Attached are pictures of the FRANKLIN plaque and my just arrived O’CALLAHAN-GARY plaque, now hanging alongside on the memorial wall at the Nimitz Pacific War Museum in Fredericksburg, TX. Its been a long time being made and delivered but finally it’s in place AND alongside FRANKLIN.
Thanks to Stefanie Stehling at the museum for helping me design and procure the plaque, then shepherding its shipment and mounting… and for making space on the wall alongside the FRANKLIN plaque to tie the three ship stories together.
Godspeed to all of those who served in FRANKLIN, O’CALLAHAN, and GARY.
I hope this finds you all well.
Best wishes always!
Gary Schnurrpusch CAPT USN RET Honorary FRANKLIN Survivor; former CO USS O’CALLAHAN and USS GARY
Thank you Kent and Amy Hathaway for hosting an outstanding 2022 reunion in Fredericksburg, Texas in the heart of Texas Hill Country. The reunion was another great success!
Fredericksburg is a charming town, with a mix of German heritage and Texas pride. Wineries abound in this area of Texas, so reunion goers had lots of options when wanting to “cool off” from the Texas heat. There were even German Beer Halls with live music and a year round Christmas shop!
Fredericksburg is the boyhood home of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and is home to the National Museum of the Pacific War. We had a wonderful ceremony at the museum honoring those that served on the USS Franklin CV-13, followed by placing the wreath next to the USS Franklin plaque. There are two USS Franklin plaques in the Memorial Courtyard and the reunion attendees were given the opportunity to explore the courtyard before having lunch in a private room, upstairs.
After lunch, we had Docent guided tours through the George H.W. Bush Gallery of the museum. The interactive presentations and displays provide an interesting history of the global conflicts and political climate leading up to the War in the Pacific and walks the museum attendees through the entirety of the pacific campaign and beyond. It was a fascinating tour and a beautifully curated museum. If you were unable to attend, you should consider a trip to Fredericksburg, Texas.
The dinner and dance was fantastic, complete with a live band that offered a delightful collection of songs for the reunion goers. It was wonderful being able to gather again with the Franklin family and connect with some first time attendees.
The reunion closed out with the 8 O’Clock Report, honoring the crew that had passed since our last reunion. We had 2 crew members attend the 2022 reunion, Walt Gallagher and Jack Hensel.
One of our first time attendees, Angel Barnes, offered to host the 2023 reunion in Corpus Christi, Texas at the USS Lexington CV-16 to celebrate both the 80th birthday of the USS Lexington and a permanent home for some of the USS Franklin CV-13 memorabilia.
Farewell to the USS Franklin Museum Association
You may recall that in 2021, The USS Franklin Museum Association stopped collecting dues. During the 2022 USS Franklin Museum Association board meeting in Fredericksburg, the board voted to donate the assets that it has collected over the years to go to organizations that will help preserve the legacy of the USS Franklin and serve the mission of education on the subject of World War 2. During the Fredericksburg reunion, a donation was made to the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg and another donation was made to the film maker Andy Clark to advance the work that he has been doing on his USS Franklin Documentary.
Donations are in process for the USS Yorktown CV-10 Museum in Charleston, South Carolina; USS Lexington CV-16 in Corpus Christi, Texas; and the National World War Two Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana. After the assets have been distributed, the Museum Association will be dissolved.
Many of the physical artifacts in the “Tote” that follows the USS Franklin Reunion will be donated to the USS Lexington during the 2023 Reunion in Corpus Christi.
Though the USS Franklin Museum Association was present at the reunions all these years, it should be noted that the Museum Association does not run the reunions, and the reunions can continue on should individuals continue to volunteer to coordinate these events.
Darren and Susan Hamm will continue to maintain the website USSFranklin.org to share USS Franklin information.
