USS Orleck Association news
Photographs by Ben Loder (click on thumbnail to enlarge then scroll through all pictures)
New Year’s Post on USS ORLECK DD 886
Sunday, 1 January 1967
Moored to the HENDERSON, portside to
Berth sixteen in Long Beach, a great deal to do.
MASON is starboard, her lines smart and tight,
SOPA COMMINPAC, we’re ready to fight.
Readiness Condition is number Five,
YOKE is set , hopefully to keep us alive.
Ships present include many ships bright and clean,
Yard district craft bustling, First Fleet looking mean.
All’s well must we say on a wonderful ship,
We’re ready to steam, deploy and fight with full kit
Oh, were we in WESTPAC we would do a good job,
A victory from Commies is what we would rob.
Our men are ready, we’ve got a good crew,
We are willing to fight until we are through.
J. S. CLARK, LT, USN
All of those speaking received a similar award. John got his award, not because he was there, but because of what it says on the document. John and Sandy are in the middle of building their house in the State of Washington and could not come. I wanted you all to see this. We are so thankful for John and the hard work he did that helped us insure our history will be available for years to come for those who want to know. The participants at the 2014 San Diego Reunion signed the back of this document for John.
Thanks John.
Check out the decklogs.
Check out the cruise books.
Helen Anderson Glass is a 92 year young NAVY WAVE. She is also a fine poet and true patriot. She is now a friend of mine and I am very proud of that. She has a servant attitude and her life is marked by all the voluntary service she has provided to those in our military. It is such a pleasure to know her and to share her work with you. Printed by permission from Helen.
“THAT’S WHAT WE WANT FOR CHRISTMAS”
To all of you who are away
from your family this Holiday
We want to say
That we hope and pray
For all of you every day
Not just this time of year, No way!
May your thoughts be happy memories of
Family and friends filled with love
Opening presents by the tree
Hoping they are what you want them to be
Yet knowing right from the start
That down deep in your heart
The finest present to them and to you
Was being together once more
Walking through that door
into loving arms open wide
Welcoming you safe inside
For holiday goodies and hearing bells ring
You can’t help remembering
everything you hold dear
just having them near
and you know God has been good
but you knew He would
Bringing you home safe and sound
So you would once again be around
Where family and friends and love abound
that’s the message you send to them today
from where ever you are far away
And we at home get the message loud and clear
That you would rather be here
And we pray that time is near
that our love and prayers for peace
and wars to cease
The greatest present that we can send
For it all to end
(Christmas 1943 – I was 20 years old
Christmas Eve is kind of cool when you get calls from folks you had not heard from for a while and from folks that you are in regular contact with. Both give you good feelings and especially when one shares something with you that opens the door to knowing another special person. That is what happened when my friend Dwight Porter told me of his relative who was a great person, a WWII Navy WAVE and wonderful poet. Her name is Helen Anderson Glass. Dwight shared a poem she wrote on her first Christmas Eve in the Navy. I wrote her and asked if I could share that poem with you. Not only did she agree but she wanted to know about me, USS ORLECK and our Destroyer USS ORLECK Association. She said she might someday even write a poem about the ship for “them” meaning you who served aboard her. So tonight I am posting a couple of things. First an article that is on-line telling of her wonderful life and her voluntary service. The second thing is a Youtube interview she did that is very good. There is a lot on-line about her if you Google her. She has written hundreds of poems. She is 92 years of age.
Tomorrow on Christmas Day I will share another of her poems (a Christmas poem entitled “That’s What We Want For Christmas” and a special piece she did for us. You won’t want to miss that. I will post it tomorrow evening.
Merry Christmas to all!
Bob Orleck
“A WAVES NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS”
Twa’s the night before Christmas
Our first one away
From family and friends
And we cried as we lay
On our cot or our bunk
That served as our bed
With bobby pins or curlers
Entwined on our heads
We wanted to look sharp
when we went ashore
in our neat new uniforms
because we were at war!
We were those young women
That enlisted from every state
In the Army, Marines and Navy
who were not quite sure of our fate!
We decorated the trees
For the barracks and halls
Remembering home and the fun
Of making snowmen and snow balls
Instead of a Christmas goose
Plum pudding and mom’s pumpkin pie
Some would eat “G I” rations
Not questioning “Why?”
And when we said our prayer
That sad holiday night
We prayed that everything
Would turn out right
We prayed the war would soon be over
And in some way
We could look back
With fond memories of that day
When we sang Christmas carols
In the hospitals and the mess hall
And knew it really was to be
A very Merry Christmas after all.
(Helen T. Anderson AMM 3 /C- Dec. 24, 1943
NAS Miami-OpaLocka, Florida)
My first Christmas away from home)