June 25-June 29, 2003 the DESTROYER USS ORLECK ASSOCIATION met in reunion in festive Waikiki, Hawaii.  The opening night at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani Hotel brought a reception with leis, Hawaiian singers, great food and of course the perfect weather you would expect in paradise.  Rear Admiral Barry McCullough brought a very meaningful message about our ship and the modern Navy.  The reunion was organized to provide a lot of free time to enjoy all that Hawaii has to offer.  Each day a special event was offered.  On day two the group enjoyed the ﾓRoyal Luauﾔ with gorgeous Hawaiian entertainers right on Waikiki Beach.  The most meaningful time occurred on day three of the reunion.  First a visit to the USS ARIZONA MEMORIAL, and a prime rib luncheon aboard the USS MISSOURI preceded a Memorial Service led by Chaplain Joseph Correia.  The UNITED STATES NAVY provided an Honor Guard, Taps and  Rifle Team giving a 21-gun salute as Orchids were thrown into Pearl Harbor by our attendees in memory of those shipmates who have died.  The following evening the 190 member group went aboard the NAVATEK, a state of the art dinner cruise boat and were treated to a great sunset cruise viewing Diamondhead and Cocohead while eating a fine dinner and being entertained by Hawaiian dancers and singers.  Finally, day five brought a fine breakfast and church service and our goodbyes until the next reunion.    The group in a business meeting decided to hold its 2005 reunion in Orange, Texas aboard the USS ORLECK.

“Remember the PRAIRIE, A 52 year old destroyer tender and oldest active Navy ship that served in every conflict from WWII? This mother to “”tin cans”” did innumerable repairs as well as providing medical and dental services. She is to be scrapped and cut up in Singapore. We honor her service to our country.”

A letter was sent to the “Reunion President” from one of the survivors of the plane crash, Oather Morper of El Cajon, California.

“…the ship’s came by ‘The Shack’, the little shop I operated at Fleet Landing, a day or two later and I expressed to him my gratitude for the rescue. You may be interested to know that I had been photographing US Navy ships for 6 years when this happened. I had photographed your ship one mile west of Point Loma. The pilot had failed to leave on the carburetor heat so we went down 150 yards from the ship. A rescue operation was in operation, so a small boat rescued my pilot and me within about 10-12 minutes. A big man, I believe of Indian descent, pulled me from the water into the boat. I was swimming for dear life because someone had removed one of the CO2 bottles from my life jacket and besides, it was leaking air. My pilots CO2 bottles were absent, so he had a very difficult 10-12 minutes. He did hang onto the plane until it tipped up and sank in about 3 minutes.”