Bob Orleck

Bar Harbor photo gallery by Rick and Patti Butler

 Chronology, USS Orleck Association news, USS Orleck Reunions
Jan 212016
 

This is a new and great addition to the 500 plus photos posted by others on the Bar Harbor reunion. Be prepared to spend some time for there are 545 photos in this gallery that I received today from Rick and Patti Butler. The photos unfortunately are not captioned and are far too many for me to do that but I think you can get the idea. They are also not in strict time frame order. If you use any of these please give credit to the Butlers.  Well worth the time reviewing.

Enjoy!  Bob Orleck

Click on a photo to enlarge then you can scroll with the arrow that is about halfway down the side of the photo.

A Tribute to DD886 from DD850

 Chronology, USS Orleck Association news
Dec 292015
 

USS ORLECK DD 886 was built in the bayou country of Orange County, Texas and was commissioned on September 15, 1945.  Leaving the backwaters of Orange, Texas she embarked on a remarkable career that spanned fifty-three years of active service in the United States and Turkey.  She was built to last ten years but is still here as a museum in Lake Charles, Louisiana seventy years later.  Not only long lived, but she also did extraordinary service with four battle stars in Korea and fourteen in Vietnam during her thirty-seven years as a US warship.  She was “Top Gun” in Vietnam firing more 5″ shells in support of ground troops than any other ship and in   in Korea she was the first to get a North Korean supply train.  Ten days later she got another and that led other allied ships doing the same thus forming the “Train Buster’s Club.”

After having served fifty-three years as a US warship, she went on to serve sixteen years more in Turkey as TCG YUCETEPE D345 and her reputation for excellence went with her there.  In 1998 she was retired and brought back to the United States to serve as a museum but those years have been tough years and she was not received well nor did she get the care and respect that her service would seem to have required.   After having been made to leave Orange, Texas, she came under the care and control of another organization in Lake Charles and while her plight seems to have improved, her situation is still tenuous with her being tied up to a river without a permanent home and insufficient help and funds to adequately support her.  The Destroyer USS ORLECK Association did so much to try to make the museum a success when she was in Texas and is still working and has had some success in seeing that a working Field Days in Lake Charles was done in March of 2015 and we are still trying to work with the Museum to have more.

While her future in uncertain, things would be much worse without the support and help from a young man who is the curator of the USS JOSEPH P. KENNEDY DD 850.  He has such a love of Gearing Class Destroyers that he has felt compelled to work to help preserve the USS ORLECK, the most decorated of her kind.  He does love the USS ORLECK and in March he not only worked to see that the focus was correct on the work done at the Field Days but he, his dad, Mike, and Ted Hayes came from the KENNEDY at their own expense and worked during those Field Days.  He has remained committed to her survival and that cannot be better shown than by this tribute he did for her on her seventieth anniversary.  I wanted to get this on our website so all could see and hear and enjoy the work he did.  Knowing that USS ORLECK was a southern ship that was built in Bayou country he used a famous and very appropriate song for the theme of this tribute.  I hope you enjoy it and appreciate the work that went into doing it.

I would also ask those who appreciate what he has done to join in his efforts on the USS KENNEDY.  I have been to the last three Field Days at the KENNEDY and would recommend them to you as well.  Not only will that help our sister ship but will also hone our skills that can be used on the USS ORLECK when and if the USS ORLECK Museum sets the dates for future Field Days.

Thanks for caring Rich.

Bob Orleck

Bar Harbor Reunion report

 Chronology, Reunion 2015-Bar Harbor, USS Orleck Association news, USS Orleck Reunions
Dec 242015
 

Here it is Christmas Eve 2015 and you have been expecting the report on Bar Harbor for quite awhile.  I know I promised to get it out as quickly as I could but I am one of those kind of guys that can get distracted.  I needed something to get me back on track.  Today I received a call from our kiwi-ORLECK division leader, Bryan Davies, and what he said put me to shame.  He said he goes to the site each day to see anything new I might have posted.  Boy was that a wake-up call because I have gotten into habits of doing things that do not involve computers.  Kind of good for me but then I am not living up to my promises.

