freighters joined and continued down river and smashing into the railroad drawbridge. The ice dam created by the freighters flooded 22 square blocks of downtown Buffalo. Following the river cruise our group entered the Naval and Military Park along Lake Erie, where we gathered for a group picture under the nuclear submarine sail for a group picture and toured the light cruiser LITTLE ROCK and destroyer SULLIVANS. SATURDAY – our annual business meeting decided on SAN DIEGO, CA as the location for the 2019 Reunion and 75th Anniversary celebration. Our “white elephant” auction netted over $1590.00 for our Association.
HUNTER-KILLER – Our 2018 Reunion speaker was CDR George Wallace, USN (Ret.). George accepted our invitation to come to Buffalo NY. CDR Wallace commanded nuclear submarines and has operating knowledge of Special Warfare (SEAL) operations with nuclear subs. George became an author after his retirement from the Navy. George also has a day job in the defense consulting industry. Among other awards he was awarded the CIA Meritorious Unit Citation. George authored four books to date – Dangerous Grounds, Firing Point, Final Bearing and Operation Golden Dragon. Firing Point became the basis for the script Hunter Killer and later a major motion picture of the same title. The movie was in theaters October and November 2018. George’s journey from sub skipper to author and then seeing one of his books become a major motion picture is an amazing story well told at our final banquet. George brought copies of his books to the reunion and returned to Washington with empty boxes. IF YOU MISSED THE MOVIE “HUNTER-KILLER” IN THEATERS, Amazon has the DVD available as of January 15, 2019 for $15.95. My wife and I planned to take George and his wife, Penny, to dinner after they arrived and checked in to our hotel. After sharing cocktails with our reunion group George’s wife learned of our trip to the ANCHOR BAR – home of the “original “BuffaloWing”. Off we went! At dinner my wife and I settled for “mild” heat on our BullaloWing” order. Penny and George ordered “hot heat” spices on their wings. They devoured their order with a blink of an eye. We powered through some of the best menu items following Penny’s top priority to experience “BuffaloWings” in their original birthplace. Our guests were not disappointed – original “BuffaloWings” are the best! George made the drive with wife Penny, Washington DC to Buffalo in one long day. This delightful couple made many new friends during their visit to Buffalo and the USS Frank Knox Reunion.

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