SSN 680 Plan of the Day
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- Brad Williamson
Just a quick update for those unfortunate few that weren't able to attend REGROUPEX 09 this weekend in San Diego.
It is Sunday morning - the reception suite is empty and clean - just a few minutes to post before the crowd starts showing up. Wait, MS Chief Mike Rodriguez and his wife Margaret just walked through the door.
OK - still quiet, just the four of us sitting here and chatting. Dennis Carroll and his friend Sandy stopped by earlier. Dennis commented that it was hard to believe that there had been 40 of us in the suite last night, and the place still looked livable. Some things have definitely changed since back in the days.
It has been a really incredible weekend. I have been operating in a strange mode since I walked into the suite Friday evening. We have had between 40 and 50 people here each of the last two evenings, and most of the time I've been in a daze, (not just due to the alcohol!) because I can't really believe this is happening. Absolutely full house both Friday and Saturday. Most come early and stay for 6 or 8 hours. I got here at 10 AM yesterday, and left at 2 this morning. It has been an incredible adventure.
Bill Byers and Dave Shoemaker just walked in - we are trying to figure out what to do for dinner.
Hard to describe - dozens of guys and their sweethearts sitting in the suite, hanging out on the patio, lounging around tables on the lawn, everyone of them having a great time sharing sea stories and reconnecting with old friends. Plenty of food and drink attracted some to the suite to stock up. Six or eight gathered around the big flat screen looking through photos of the old days, trying to put names to faces. Raucous laughter as various events are recalled. A handful huddle over a photo album, so more look through stacks of memorabilia, including ships qual cards. "Did I really sign you off on AMR2? I must have be a real sleaze!" That kind of thing.
You should be here. Most of us wish you were. Sorry we missed you.
More later - got to go - Steve Perry just walked in.
Catch up with you soon.
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- Brad Williamson
It's Tuesday night - 72 hours from now about 30 of us shipmates will be trying to figure out who's who, after 25 years. Seems hard to believe that we are down to the wire on this one. It was only the first week of last December when I heard from Bill Byers, who said, "are you the Brad Williamson that used to be in RC division on the William H. Bates?"
We felt that we were way too optimistic thinking we could pull off a get-together this year. Next year seemed like a much more conservative guess, but after a few phone calls, and a dozen emails, we had a core group from E and RC divisions in the early eighties, and the next thing you know, we were talking about a reunion - nothing major, mind you, just a 'let's all get together in the same place for a day or two and catch up' kind of reunion.
I volunteered to put together a little web page to help us coordinate, and the next thing you know, www.ssn-680.org is taking over the planet - at least the SSN-680 planet, anyway. Last week we had 47,000 page views from 2400 unique visits.
Bill kept pushing on the reunion thread, and Friday night we kick off REGROUPEX 09. Still hard to believe.
Bill is already checked into the Town and Country in San Diego, and other shipmates start arriving tomorrow night. I'll arrive Friday afternoon, and be there through Wednesday morning.
So, it's not too late. If you haven't registered, you're dink. Get hot, sign up, and show up. There is no trophy for second place.
I'll post here periodically when I get a few minutes so all you non-quals that couldn't make it can see what you're missing.
But don't take it too hard - I do hope to see you there.
And there is always next year.
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- Brad Williamson
Only nine days until REGROUPEX 09!
That's right - nine days left. September 4th, sometime in the evening, we will start convening in the rented suite at the Town and Country Hotel and Convention Center in San Diego, California, for a weekend of sun, surf, suds, sea-stories, and the occasional 'sea'-gar. (Sorry, I was working on the 's' words and just ran out.)
We currently have 28 former shipmates registered which is liable to make it a standing room only crowd, but we'll have to wait and see when we get there. There is still time to register using the REGROUPEX 09 button on most pages, and, quite frankly, it's not too late until the weekend is over, so if you are willing, we'd be glad to see you, even if you can't spend the whole weekend there.
In keeping with the finest traditions of the USS William H. Bates, and in deference to the principles by which this reunion was organized (using the word loosely) we have absolutely nothing planned. Seriously. We may arrange a group meal or two out, we may just send out for pizza. Who knows! We may take a cruise on the bay, we may just sit by the pool and swap sea-stories. The USSVI meeting starts Monday and they have more than enough organized for anybody who can stay and take some of it in, so we are just going with the traditional laid-back, Battlin' Billy Bates attitude, and see what happens.
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- Brad Williamson
While we currently have 278 registered members on board the site, Ernesto Maisonet, Yeoman First Class, on board from 1988 to 1991, is our 250th former shipmate to join the site.
That means we only have about 1000 more crew members to locate before we can take a breather.
So, if you remember 'Ernie' from back in the days, shout him out, and let him know he is welcome.
Regarding locating all our other missing shipmates, you're dink - get hot!
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- Brad Williamson
Roger Loesch, step-brother of Donald M. Pfannenstiel, reported back in April that Don, or "Puff" as some called him, had been hospitalized with back problems in Wichita, Kansas.
Don served on the Bates from about 1972 to 1975 according to his Classmates.com information.
Roger sent this update a few weeks back and I'm just getting around to updating the site. So, with apologies to Roger and Don...
...About Don, this is all the information I know:
He has recently returned home from Wichita where our sister Karen was caring for him. He had a couple surgeries on his back, plus for some reason he had a lot of fluid in his abdominal cavity. He ended up where he is paralyzed in his right leg and has been under going therapy to get him walking again...