So I apologize and even though I have more I want to think about and write about this reunion, I decided to post what I have and then update it from time to time as I think of things.  I am still awaiting pictures from some of you who have some good ones I know.  When I get them I will update the post and will note what I have done under the heading above.  The pictures I got from folks I captioned and put them into galleries.  The beauty of on-line publishing is in the ability to update and modify posts. So when I get pictures from you I can add them for others to see at any time. If you see any mistakes, let me know and I can fix them.  If you have added stories to tell, I can do that too. So please don’t consider this as a completed work but instead one that is still in progress. I look forward to your input.

Some of what is written here you have seen before especially if you have been following the reunion events but the way I see it, there is no reason to re-invent the wheel when it works well.  There are folks who have not read this anywhere and Bryan might be one of those and I know there are others.  Even if you read something that sounds a little familiar keep reading for there is new stuff throughout this report.

At the 2014 San Diego Reunion, I was asked by lots of folk to plan a reunion in Bar Harbor, Maine.  That was easy to understand because the Bar Harbor area of Maine is just awesome. The only problem is that Bar Harbor does not have a major airport and while a wonderful destination point for a vacation, it cannot handle large groups of reunion attendees very well.  The hotels are smaller, the restaurants are smaller and the event venues that are available are not conducive to having large numbers of people.  So with that understanding we decided to have a mini-reunion there, knowing that we would not have our usual large numbers of people attending because of the above.  The hotel that I chose for us could provide us sufficient rooms for one hundred total people so we were limited by that.  One of our events, a carriage ride into Acadia National Park was limited to two groups a day of fifty people each so we were limited by that also.  The hotel did not have the banquet space sufficient to handle even one hundred people and it was very difficult to find restaurants that could either.   So instead of this being our regular reunion we decided to do it in-between our major reunions (San Diego in 2014 and Portland, Maine in 2016 and have this one in Bar Harbor be a mini-reunion that basically would just be a vacation.  We would have a limited program of entertainment and no business to be conducted was our goal.  Just pure vacation and enjoyment was that goal and it is hard to find a better place for that.  So we stuck this reunion in-between and held it from Sept 22-25, 2015.  In hindsight, I believe we accomplished the goal.

By now most of you have come to understand the slogan I developed for this reunion;  “Bar Harbor and Me, where I want to be!”  I offered an ORLECK cap for any who attended who got it.  Some got a little of it but you had to have both parts.  ME of course is the abbreviation for Maine but I also intended that you see that ME also meant you and the combination of Bar Harbor in Maine with you was the meaning I was trying to convey.  I feel fairly certain that those who attended were in total agreement that the slogan was right on!

We had a small intimate group, unimaginably wonderful weather for this time of the year in New England, great things to do, fine food and people in Maine who were so hospitable and treated us so well.  We had 89 total people attending and it was perfect, except that we missed those of you where were not there. That would have made it much better at least in most cases. 🙂

Our hotel, the Bluenose Inn was unbeatable and that is no exaggeration.  I cannot remember any reunion that we have done where we had better accommodations.   We gathered our first night in “The Great Room” and that was so relaxing and we ate well that night and experienced the fine piano playing of Bill Trowell.  The hotel’s management team (Don Haggett, Jim Ash and Tom Palmer) could not have been better. The daily staff at the hotel was friendly, helpful and made our folks feel right at home in these beautiful surroundings.

If you have not been to Bar Harbor, I will have a hard time describing the beauty and wonders of the area.  If you have been to Bar Harbor, there is no need for me to do that because you could not have missed it.  So I won’t even try but those of you reading this will get a flavor of the area from all the photos because as they say; “a picture is worth a thouand words” and so we have the equivalent of a half a million words for you to see. For those who cannot do math well, that translates to over five hundred pictures. I took a few but most were taken by the attendees and you can see them by clicking on each of their offerings.  Ben Loder photos, Homer Castille photos, Bill Blush photos, Bob LeClair photos, Bob Orleck and various other photographers (see credits on these photos).  Here are lots of great new pictures of the Bar Harbor reunion by Rick and Patti Butler.