Thank you to all of the USS Franklin Museum Association Board members throughout the years, especially the crew who served on the board. Sam Rhodes and Jack Hensel played an integral part in this decision and it was not made lightly. The Board has served many years as advocates for USS Franklin, keeping the legacy, history and story of this ship and her crew alive. We hope that these donations will help continue to reach generations to come through the displays at these museums and through Andy’s documentary.
2023 Reunion at the USS LEXINGTON Corpus Christi, Texas USS Franklin CV-13 Reunion at the USS Lexington CV-16 February 16-19, 2023 Hotel: SpringHill Suites Corpus Christi, Texas 4331 South Padre Island Drive Corpus Christi, Texas 78411 Phone: 1-361-851-2000
The Barnes family is thrilled to be hosting the 2023 USS Franklin reunion in honor of the USS Franklin CV-13 crew member Gerald Ahniwake “Ahni” Ray. Registration includes all of the activities listed below. Send a note in the registration if you have any food allergies or you would like to borrow a wheelchair for the weekend so we can plan accordingly. Please contact the SpringHill Suites hotel to reserve your room with the USS Franklin Group rate of $104 per night.
Many of the activities planned will be aboard the USS Lexington. Transportation is arranged to and from the hotel to planned activity locations as needed for those without transportation.
AGENDA Thursday, February 16, 2023
Day: Registration will begin at noon in the hotel lobby. Evening 5-9pm: Meet and Greet in the hotel conference room with light food fare.
Friday, February 17, 2023
Day: Complimentary breakfast available at the hotel. Free day to explore Corpus Christi. Evening, Dinner/ Dance Time: 6pm-10pm Location: On board the USS Lexington The USS Lexington 80th birthday celebration with introduction of the USS Franklin CV-13. Evening dance with big band music, hors d’oeuvres and cocktails. You are invited and encouraged to dress for the 1940’s era. *Rides to the USS Lexington will be available for those needed
Saturday, February 18, 2023
Day: Complimentary breakfast is available at the hotel. 12:00pm-1:30pm Lunch aboard the USS Lexington. 1:45pm-4:45pm Private tour of the USS Lexington. Elevators available for access as needed. Evening: Free time.
Sunday February 19, 2023
Complimentary breakfast is available at the hotel. 7:45am: 8 o’clock report (Hotel conference room, begins at 8am sharp). Veterans Memorial High School Eagle Scout Troop to present colors. Farewells.
Send completed registration form (below) & check payable to Angel Barnes by January 21, 2023
Address: Angel Barnes 7534 Rancho Vista Blvd Corpus Christi, TX 78414 Phone: 858-231-0061 E-mail: asbarnes05@gmail.com
If electronic payment is preferred, please send through Venmo or Zelle to the below: VENMO: @Angel-Barnes-3 https://venmo.com/u/Angel-Barnes-3
ZELLE: Ray.Barnes.JR@gmail.com 858-231-0062
Registration is $190 per person. Please see the website http://www.ussfranklin.org for up to the date detailed reunion information.
USS Franklin Plaques and Andy Clark’s USS Franklin Documentary
In 2004, USS Franklin crewman Ray Bailey donated to the USS Midway Museum in San Diego, California a set of granite plaques commemorating the two USS Franklin Medal of Honor recipients, Donald Gary and Joseph O’Callahan, and the Franklin crewmen who lost their lives while serving on the ship. The museum was never able to use the plaques and they rested in storage on the Midway until recently when they were recovered and temporarily stored to await a new home. That home has been found at the USS Lexington Museum in Corpus Christi, Texas. Andy Clark will be continuing to film his documentary and conducting veteran and family interviews at USS Lexington reunion. If you wish to participate, please contact Andy at amclarkphotography@gmail.com
You can see a short video here about the USS Franklin at the USS Midway Museum and the recovery of the plaques:
In Memoriam
8 o’clock report Word was received that these crew members have been absent from muster since our last newsletter and have received orders from the Supreme Commander to be transferred to The Big Ship in the Sky. George Fain Black RM3/c K-Div. Patrick Allen Desmond Russell Gettemy Ovean Henderson Matthew M. Little STM1/c S2-Div. John E. Murphy SKV3/c S1-Div. Holly Rousch PC3/c K-Div. Will R Wareham Harold West Roe D Woody
The Great Commander called them home To sail the crystal sea, Where they will steer with steady hand throughout eternity. No longer will the high sea roll. The skies will be clear and every day will be a day of happiness and cheer. No storm shall cross their valiant prow and calm shall be the sea. In that bright place where all is well and kindly is the breeze. They are at peace with our Shipmates who have gone before.
