Memo To:   All the Island-Hoppers

NOTES FROM MEMBERS

Sandy Hudspeth remains in the hospital where they are taking good care of him.  He is looking good, good color continues to come back and he does feel a lot better. 

The medical staff continues to give him required medical tests to assure that his overall system is performing properly.

Here is a new request for info.  George Comer has suddenly become a fast mover and the mail can't keep up with him.  His address in Grandin, FL was suddenly changed to Oak Kill, WV 25901 but the letter with that address was returned to Grandin, FL.  If any member has a new address for George Comer please send it to us.

This is still a repeat from last month's newsletter.  I would appreciate it if members could pull a memory check on Warren D. Ritter and see if they can recall where he moved or relocated to.  He was living in the Manor House, Assisted Living, in Wilmington, N.C. and his last letter was returned, NOT DELIVERABLE AS ADDRESSED.

Received a letter from Nick Bozic who sends his very best to all members of VMB 613.  He reported that he is still in a handicap position.  He has to make use of a wheel chair and walker.  He cannot take a step without the walker.  This problem is the effect of the stroke that he had.  Another problem that he has is his inability to drive an automobile.  His son and daughter take him round to many public places such as stores, shopping centers, etc. which gives him a chance to see what is happening in the outside world.

Foster Cummings sends his regards to all.  He hopes that the weather in their home town area will soon improve.  So far it has allowed an excessive mount of rain  to fall coupled with a lot of extremely hot days.

He has been going through this unusual weather routine a little too often this year, as a result he hasn't been able to get out to cut the lawn, hence he is getting a hay field around his home.

His hometown had their 4th of July Parade with fireworks in the evening.  This is a carry over 4th of July celebration for several years and has become an accepted regular activity for the residents on an annual basis.

Jim Garls says hello to all.  He reported that he is still being bothered by a painful hip which has entailed Emergency Room treatments, taking special pills to relieve pain and the like.  This has limited his movement to almost a crawl but he manages to move about.

Robert Klinke sends his regards to all.  He informs us that he and his wife spent a weekend at Kimberly, WI and visited with Bob Polakowski and his family and attended the local music festival with them.  The also had some discussion about a future reunion

Out of the blue Robert received an e-mail from Tracie Bell whom he had never met before, who advised he was sending some pictures of my dad to me.

Robert received them about a week later and two of the three pictures he had never seen before.  He just wished that this would happen more often.  If Tracie didn't get his thank you e-mail receiving a copy of the e-mail to me will cover it.  He says thank you again Tracie and keep in touch.

Wayne Noble sends his regards to all.  All continues well in Florida he reported.

Robert Yanacek our wembaster reported that he located Captain Robert C. Woten. He was VMB-613's first Commanding Officer from 1 October 1943 to 17 November 1943.  Command was then transferred to Major Baker on 18 November 1943.

Robert was able to accomplish this location by making contact with Janet Wells who is the daughter of Captain Woten. Janet was impressed with the information provided on our website.  She lives in Washington State and reported that her Dad is alive and doing well at the age of 93, living in Washington State.  He wound up going overseas with VMB 433.

Our webmaster's latest project is a listing of all 706 PBJ's that were assigned to the Marine Corps.  This listing is nearly complete and provides the Bureau Number of each aircraft, as well as the squadrons each served with and the final disposition.  Robert even located the one J-model PBJ that was assigned to VMB 613 for a short period of time.  Once completed, members will be able to view this listing on the Internet and compare it to their log books to see what happened to each aircraft they flew in.

Received a letter from Al Langlois who mentioned that he and Kathy were going through Bud Montgomery's Marine Keepsakes one night and they came to a conclusion.  They felt that his memorabilia (log books and pictures) belonged to the history of VMB-613 not stuck in a cabinet gathering dust and decided that it should be donated to our association.  They felt that it could enhance our already great website.

The mailing address of our webmaster was given to them so that they could start to transfer the memorabilia, which has been accomplished.

Heard from John and Naomi Kennedy who send their regards to all.  They changed their e mail address which is shown in the 613 E Mail Directory toward the end of this letter.

Peach Richardson says hello to all.  She is doing well health wise and is planning a trip to Ocean City, MD in September for a birthday party and a school reunion.

Mary Jane Lewis sends her regards to all.  All continues well with her.  She has been going to various functions in her home town which have been great to attend. 

She heard from Connie Lahart who reported that Tom had surgery on his face, centered on his nose and some skin grafts.  She said he is very colorful black, blue and red.  The bandages were due to come off in a few days.