The links that follow are from a Google search but are worth seeing.  After you see them and then look again at the pictures from our group, you will better be able to appreciate what we saw and did.  We experienced the natural beauty of Acadia National Park, enjoyed a nature boat cruise of Frenchman Bay with its islands, lighthouses and wildlife.  While we did not see any whales because we did not go out far enough due to time constraints, what we saw and heard from the narrator was beautiful.  What could be better than a horse drawn carriage ride on the carriage trails established almost a century ago by the Rockefellers?  We ate at fine places overlooking the working harbors of Southwest and Northeast Harbor.  Those who know about lobsters who were not there will know what they missed when I tell you we had 1 3/4 pound lobsters, steamers, clam chowder, and corn on the cob, red potatoes and fresh blueberry cake for dessert.  I would suggest that you go visit those folks at The Upper Deck Restaurant where we enjoyed that meal.  The owner’s Mom played and sang for us and she was a hoot and was great.  They worked so hard and produced a wonderful evening for us.  Our own Bill Rossfeld, USS ORLECK sailor (MM3) 1956-58 was our speaker and how unique and good it was.  Bill was a lobsterman in this very area in the 1970’s.  He returned to the dock where he worked from and low and behold he found his buoy.  Each lobsterman has a uniquely colored marker buoy that is his color.  Bill had his and as unbelievable as this may sound, almost 50 years later, he went into the old warehouse at the dock and there up on the side of the building was one of his old buoys and the owner of the building gave it to him.  He did a show and tell with it during his talk he had a tear in his eye when talking about it.  Others did as well.

If you think that was unusual with Bill, how about this.  Bill and his wife Deborah became friends with Dean and Deb Godfrey and Deb’s father, Richard Acord, USS ORLECK sailor 1951-54 and sat at dinner with them.  Would you believe that they discovered they live right up the street from Richard and Deborah plans to look in on Richard periodically since Deb and Dean live in Pennsylvania.

At the other banquet (Asticou Inn) before the meal we explored the beautiful Asticou and Thuya gardens.

It would be enough to have done those things but we did more.  We visited a museum that one could not imagine would be present in a rural part of Maine.  The Seal Cove Auto Museum has such a collection of vintage automobiles that would please even the most discriminating collector of old cars.  Not only that they rolled out four of those vintage vehicles and gave everyone a ride in a 1922 Model T Depot Hack-Ford, a 1928 Model A Huckster-Ford an 1886 Benz Patten Wagon-replica and a 1908 Rauch & Lang.  Between rides our folks studied the beautiful vehicles in the museum and enjoyed muffins, coffee and good conversation waiting their turn to ride.  With the great weather it was a festive time.

At the auto museum we did our drawing for door prizes and for free nights stay at the Bluenose Inn.  Those winning the door prize of $25 gift certificate to spend at the auto museum were the DiMarias, Hales, Terrells and the Coopers although the Coopers declined the prize since they also won a free night at the hotel.  I do not know who was drawn for the winner of that prize so if anyone recalls let me know and I will correct this post.  As for the free nights at the Bluenose Inn, the winners were Betty Tuazon, Linda Buckley, Mike Cooper, Randy Bandor and James Brickner.

We all know what a great ship the USS ORLECK DD 886 is.  We also know that but for the men who made her great she would have only been a large hunk of steel.  The same thought applies to our reunions.  While all of our reunion destinations have been wonderful, what really made them great were the people who participated in them.  It was not the good food we had to eat or the things that we did at the fine places.  While they were the draw that helped us decide to gather at a particular place and times as a group, it was the reconnecting of old friends and the making of new ones that has driven our high attendance records for a single ship reunion.  We are a really special and blessed group of people.

While I never served aboard USS ORLECK and did not get to make friends there, I have through our reunions done the best I can to make up for not being there.  I get great pleasure to see shipmates of forty or fifty years ago reunited and sharing stories.  It is great to see shipmates from different eras connect and share their mutual love for their ship and their service aboard her.   Our reunions have included family and friends and that has enriched our experiences. I know many long for the next reunion and have to endure the long wait between them.  For me I get to make contacts over that interim period and have expressed to me their longing to come and possibly see some of their long ago shipmates and friends.

