THE FOOTNOTES

Our minesweeper, the USS YMS-176 was docked at Pearl Harbor on July26, 1944. That's the day President Roosevelt came to Hawaii to meet with General Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur was our top general in the Pacific theater of operations. When I heard Roosevelt and MacArthur were coming, I rushed to the dock where Roosevelt's ship, the USS Baltimore, would tie up. I got into the front row and had a very good vantage point. Admirals were lined up like boy scouts on the dock. The ship came in, and MacArthur in his dramatic fashion went aboard . He was a very charasmatic guy. He and Roosevelt came down the gangplank together. Roosevelt looked very ill, very gray and very old. They drove away to whereever they went to plan the rest of the Pacific campaign.

A book I found in Tolland Library called "MacArthur" by Richard B. Frank, described the scene I just described in the opening remarks about MacArthur's return to the Philippines in the invasion of Leyte. I scanned the first few paragraphs for your perusal.

Here are Moe and her friend since Junior High School, Jean. We visit her every now and then and have a nice time. While there, Noonski managed to savor the fish and chips which is the thing to buy if you are dining at a restaurant on the shore line.

BILL, OLD BOB AND MARA

Kelly and Dave Hahn

TOM LUCERINI

or at least some of the clan took place in Plainville earlier today. After a lapse of 30 years, or so, the clan was invited to assemble as it did at Scheutzen Park so many times before. Bill Lynch put it all together, and it was a nice reunion. Here are members of the younger delegation: Bob, Lizzie, and Jack Mittelmark, all the way from Florida, and their cousins, Bill and Samantha Hahn. Other pictures will appear on the blog in the near future.

As advertised, here are more of the supporting cast

This had to be done in two parts due to the fact that blogger wouldn't allow all at once

Amanda, Andy, Grace, Kelly and Scott. Not very often to find them at the same location.

Isn't this a beautiful view?

A bunch of the clan has been whoopin' it up at a lake in Maine this week. The actual name of the lake is Mooselick----something. It is part of the Rangeley Lake group in Western Maine, not far from the New Hampshire border.

It is absolutely gorgeous, but was very cold and rainy for the time Moe and Noonski were there. It's also a long way from anyplace. Took us 8 hours to drive up, and 9 to drive back.

Part of the fun was when Peggy conducted a session of Whatzit, which is shown in the picture. Whatzit is a word-play game which demands lateral thinking. If you don't think that way when you start, you soon become aware a flaw in your problem-solving approach.

Bob, Gail, Kelly and Scott were there. Charley, Betsy, Andy and Grace were there. Amanda

and Rita were there, all the way from Georgia. Peggy, Moe and Noonski were there, too.

Sighting a moose was a big thing. Rita was driving our car on the way up when we saw one walking up the side of the road in broad daylight. After supper, we drove around hoping to spot one because they are active around dusk, like deer.

It had been a long time since we had seen some of the relatives present. Hope to see them again.