The 38th Ship's Reunion
October 2-6, 2002
San Antonio, TX
Host: Jasper Love and Millie Smith
| The highlight of the reunion was a trip on Friday to Fredericksburg, Texas to The Admiral Nimitz Museum. A dedication and memorial service was given to honor Marine Private William F. Seiverling whom the DE-441 was named. Eight plaques have been mounted on the memorial wall and our deceased shipmates are also honored. |
| List of plaques: | |
| Marine Private William F. Seiverling | |
| (Ship's) U.S.S. William F. Seiverling DE-441 | |
| Tim McCuen (Navy-Nephew of William F. Seiverling) |
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| Mate, William W. Stickley | |
| Mate, Chess Laird | |
| Mate, Henry Jasper Love, III | |
| Mate, Howard T. Noe | |
| Mate, Henry B. (Hank) Hermanns | |
| Deceased Shipmates on record: | |||
| WWII | 58 | ||
| Korean War | 145 | ||
| Marine Private William Frank Seiverling, Jr. was born on 22 September 1920 at Elizabethtown, Pa.
He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on 2 February 1942. In the fall of 1942 he was on
Guadalcanal helping to wrest control of that island from the Japanese. Pvt. Seiverling was killed
on 1 November 1942 during the enemy attack across Matanikau River on the island. When the enemy attacked,
Pvt. Seiverling ran down the hill in the face of enemy fire killing at least one sniper and perhaps several others.
Later, he covered the evacuation of wounded marines from his own platoon and after hearing that the
2nd Platoon was also in trouble, he ran between that unit and the enemy to cover his comrades withdrawal.
Once again he killed several Japanese before he himself was hit by enemy machine-gun fire. Though wounded,
Seiverling continued to deliver a withering fire into enemy position with his automatic rifle. As he started
back over the ridge to make his own retirement, he was fatally wounded.
For unselfishly giving his life for his comrades and his country, Pvt. Seiverling was awarded Navy Cross, Purple Heart, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and The Presidential Unit Citation. |
| Thanks to Helen McDonald, Assistant Museum Director and Marty Kaderli, Membership Secretary for their help in the past three years in our effort to finalize this dedication and memorial service. |
| At Saturday night's dinner and meeting the members who held past reunions were presented with a plaques. These were as follows: | |
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Joel A Rigter for holding the 31st reunion (1995) at Charleston, S.C. |
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James Roy Hilsbeck & Walter E. Gillian, Jr. Co-Hosting for holding the 32nd reunion (1996) at Wright-Patterson AFB Dayton, OH |
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James R May for holding the 34th reunion (1998) at Sacramento, CA |
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Frank O. Williams & Stanley Wolfe Co-Hosting the 36th reunion (2000) at Niagara Falls, NY |
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Cindy Larson Associate Member & Tony Mola for hosting the 37th reunion (2001) at Seattle, WA |
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Associate Member Millie Smith & Jasper Love for hosting the 38th reunion (2002) at San Antonio, TX |
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The winner of the drawing for the 3-foot long DE-441 ship's model was Bill Allgood. | |
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We had 5 winners in golf. (Only 5 played.) | |
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The big winner of the 1/2X1/2 drawing was Jane Williams. | |
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Tommy & Sharon Whitt received from Millie & Jasper a decorated photo album with a Navy Seal on front for being the first to sign for 2002 reunion. They signed 3-11-2002 for the October Reunion. | |
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On behalf of the members we want to thank The Woodfield Suites for being such a great host in helping with our reunion. "A job well done." | |
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The attending members enjoyed the many things to see and do in San Antonio and the surrounding area.
We were very proud to have so many of our mate's children attend this year. Each year we have more and more
of them join us. As we all know, we will not have any more DE Sailors. It is our hope that these family
members will keep our reunions going long after we have passed on.
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| This year we had 99 attendees | |
| 41 Mates | |
| 33 Wives | |
| 3 Widows | |
| 3 Associate Members | |
| 4 Daughters Associate Members | |
| 6 Sons and Daughters (Guests) | |
| 3 Grand-children (Guests) | |
| 6 Guests | |
Those who attended are as follows:
| Allgood, Bill & Arlene | OR |
| Armstrong, Winner & son Chris | CA |
| Atkinson, Tom & Janet | AR |
| Atkinson, Scott & Karen son of Tom | TX |
| Atkinson, Brett & Lindley son & daughter | TX |
| Ayotte, Col. Austin & Eleanor Gusts | TX |
| Brant, Floyd & Joann | PA |
| Brennan, James & Anna Mea | OR |
| Carker, Velma Ruth Daughter Laird | TX |
| Clark, Arthur & Jeanne | OR |
| Denuel, Paul & Dori | PA |
| Detwilder, Mary Ann Daughter of Denuel | PA |
| Donovan, Gerry Daughter of Taggart | NJ |
| Downey, Dave & Dorothy | AZ |
| Ely, James & Jeriene | MO |
| Ferguson, Alvin & Nancy | AZ |
| Flower, Wickham & Gloria | OH |
| Gillette, Earl & Eleanor | CT |
| Gilliam, Jr. Walter & Joan | OH |
| Gleaves, Duane & Jan | OR |
| Green, Bob & Patricia | AZ |
| Grun, William (Bill) | PA |
| Harp, Charles & Sarah | NV |
| Hermanns, Rosaile | FL |
| Hislop, Leonard | MN |
| Kiiskila, Paul & Anna | IL |
| Koehler, Gary & Juanita | WA |
| Koenmann, Clarence & Rose | WI |
| Laird, Chess & Ruth | TX |
| Larson, Cindy & son Alex | WA |
| Love, Jasper | MS |
| Lunga, Ruth | NJ |
| Macechak, Kathleen Daughter of Hermanns | NJ |
| Mack, Laurence (Larry) | NJ |
| McCuen, Tim & Jo-Anne son Shan | NJ |
| McIlvaine, Jane Daughter of Taggart | NJ |
| Mellon, Linda Daughter of Denuel | PA |
| Mola, Tony | WA |
| Noe, Howard & Mary | MS |
| Ott, Ray & Nancy | OH |
| Reas, Raymond & Susie | IN |
| Reas, Leann Daughter of Raymond | IN |
| Reas, Ausdin son of Leann | IN |
| Reyna, Mike & Darlene | MO |
| Rigter, Joel & Joan | SC |
| Rote, Dean & Phyllis | IA |
| Shegina, Ernest & Phyllis | MI |
| Shumaker, Mary Daughter of Hermanns | ME |
| Smith, Mildred (Millie) | MS |
| Sowder, Richard & Dot | KY |
| Stephens, Wayne & Virginia | FL |
| Stickley, Ann | NJ |
| Suttelle, Daniel (Doc) | FL |
| Taggert, Gerry | FL |
| Wessler, Richard & Margaret | KS |
| Whitt, Thomas & Sharon | MS |
| Williams, Frank & Jane | NY |
| Wolfe, Stanley & Rose | NY |
| Zeigler, Jerry & Judy | CA |