Bill Murphy said to me before the reunion happened that he looked forward to coming all summer long.  I saw how pleased he was when he met up with some of the guys who served during his time.   Others like Ray Easton experienced their first reunion and really enjoyed getting to see shipmates from his time and meeting others.  Two of our attendee shipmates actually learned at the reunion that they were cousins.  Bob LeClair came and met up with guys he had served together with who he had not seen in forty-five years.  He is already registered and paid his fees to come back to the next reunion to see more of the same who were not at Bar Harbor but will be in Portland like Hank Carman.

I have seen some pretty incredible reunions of old friends over the twenty three years of our reunions.   These are what make it worth spending uncountable hours planning and executing these reunions for me.  I can only imagine what it means for those sailors and friends.  And as we get older and we experience the loss through death and illness of many friends, we can enjoy reflections on those times at the reunion with these fine folks.   Our Memorial Roster keeps growing and that is sad but as we meet in regular reunions we have the opportunity to once again hear their names read and for a moment reflect on the meaning that person had in our lives.  We probably should have documented these personal reunions and feelings when they occurred, but we all know that they did happen and we saw it with out own eyes.  Maybe some will reflect on this and send me a note about a meaningful experience that happened for them at one of our reunions.  I am coming to the end of my doing these for our folks and I would love to hear what the reunions meant to each of you.

Mike Cooper had a couple of encounters worthy of note.  Mike and David Thornton, mentioned below, met at the reunion and found out that they had a close mutual friend in Wisconsin.  Mike then after the reunion went to Freeport and was approached by a lady who was the daughter of a USS ORLECK sailor.  Mike put some of his thoughts in writing right here.  If he tells you he had a three clawed lobster, don’t believe it.

We not only have the past reunions to be thankful for for many reasons but we have the ones happening now and the new things that are occurring.  While Bar Harbor was not done as a major reunion, it did not differ in the special and even new things that happened.  How great it is to see old shipmates and reconnect but also how wonderful is it when family of shipmates and others who hold a special place in the history that is USS ORLECK attend.  I think of Estelle Young and how I connected with this lady years ago who worked in the shipyard that built USS ORLECK. That meeting led to her attending reunions and the field days our association arranged and executed in Texas.  Now Estelle is unable to attend but she is honored by her family coming to our reunions.  Her son, JC Young, his wife Kim and of course Madison (love her little smile) have become a very important part of our group that we enjoy so much.

David Thorton and his wife came to this reunion representing his father, Gilbert Thornton who served aboard USS ORLECK from 1949-51 and was unable to attend.  David also went to the March 2015 Field Days of USS ORLECK and worked hard and then gave us a fine slide and movie presentation of this work in our hospitality room at Bar Harbor.  My hope is that more sons and daughters and grandchildren come and help us keep our reunions large and exciting.  Each USS ORLECK sailor should think seriously about inviting some of his family and if you do they just might come.  History is important to study and learn from and especially becomes an exciting thing when you or your ancestors are involved in it.  Sometimes we take for granted how important what we do or things we know are. USS ORLECK is one of the most decorated ships in American history and arguably based on her fourteen battle stars in Vietnam and her four battle stars in Korea, is the most decorated American warship since World War II.  Now that should be enough for any father or grandfather who served on her to want to bring their children and grandchildren to the reunions to celebrate her service and theirs as well.

At past reunions I have been very pleased to have my two brothers, Don and Rick Orleck and my sister Shirley Orleck attend.  My big brother Don passed away some five years ago but his wife, Venus, still comes and this time she brought her retired surgeon brother, Rudy Bruno.  What a wonderful thing and I know my brother would be so pleased.  She was at Bar Harbor and so was my cousin from my mother’s side, Linda Buckley.  Each of them brought a friend so you see, we are open to growth on many fronts.  I know these folks enjoyed themselves and plan to come back because they have already registered for the 2016 reunion.  My wife, Barb, and I were blessed to have our niece Terri and her husband Phil come and what a great time we had with them.  A very good friend of mine and his wife, David and Kathy Ayer came from Vermont and I know they had a special time and most especially liked the antique cars.  Dave is in the automobile business on many fronts.

