United States Submarine Veterans, Inc.
25003 SE 146^th Street Issaquah, WA 98027

Minutes of the April 21, 2004 Meeting

Held at the Redmond VFW Hall, 4330 148^th Avenue, Redmond, WA 98052-5152

Commander Bob Opple called the meeting to order at 1905, following a spaghetti buffet for the crew. There were 37 members and guests present.

Pledge of Allegiance was led by Angus McGuff (sp?) and Vice Commander Dutch Krompholtz gave the opening prayer.

Tolling of the Boats: April lost boats were tolled and a moment of silence was observed for the lost crews of USS Pickerel (SS-177), USS Grenadier (SS-210), USS Gudgeon (SS-211), USS Snook (SS-279); March lost boats were also tolled as March meeting was cancelled due to scheduling conflict at the VFW Hall.

Members and visitors introduced themselves, giving the boats they qualified on and their resident cities.

Commander Opple serenaded the crew with a tape recording of USS Razorback’s engine sounds and diving evolutions.

Binnacle List report: George Debo quit smoking and it’s feared he has nothing left to live for; John Fankhouser is blind but in good spirits reported Robbie Robertson; Debbie Householder’s current prognosis is positive.

Secretary minutes were approved; Jim Harper gave the Treasurer’s Report; Bill Giese gave the Storekeeper Report and Dave Goodson gave the report on activities at the Cobra.

Membership Report: There are 140 members, including 2 Associates, 4 Honorary Members and 134 Regular members.

Break at 1945

Featured Speaker

USAF Col. (ret) Sherman W. Wilkins gave a fascinating, illustrated talk on his Air Force career (1940-1963) that included service as a B-29 pilot in WWII followed by involvement with nuclear weapons and the Strategic Air Command. It was another outstanding presentation followed by a lot of questions from the membership.

New Business and Good of the Order

District 9 meeting is scheduled for the weekend of April 30 in Portland.

It was moved, seconded and approved to spend $500 to produce more Foxtrot videos for sale at Pier 48 and to order more of the small Cobra patches for resale.

Bob Opple will be on the leg of the Razorback’s tow from Turkey to Gibraltar next month.

A discussion was held of the recent ceremonies and parade in Charleston, SC for the recovered remains of CSS Hunley, a Confederate submarine sunk in the Civil War.

Don Masaero reported on plans for the July 31^st Tolling of the Boats ceremony and started a sign up for volunteers to assist him.

It was moved, seconded and approved to spend $500 to reserve space at the Seattle Yacht Club for another joint USSVI/SVofWWII Christmas lunch on Saturday, December 18, 2004.

Vice Commander Krompholz led the closing prayer and the meeting was adjourned at 2130.

Storekeeper sales, 50-50 raffle and socializing followed.