Please send information on the death of a crew member to: Darren Hamm 7749 County Road W West Bend, WI 53090 franklin@ussfranklin.org
Hosted by: April and Ken Homko
in memory of Ken’s father Harry Homko (K-Div)
We are so excited to be hosting another reunion! Not just “another reunion” but the reunion on the 75th Anniversary of the attack on the Franklin. We will be bringing the reunion back to a great town we have visited before, Pensacola, FL.
Security is a lot tighter than when we stayed on base back in 2007. So we will be staying at the historic Pensacola Grand Hotel located at 200 E. Gregory St. in downtown Pensacola. They are giving us a great rate of $100/night for their standard room with 2 Queen Beds. They will honor this room rate fom 3/17-3/24. (Please note that breakfast is not included in this rate. There is a restaurant located in the hotel that is open for breakfast and dinner. See the attached menu. We will also provide some continental breakfast items in our hospitality room daily.) Currently we have 45 rooms blocked. These rooms will be held only until February 20th and then they will be released. So, please do not delay booking your room. To do so, call the hotel directly at 850-433-3336, ask for reservations and then provide the four letter code: C V 1 3. Also, it has been mentioned that Pensacola does not have a very big airport with many flights. So, if possible, do not wait too long to book your flights.
The Pensacola Grand does offer a complimentary airport shuttle from 6am-10pm and there is no charge for parking if you drive. They are the top hotel in Pensacola for Military Reunions with a great location in the heart of Downtown Pensacola. It is minutes away from shopping, dining, and entertainment venues with Pensacola Beach only 8 miles away. Many of you know when planning a reunion there are many factors to consider to find the best possible hotel for our group. So, although we do not have breakfast included, this hotel is the best choice to meet the majority of our needs. They will definitely give us service and attention unmatched by any other hotel in the area.
The reunion will start Thursday, 3/19 with registration beginning at 4pm in our hospitality room. There will be a Board meeting beginning at 5pm.
Friday, 3/20 we will board Trolleys and head to the National Naval Aviation Museum. Everyone 16 and older will need a picture ID to enter the museum! At the museum will have our Memorial Ceremony, a guided tour of the museum, watch an IMAX Movie, enjoy lunch at the Cubi Bar Café and possibly a tour of the National Flight Academy. Trolleys will head back to the hotel at different times in the afternoon so everyone has enough time to enjoy the museum. Friday night join us in the hospitality room for some entertainment.
Saturday, 3/21 the general meeting will be in the morning and the dinner dance in the evening.
Sunday, 3/22 will be the 8 o’clock Report in the morning.
In closing I need to give a GIANT “Thank You” to Tom from Beach Bum Trolley for all his help with this reunion. If I hadn’t (by chance) gotten in touch with him I don’t think I would have volunteered to host! You can check out this link on his website for our reunion itinerary and menu for the Friday lunch: http://beachbumtrolley.com/franklin.htm
USS FRANKLIN CV-13 REUNION IN NASHVILLE TENNESSEE
JULY 11-14, 2019.
Reunion of The Ship That Wouldn’t Die.
Nashville, TN, July 11-14, 2019 – 6 surviving crew of the storied WWII Navy Aircraft Carrier, USS Franklin CV-13 (www.ussfranklin.org), along with 62 friends and family members will be converging on the Embassy Suites by Hilton at Vanderbilt, Nashville for a weekend of fun, fellowship, and memorial.