Others attending also brought family and friends.  The Terrell’s came with their daughter and son-in-law, Linda and David Seaman and also their good friends, Bobby and Faye Hales.  These folks are regulars and love our association and what we do as much if not more than most.  Steve Davis brought his brother John and his wife Brenda.  Roland Terry brought his friend Pam Moncur, his brother Arthur and wife Lorene.  Steve found out at this reunion that he was related to another USS ORLECK sailor who also attended.  Richard Roy and Steve Davis I am told are cousins and they did not know that before the reunion.

We have one sailor who if all sailor’s families followed their example, I doubt there would be any hotel in America that could accommodate us.  Kenneth Pinner and wife Betty have over the years brought so many relatives and friends to the reunion.  Henry and Linda Pinner have become a regular part of our group at reunion after reunion as have Darla and Nicky Johnson who were at Bar Harbor with us.

I have somewhat of an advantage on most of you since Barb and I have attended every single reunion that our association has had.  So even though I have a horrible memory I have a lot of situations to recall so every once in awhile I get lucky in remembering something.  What I do remember well are so many of the older sailors, now gone.  One day I will think of one of then and on another day think of another one.  They are great memories and while I don’t go about comparing folks, one thing has become apparent.  Over the years the quality of the USS ORLECK sailor has not changed, just their stories and the places they have been and all the stories are the truth of course.  As I write this piece my memory goes to Fred Worthen, George Waddle, Elmo Martin, Gerald Hanna, Emil Parque, George Elliott but tomorrow it will be others I think of.  As I review records I see a name and a smile comes on my face when I recall them.  I have just been saddened to learn from his son that Bob Mickelson passed away on November 29.    I can’t help but recall how Bob’s accounts of life made me smile and sometimes laugh out loud.  Bob spoke at our reunion at our opening night program and if you want to listen to that you can see it by clicking here.  Bob begins to speak at 45 minutes 25 seconds into the program.  Bryan mentioned Bob when he called me and told me how much he enjoyed his talk then.  Bob will be missed.

My memory goes to a number of our WWII friends that are gone as are many from Korea.  We have dear friends from Vietnam who are gone but so many other Vietnam veterans now are coming to our reunions.  With their increased interest and attendance has come new life into the restoration process of USS ORLECK but she still is suffering from the bad start she got when returned to Orange, Texas in 2000.  Vietnam sailors interest has given not only our ship more opportunity to survive as a museum ship but has also given our reunion association a chance to remain large and vibrant for a number of years to come.  These guys and their gals are still young at least from where I stand.  I am hopeful that one of them will step forward to lead the reunion effort for the next ten or fifteen years.

I know I have mentioned names in this report and I don’t want to slight anyone but I also don’t want to make this so long that no one will read it.  So I promise I will look through the roster of those attending and I will post something if no more than a list of those who attended.  Stay tuned for that but don’t hold your breath.

It was a wonderful reunion in Bar Harbor and you can be assured that the June 8-10, 2016 reunion in Portland-Boothbay Harbor, will also be wonderful.  We have over 100 already registered and I look forward to seeing registrations come in each day when I go to the post office.  When P.O. Box 213 is empty, I feel disappointed.  For those who have registered but not have paid yet, I did want to give you information that you might want to take advantage of.  Early registration at the reduced rate is good until March 1.  If you register and pay before March 1, you will be charged $295 per person.  If you register before March 1 but do not pay until after March 1 or if you register and pay after March 1, the charge will be $325 per person.  Here is more.  Anyone who registers and pays before January 1, 2016 will be entered into a drawing for free room nights at the hotel.  Very few have done that so far so the odds of winning are very good.  Getting the money early will help me because I can better plan when I know of people’s commitment to come.  In addition, to those who register before January 1, 2016, I have a souvenir for you from the USS ORLECK.  In the restoration process rivets were removed from a part of the ship and those who register and pay before January 1 will get one.

