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VMB-613 Squadron Insignia

Marine Bombing Squadron Six-Thirteen

 

MARINE BOMBING SQUADRON SIX-THIRTEEN ASSOCIATION

45 Verano Loop

Santa Fe, NM 87508-3151

(505) 466-6549

Front View of PBJ

1 August 2006

Memo To:  All Super Patriots

Members have been letting me know that they have received the initial release of information relative to the Year 2006 Reunion which will be held in Chattanooga, TN at the Choo-Choo Holiday Inn Complex from Wednesday, October 18, 2006 through Saturday October 21, 2006 with Check Out on October 22, 2006.

Let's Mark Our Calendars so that reservations can be made in time to attend the Reunion.  Reservations should be made as early as possible.  Be sure to book for every night you will be there.  Make Reservations by September 15, 2006 (The Inn will endeavor to make Reservations after this date on a space available basis).

Remember "unless you are there it will not be complete."

For those members who have access to the Internet, the Reunion information is also available on our website.

This information will be updated periodically as required.

All family members in addition to the squadron members are welcome to attend the reunion.

A number of members have indicated in e-mail messages that they will be in attendance at the reunion.

We have already received Squadron Registration affirmation from Calvin and Joyce Russell.


NOTES FROM MEMBERS

Chuck Cannato says hello to all.  He has revamped his computer set up by installing a new computer which now allows him to send and receive a few more messages than he has been able to do for a few months.  His new e-mail address which was mentioned in the last news letter has been changed again.

Received a message from X-Ray Hickey who sends his greetings to all the members of VMB 613.  He enjoys reading the monthly newsletter as it gives him input on what the other members are doing and how their health is holding up. 

Back in March he received his second knee total replacement so that he now has a matched pair of knees.  All went well with this operation and he can now go up and down stairs in a normal manner.  He had very little pain and had a little therapy to get the knee to straighten out and bend enough to satisfy his orthopedic surgeon.  He highly recommends the surgery to any one in need.

X-Ray and Betty send their best to all.

Jim and Mary Jane Lewis say hello and regards to all.  They are standing off the early summer onset of deer flies and deer ticks.  Jim has been busy doing various activities around the property and Mary Jane has been continuing her activities with the local town events.

Chico Duarte called to say hello and regards to all.  He hasn't been doing any thing too exciting but does maintain a serious PE program.  It requires him to arise every morning at 2:00AM and go the newspaper store where he gets it set up for the owner.  Then he walks for two hours and goes home and starts working in his garden for several hours.  Around 11:00AM he goes into the house to relax and read the news paper and then ponders what else he can do to make the day constructive.

Heard from Foster and Doris Cummings who reported that all was well with them.  The weather conditions improved in their town, meaning their violent rain storms left for a while.  The grass continued to turn green and grow so he had to go out and cut it a few times. 

They heard from Jane Protheroe who said that all continues well in Hilton Head.  Doc is now the proud owner of another boat.  This will allow him to sail the shores of Parris Island on good weather days.

Foster said that he would be going up to New Hampshire in the near future to have dinner with Joe McDonald and Rita.

In watching CNN Mews one evening Foster saw some rising flood waters in a section of Pennsylvania and thought that it might be close to Brooks Kauffman's Inn so he called to check it out.  Brooks reported that they were safe, the flood waters didn't advance any where close to their property.

Doc Protheroe says hello to all.  He sent along a copy of "The Boot" the Parris Island Base newspaper.  They had an article about the "USMC Airport Liaison" that meets new Marines-to-be at the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport and makes the administrative arrangements for their bus ride to Parris Island where they will officially become Marine Corps Recruits. 

At one time the rail road station at Yemassee, South Carolina was the rendezvous spot for all Marines-to-be.  From there to the pier and board barges of some type for the landing at Parris Island.

"The Boot" also had other interesting articles about the Corps and its personnel.

Doc also sent along a copy of "The Jet Stream." the Marine Corps Air Station, Beaufort, S.C. base newspaper.  It contained interesting articles about some of the active duty squadrons stationed there, their combat training, special weapons and the like.  Pictures of aviation personnel were shown undergoing special physical training to get them ready for their deployment time in Iraq or other combat areas in the world.

Many thanks to Doc for bringing us up to date on what is going on at the two bases.

Swede Ohlson sends greetings to all from a very wet area - Cape Cod.  They had been having a lot of heavy rain which is good for the grass and his "veggie" garden.  Soon it will be October and they head back to Venice, FL.

Despite the wet weather, golf on the Cape is good.  Jennifer is working five days a week at Woods Hole Golf Club as the L.P.G.A. Professional and has been giving a lot of lessons.

Although Swede has retired from work he manages to get in a lot of golf particularly in Florida where they belong to the Jacaranda Country Club in Venice. 

They have a nice home on the golf course - lots of room for their VMB 613 friends - come on down they say.

