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Click picture for home page 2005 Reunion Report Early arrivers began showing up on Tuesday and immediately began to make use of the hospitality room. Jerry and Peg Emerson, Ida Ransom, and Carol DeRoehn (Parsons) were well prepared for the inrush of people. They did a marvelous job designing the Jallao lanyards, badges and handouts. Their preparations were superb. The beer and pop were cold and there were snacks for all. It was great to see old friends and to make some new ones. We lit up the room with our smiles. Many pictures, scrap books and other Jallao memorabilia were left out for all to peruse. Penny, Sean (our grandson) and I arrived just after dinner and the sea stories were already in full bloom. And we were just getting started. Boy the memories this week brought back, I think that not a few tears were shed during this wonderful weekend. We only had one no-show and two cancellations due to family emergencies. Lt Bob Beaton was only able to make it for the first day of the reunion and he and I had a great conversation. He was the qualifications officer when I qualified on the Jallao. I have waited for more that 40 years to tell him what a great impact he had on my life. I am not sure what it was, but I can tell you that serving with Lt Beaton and the crew of the Jallao in 1962 and 63 has marked my life forever. We had a great crew, and I thank each and every one of you for the opportunity to serve with you. I treasure the opportunity to share time with you and our fellow Jallao sailors at our bi-annual reunions. *** Wednesday was a relaxing day, with the Submarine Veterans Memorial open for our use in the morning with a formal ceremony including tolling of the boats and taps. We had lunch at the Submarine Veterans clubhouse with the leftovers available in the hospitality room in the evening. *** Thursday morning Jerry Emerson presided over our usual reunion planning meeting where we decided not to formalize our organization and collect dues. The thought was that other boats that organized lost the closeness that they had.
Earl Johnson agreed to continue on as the Jallao fund treasurer. Earl is a good friend and a fine man with a great sense of humor. We are happy that he offered to stay on board, he did a great job for us.
Three shipmates volunteered to coordinate the next reunion. Our thanks to Don Behnke, Jerry Pilger, and John Mills for offering there services. We voted to have our next reunion in Charleston South Carolina in the Spring of 2007 with John and Jean Mills as our hosts. Coordinating our reunions is a gargantuan task, our best wishes to John and Jean.
We also decides to put together a CD disk of reunion pictures and offer it in our ships store.
We passed the hat and collected $1309 for the Jallao fund. This will give us a good start on the next reunion.
After the meeting we had a catered picnic at Admiral Fife Park in Stonington CT. We had a wonderful time with lots of great food and drinks. There was a lot of great conversation and a bit of horseshoe tossing going on.
*** On Friday we visited the Submarine Museum and Library. The USS Nautilus is on static display. There was also a shuttle tour of the base.
Friday evening was the grand finale, our closing banquet! What a time we had. Jerry arranged for the Navy and Marine Living History Association www.navyandmarine.org to spend the evening with us. What a great group of men they are. They manned the exits armed with swords, which got out attention immediately, then proceeded to present awards to some deserving Jallao crew members, then introduced us to the little known USS Alligator, a Civil War submarine. We truly enjoyed their participation in our celebration.
After the award presentations, we dined on Prime rib, Fish and Chicken. the meals were fantastic. Later we danced to some really great music, arranged by Luis Duran, and talked and talked and talked! Of course there were some adult beverages available for those that cared to imbibe.
I cant tell you what a great job Jerry Emerson did in arranging this reunion. I would hope that each of you that attended our reunion will find the time to thank him personally. Photos are on the way.
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