You don’t want to miss this next reunion.  We have no idea how many more there will be.  I heard people say things that confirm how good our reunions are and that is a wonderful thing.  I heard some could not believe the beauty of the area and the fine hotel we had.  One of our ladies said she felt like Princess Dianna there.

So in summary, I am very sorry for the delay in getting this report out but hope you enjoy it in any event. Please send me corrections, additions and pictures and I will see they get posted.

Regards,

Bob Orleck
bob@ussorleck.comk
P.O. Box 174
Randolph, VT 05060
802-728-9806

 

USS ORLECK DD 886 Field Days (November 12-15, 2015)

 Chronology, Field Day Advertisement, Miscellaneous, USS Orleck Association news
Nov 012015
 

USS ORLECK DD 886
FIELD DAYS November 12-15,2015
Attendee Information

Dear USS ORLECK sailor, family and friends:

First of all, excuse me if you receive this twice. You may be on two individual lists that are being mailed to.

I know that this is short notice but the USS ORLECK DD 886 Museum will be holding a Field Days event on November 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th of this year.  Based on feedback from those of you who attended, I have been assured by Ron Williams that he will be holding a “muster” each morning to speak about the projects in general, point out the needs, assign the jobs to individuals and to answer questions.  In addition there will be a plan-of-the-day that will be posted on all activities including liberty, chow and work details.

There is great expense for you to travel to your ship and work on her. One little bit of help is that any expenses you incur are tax deductible. The USS ORLECK Museum is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt corporation so if your work is to assist their mission of restoring USS ORLECK then keep track of those expenses and submit them to Dawn Carrier at the ship (her contact information is below) and she will give you the proper document receipt for you to use when filing your tax return.

The message below is drawn together from several email communications I have had with Ron Williams and a conversation as well.  Ron is the author of most of what you read below.  So here is what I know of the Field Days and what you can do to participate.   It would be great if you could be there the whole time but even if you can only work a day or two that would be fine as well.  There will be work for all ages and physical conditions.  For some with physical problems bunks and ladders may be the biggest obstacles but there are some hotel options where you can avoid such things.

There has been insufficient notice to notify any of our members by regular mail so when you receive this by email, please make sure to contact your friends who may not have seen it by phone or personal email.

It is important that I have feedback from you.  I would appreciate it very much that any who plan to attend, would like more information or have something you wish to share with me to contact me by phone at 802-728-9806, (cell phone at 802-565-0340 if you can’t reach me at home), or by email at fielddays@ussorleck.com.  (click on that address and you will get an email ready for you to add your comments).  At the end of the Field Days I will be sending out a survey to you regarding the event so please, if you are going to participate, let me know.   I also would like to talk to you by phone before the Field Days so include your phone number where you can be reached.

Regards

Bob Orleck
P.O. Box 213
Randolph, VT 05060
802-728-9806
fielddays@ussorleck.com
www.ussorleck.com

Here are some of the key items provided by Ron Williams

  • .Museum Contact info:  Dawn Carrier, Phone (337) 214- 4774 (SHIP)  Email: info@orleck.org
  • Contact Dawn Carrier by phone or email with the following info:
    • Name, Address, Phone, Email
    • Stay aboard ship (YES or NO); arrival/departure dates and times
    • Staying in a hotel (YES or NO). provide the name/location of hotel, reservation number, and arrival/departure dates and times.
    • If arriving by air, please provide flight information to include Flight Number, Airline, Airport, arrival date/time. (Also provide departure information if known.
    • Meal cost ($30) will be paid:  You can pay by credit card over the phone to 337-214-7447 or you can mail check to PO Box 4470, Lake Charles LA 70606-4470
  • Weather:  In mid-November average high temperature is 72; average low is 52.  We are on the Gulf coast, so be prepared in case of some high humidity and rain.  However, November is usually pretty pleasant, weather -wise.
  • Weather gear:  The evenings can get chilly, so a light jacket or sweater are advised.  Dress in a layered manner you can shed the jacket or long sleeves as the day warms up.  Just be prepared for changing temps and some precipitation.
  • Tools:  Individuals who have special tools for their skills should bring them with them.  For example, electricians often like to bring their basic tools with them.  Welders should bring their protective gear.  Bring personal safety gear if you have it – goggles, hats, etc.  We have a large number of hard hats available.  Bring non-slip shoes and if you plan to work around heavy equipment bring the appropriate footwear.  Work gloves are advised; however, we will have some available, along with dust masks, & safety goggles.  Hearing protection is advised.  Again, we will have some of these items on hand if you don’t have them or forget to bring them.
  • Lodging.
    a.  Shipboard:  We can house folks aboard the ship in officer’s country, cooks and Bakers, M Division, Captain’s Shore Cabin, Commodore’s Cabin, Captain’s Sea Cabin, and the compartment below the Crew’s Mess.  Individuals should notify us in advance of a particular preference and we will try to accommodate them first come, first served.  Also, notify us if you need to stay on the main deck due to difficulty with laddars (stairs).
          b.  Hotels.  Arrangements have been made at the following hotels as listed below:  We have worked through the Visitors Center for these hotels/rates.  I believe the Quality Inn & Suites below was where Rich Angelini stayed in March.  Additional hotel information can be found at www.visitlakecharles.org.