Bob Polakowski sends his best regards to all.  He reported that Helen had a real great time on her European trip.  Her only regret was that she couldn't stop off at a couple of places that she would have enjoyed to visit because of family ties.  The tour schedule was too far away and they couldn't deviate. 

Bob said that she had a lot to talk about and it would take more time to make sure that she covered every interesting aspect of the tour.

He has been getting in some golf but thought that the lack of rain was improving his game because the golf balls didn't stop as though normally do in the green grass.  They just kept moving on in the dry brown grass.  They do need rain though he said.

Heard from Joe Yakawich who sends regards to all.  They also are experiencing a monstrous heat wave, he wishes he had an air conditioner to use for a few hours every day.

He has been busy getting ready for his Art Show which will be held for one whole week during the period 11-19 August, 2006. As we mentioned in an earlier Newsletter he has been selected as the 1st Featured Artist for the Montana State Fair in Billings.

He and his children and grandchildren have been collecting his paintings and sculptures for the whole world to see.  Joe himself has also had to give consideration to the uniform of the day for the event and he has finally decided upon western attire which will include a 10 Gallon Cowboy Hat.

By getting up early enough in the AM he has been able to fight the heat by going fishing by 6:00 AM and this year he has been able to catch the legal limit in no time at all and than back home for breakfast.

Mike Jacus says hello and regards to all the troops.  He returned from Palm Springs Desert at the end of June, he took his grand daughter Allison with him on the trip to visit with his brother Ray who has lived in the area for the past seven plus years.

They took in all the points of interest while there - one of which was the Palm Springs Air Museum.  It was a great collection of operating planes.  He had his granddaughter take a picture of him standing in front of an old Army B-25.  This will be an enclosure to this letter.

They also took in a trip to the Santa Rosa Mountains, and attended a play at the local college.  They were in the dark about the local students wearing T shirts with the insignia "COD" on them.  His brother explained that the students wearing them were students at "College of the Desert" not "Cash on Delivery".

Mike sent along a newspaper clip that he saved from a February newspaper about aging combat Marines and a handful of Japanese soldiers from Iwo Jima.  This occasion was to make the 60th anniversary of one of the bloodiest and most symbolic battles of World War II - the Battle of Iwo Jima.

About 50 U.S Marines, veterans of the battle, many dressed in their uniforms, gathered with hundreds of family members at a Japanese military base on the island.  A handful of Japanese survivors - only about a dozen are still alive - joined in the "honor reunion" during which the offered prayers and wreaths for the dead.

John Peterson sends his regards to all.  He has been busy around the house but did manage to get away to attend a graduation of one of his grandchildren at Stanford University.  Normally when he went to Stanford it was to play football so this time he had the opportunity to see the campus including the various administrative buildings.

John also mentioned hearing from Mike Jacus who described his trip to California to visit with his brother and taking his granddaughter along to see the views of the California desert.

Received an e mail from Ostell Scarborough Jr. who says hello and regards to all.  He would like to hear from members who knew his Dad so that he could receive information about his experiences in the Pacific.  His home address for your response is below.

Ostell Scarborough Jr

1519 Evans Pond Road

Greenwood, South Carolina 29649

He also sent along a picture of his Dad taken in 1945 which hopefully will be an enclosure to this newsletter providing I can get it adjusted to size. Otherwise it will appear in another Newsletter.  This picture must have been taken at a commercial tailor's shop outside the base when he went to have his chevrons sewn on.  I base this on the fact that he actually isn't "in uniform" and probably someone with him snapped the picture.

Robert Yanacek our webmaster received some new pictures from Frank Acker and has been identifying them.  One of the pictures he identified was "8 Ball" or MB 8.  He identified a faint name on the nose of the aircraft, analyzed the paint removal pattern from the nose against a known photo of 8-Ball and it matched.

A photo of MB-8 in flight is available on our website.

George Bartlett sends his regards to all.  He was going on a trip to an air show in Michigan and from there onto Oshkosh for another week, returning on the 31st of July.

The B-25 will be featured as one of the main planes this which he says will be fun to take in.

Robert Yanacek is looking to put together an audio program for the Web Site and he is taking music requests.  If any one has any favorite songs that they remember from WWII let him know and he will do his best to come up with them.


IN MEMORIAM

Condolences from squadron members to the family of Wayne Youngren.  Wayne passed away on Wednesday June 21, 2006 after a long battle with cancer.  Burial services were held on Saturday 24 June at 2PM at the Asbury United Methodist Church.  Burial was with complete Military Honors accorded by the Duluth Combined Honor Guard at Oneota Cemetery.

Queneth Youngren sent a card of thanks to VMB 613 for the flowers for Wayne. 


HEALTH REPORT 

Paul Yanacek has been fighting an attack of pneumonia which required him to have two visits to the hospital for continued treatment.  He was also confined to a senior care center due to weakness wherein he couldn't move about too well.  He is beginning to look better again and will be home soon to continue recovery.