    Quality Inn & Suites $79.99/night
    3211 Venture Park Dr
    Lake Charles, La 70615
    Office: 337-480-0898
    Fax: 337-480-1819

    Super 8 – Prien $89.99/night
    1350 East Prien Lake Road
    Lake Charles, La 70601, phone 337-477-1606

  • Getting to Lake Charles:
          a.  By Car.  Lake Charles is located in Southwest Louisiana along IH-10, approximately 30 miles east of the Texas border.  This is about 2 hours, 15 minutes east of Houston; one hour and 15 minutes west of Lafayette LA; 2 hours west of Baton Rouge LA;  under 3 hours west of New Orleans; and about 4 hours south of Shreveport LA.

    b.  By Air.  Air travel to Lake Charles-LCH is by United Airlines via Houston-IAH or American Airlines via Dallas-DFW.  One can also make good connections, especially from the east through Lafayette-LFT.  Many people find it more economical to rent a car in Houston and drive the 2 hours, 15 minutes to Lake Charles.  If you fly to Lafayette and rent a car the drive to Lake Charles is about 1 hour, 15 minutes.  Houston’s other airport is Houston Hobby-HOU, but there are not connections to Lake Charles.  Folks use Hobby rent a car to get to Lake Charles. LAKE CHARLES AIRPORT PICKUP:  Individuals arriving and departing from Lake Charles Regional Airport who need a ride to the ship or their hotel need to advise us as to their Flight Number and arrival/departure times so we can arrange pickup by one of our volunteers.

  • Work to be done  toward dual goals:  1)  preparing for towing to dry dock, and 2) restoration projects.  Although we do not have a definite dry dock date set, it could be as early as January to work on the hull below main deck, particularly below the water line.  As to restoration, we need to build on the work completed during the March Field Days, work accomplished by the Naval Reserve unit from Shreveport LA in September, and work completed by local volunteers.
    Preparing for dry dock.
    1.  Inspect and repair/patch areas between the waterline and the main deck.  There are a couple of areas that we have identified that definitely need to be cut our and patches welded in.
    2.  Inspect and repair exterior deck hatches so they can be made watertight.
    Restoration will include:
    1.  Main deck exterior bulkhead.  Approximately 75% of these areas were prepped and painted in March and September.  We need to complete the remaining 25% or so.
    2.  Mount 51.  Most of the mount has been prepped and some has been painted.  We should be able to complete this job.
    3.  Flying Bridge.  Director compartment has been prepped and painted, as well as most of the deck.  The signal flag compartment has been cleaned up and is almost ready for priming and painting.  A great deal of cutting and welding had to be done to close it in from the weather, particularly topside.
    4.  Starboard hull.  Since this is extremely visible to visitors when approaching the ship, we need to prep, prime, and paint from main to the waterline (actually, the black line).  (Port side hull – is only accessible by work barge and attacking it will probably need to wait for another Field Day or perhaps it can be worked in to the dry dock project.
    5.  Helo deck has started to leak again into what we call the USS RADFORD museum, so some areas will need to be repaired.
    6.  Radar Transmitter Compartment.  Our volunteers have been working on improving the lighting and removing flaking and chipped paint from the bulkheads and ceiling.  This compartment needs to be cleaned and painted.
    7.  Radio Central.  Install radios and teletypes obtained from the USS BARRY DD 933
    8.  Bridge (Pilot House) and CIC.  We have an ongoing project to cut out deteriorated surfaces underneath the deck plates and weld in new metal.
    9.  Crew sinks and showers.  We need to tackle some of this if we have the time and manpower.
    10  Areas forward of the mess (CPO Berthing, heads, etc.  We need to identify and prioritize the projects.
    “The above is just a brief outline of some of the areas that need attention.  As to exterior areas, The goals are to make the ship as presentable as possible to visitors (first impressions count), arrest continued deterioration in key areas, and restore areas to the Vietnam War era as much as possible.  Although this list does not include the Fire and Engine Rooms at this time, some cleanup of the first levels could start depending of manpower.

    As you can see, there is plenty of work for everyone for more than just this field day!”

  • Rich Angelini who directs the restoration of the USS JOSEPH P. KENNEDY DD 850, who with his Dad, Mike Angelini and Ted Hayes from the KENNEDY,  attended the March, 2015 Field Days of USS ORLECK and have been so helpful in providing not only work but good advice.  What follows is a message from Rich to Ron and I about this upcoming Field Days.  As you can see he cannot be there for this one but is willing to provide help from afar.  We are very grateful for his expertise and I have chosen to include his message here which Ron said “is right on target!” because I thought it would be helpful to those who are working.  Here is what Rich had to say”     “Glad to see another 886 field day on the way.  If I may, I would like to provide a few suggestions for Ron’s consideration.  My memory is of the ship last year and the recent seen from facebook so please excuse and ignore any recommendations that may be completed.I recommend that a shipfitter/Electrical team be created of vocationally talented folks who know electricity, can weld, or are mechanical.  They would run down problems all weekend.

    Besides any electrical issues that are causing safety concerns on the ship, you may wish to have the team go through the interior main passageway and ensure that all dead end wires are safe/taped and removed from sight (maybe coiled into the cable way above).  This would greatly enhance the ship passageway for visitors.

    Use this team to stop any water leakage in the ship and do your plumbing needs.

    Painting:   We painted from the fwd expansion joint on the stbd side to the fwd expansion joint on the port side.  Recommend as Ron stated to work both sides forward to meet at the bulkhead aft of No 1 gun to finish bulkhead painting on main deck.  Prepping and painting both guns are important as visitors want to see them….and teams to prep and paint the focsle and fantail are important as well where we left off.  ASROC deck work continuation is also a good idea.

    STBD side hull work is a huge priority as Ron said as I agree with him to forget about the port side hull as it is one of the lower priorities since visitors never see it right now.

    Recommend deferring all engineering space restoration and that forward of the mess decks (unless metal work required) until after other high priority spaces are restored and painted.  Rome was not built in a day and KENNEDY used to be partly closed as well as we concentrated on doing one area at a time.  Chiefs quarters is still closed on 850 since we haven’t fixed it yet!

    Equipment:  Much radio equipment was acquired from BARRY and those items would go into both Radio Central (and its associated TTY room) and the Radio Transmitter room across the passageway.  Unfortunately, that means that some of the items that are in those spaces now will need to be removed and the items you have put in the correct place according to old photos we have.  Galley kettles were also acquired and the space in the galley may need to be measured out to see how the four of them can all be together.  Much other galley equipment was acquired for the spaces visual representation including milk cans, cookie sheets, and the such which can be placed in the compartment for visitor enjoyment.

    Sound powered phone jacks, lanterns, and other items were gotten that can be used to finalize displays on ORLECK.  Recommend areas like CIC, Bridge, etc get first shot at them as they are high profile areas.

    More than happy to work with anyone to help figure out the layout for radio.

    If you need any help from afar, please let me know as I would be happy to provide anything I can.

    Best

    Rich”

 Older Entries  Newer Entries
MENU