Stan Richardson sends his regards to all.  They are getting ready for another hurricane season and hope that they will not have any real hurricanes.  Stan continues to fight off his illness and has to limit his physical activities in so doing, he stays on oxygen 24 hours a day seven days a week. 

John Aymen sends his best to all.  He has been fighting some new medical problems and had to go back to the hospital for an operation.  He is hoping that this operation combined with new  medication will help his system to settle down.


Don't forget our "MYSTERY PICTURE."  I am still waiting to hear from members who are reviewing the picture.  Several members did respond to my most recent special mailing and they reported that they couldn't recognize the location of where the picture might have been taken.  They also said that they checked their own albums but couldn't establish any connection to the picture. 

Could this picture have been taken in Hawaii?  I ask this of pilots because the Squadron War Diary refers to the fact that all pilots received additional training in survival and resisting interrogation while they were at Hawaii.

Please check your memory banks and see if they fit in with the picture.

Thomas Stone Mystery Photograph


WEB NEWS

VMB-613 Traffic - Last July our website received its 1-millionth "hit."  That was great for the first 19 months that the site was on the Internet.  On June 23 our site received its 2 millionth  "hit."  As traffic to the site has increased, it took only months to get our second million. 

Robert Yanacek received a photograph from a friend in Newport which was of the restored rail road depot.  This is the station that the VMB 613 ground echelon used when it departed Newport in October 1944.  This photo has also been added to our website.

For aircrew members who went on snooper flights to Ocean Island from Tarawa (300 miles due west of Tarawa) here is an opportunity to read up on some of its history.  Today it is again known as Banaba, and the following address will give the viewer a lot of written information about its history including today's status.  http://www.banaban.com

Robert Yanacek is also engaged in putting Doc Scott's Kwajalein video on the web page for all to see.  It is a compound complex procedure requiring several conversions to different acceptable computer formats.  In the next newsletter he will have Doc Scott's video identified for all to access and view.

Robert also received some pictures of PBJs from Kwaj some of which showed the radio-gunners compartment.  Still visible are the racks for the radio and radar gear.  The fish which were in the area when the pictures were taken added some color to the scenes.

The photographer reported that they would be going back to Roi-Namur when the winds and water aren't so rough.  Some of these pictures have been uploaded to our website.

The balance of the pictures will be up loaded in the very near future.


Remember that our new fiscal year started in January 2006.  If there isn't an (06) or higher two digit number appearing after your name on the mailing label on your envelope you should mail a check to us made out to VMB 613 in the amount of $20.00 for payment of dues.

Note: (05) denotes 2005, (06) denotes 2006.  Many thanks to the members who have already sent in their dues checks.


SQUADRON MEMORABILIA

THE LIMITED EDITION COLLECTORS ITEM, the squadron logo hat pin is still available for VMB 613 members and friends.  This pin is an inch in diameter and comes in a pewter finish or gold plated with a hand painted finish.  The colors are similar to the colored logo that was mailed out several months ago. Marine Corps Scarlet Red background, Gold Wings, Black Cannon and Maces.  Plus it is made in America.

Pewter finish logo hat pin - $4.50

Hand painted finish logo hat pin - $5.50

A new item is the license plate frame.  It is a composition material (special plastic) with a red background and gold lettering. The top of the frame has U.S. MARINES and the bottom VMB 613 WWII.  The cost is $5.00 INCLUDING PACKING AND SHIPPING.

USMC Heat Transfer Kit.  Has 6 large insignias and 6 small insignias.  Can use on caps, T shirts or any other cloth item.  These kits are $3.95 each.     

We still have the small VMB 613 number plate for the rear window at $5.00 each.  These now can be ordered with either a WHITE or RED background. 

The regular size VMB 613 license plate complete with mounting hardware is now available on special order for $20.00.

We have a limited number of Red VMB 613 caps, the cost is $10.00 each and are being sold on a first-order, first-serve basis.

These memorabilia items can be ordered from Charlie Knapp.

Here is a VMB 613 Special from McGrogan's Patch Design.  A cloth patch five inches in diameter which is the standard WWII size.  This is the VMB 613 squadron logo patch in color.  The cost to VMB 613 members is $3.50 per patch.  Order direct from the following address:

      McGrogran's Patch Design

PO Box 2254

Hayden, ID 83835

Website: http://www.mcgrogans.com

Please continue the notes or letters all of which help to make the monthly letter more interesting. 

This is all for now.  Stay healthy.

Semper Fi,

Signature of Charles Knapp

Charlie 


ROSTER CHANGES

For security reasons, changes to the roster are not available on-line.  Please contact Charlie Knapp for address information.


VMB 613 E-MAIL DIRECTORY LISTING

A directory of e-mail addresses for members is available on-line in a password protected area of the site.  Please contact our webmaster to obtain your password. 

Note: Please check your address on the listing and let me know of any required corrections.  Some messages have been returned with a comment "unknown address."

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