The public and press are invited to join the USS Franklin Reunion for a Memorial Friday July 12th 10:30AM – 12:00PM at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Nashville at Vanderbilt, 1811 Broadway, Nashville, TN, 37203, where USS Franklin Crew member David Baruch GM3/c 6th.-Div. Maj. USAF Ret. will be our guest speaker. Mr. Baruch regularly speaks to school children and to community groups about his experiences on board the USS Franklin.
The USS Franklin, named after founding father Benjamin Franklin, is often also attributed to the Civil War Battle of Franklin, TN.
About the March 19, 1945 bombing
“Before dawn on 19 March 1945 the U.S.S. Franklin, who had maneuvered closer to the Japanese mainland than had any other U.S. carrier during the war, launched a fighter sweep against Honshu and later a strike against shipping in Kobe Harbor. Suddenly, a single enemy plane pierced the cloud cover and made a low-level run on the gallant ship to drop two semi-armor piercing bombs. One struck the flight deck centerline, penetrating to the hangar deck, effecting destruction and igniting fires through the second and third decks, and knocking out the combat information center and airplot. The second hit aft, tearing through two decks and fanning fires, which triggered ammunition, bombs and rockets. The Franklin, within 50 miles of the Japanese mainland, lay dead in the water, took a 13° starboard list, lost all radio communications, and broiled under the heat from enveloping fires. Many of the crew were blown overboard, driven off by fire, killed or wounded, but the 106 officers and 604 enlisted who voluntarily remained saved their ship through sheer valor and tenacity. The casualties totaled 724 killed and 265 wounded and would have far exceeded this number except for the heroic work of many survivors. Among these were Medal of Honor winners, Lieutenant Commander Joseph T. O’Callahan, S. J., USNR, the ship’s chaplain, who administered the last rites, organized and directed firefighting and rescue parties, and led men below to wet down magazines that threatened to explode, and Lieutenant (junior grade) Donald Gary who discovered 300 men trapped in a blackened mess compartment, and finding an exit, returned repeatedly to lead groups to safety. The U.S.S. Santa Fe (CL-60) similarly rendered vital assistance in rescuing crewmen from the sea and closing the Franklin to take off the numerous wounded.
The Franklin was taken in tow by the U.S.S. Pittsburgh until she managed to churn up speed to 14 knots and proceed to Pearl Harbor where a cleanup job permitted her to sail under her own power to Brooklyn, N.Y., arriving on 28 April. Following the end of the war, the Franklin was opened to the public, for Navy Day celebrations, and on 17 February 1947 was placed out of commission at Bayonne, N.J. On 15 May 1959 she was reclassified AVT 8.
The U.S.S. Franklin received four battle stars for World War II service.”
From: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol. II, 1977, pp. 443-444
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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact franklin@ussfranklin.org.
USS Franklin Museum Association members should have received a Ballot for the 2017 elections from Secretary Kathy Lyons through the US mail last week (August 17th, 2018) . If you did not receive a ballot, please contact Kathy Lyons directly. Ballots are due back to Kathy by September 1, 2018.
As discussed at the general meeting in New Orleans, there will be a second ballot mailed November 2018 for Board Members up for re-election for 2018.
For USS Franklin researchers, I have obtained a copy of the USS Franklin muster roll copied from microfilm records of the US Navy. This muster roll contains records of the ships company as the sailors moved onto and off of the ship. This is not a complete account of all the ships transfers. Specifically, this does not include information on the Marine and Air groups on board the Franklin. The file is very large- at 2GB in size and may take some time to download from google drive. You must “Unzip” the file to reveal all of the individual pages in .jpg picture format.
RESERVE THE HOTEL TODAY!
Hilton Boston/Woburn
2 Forbes Road
Woburn, MA 01801
Hosted by Kathy Lyons and family, daughter of James W. Lyons, EM1/c E-Div.
The hotel is blocking 40 rooms at $149.00 per night including breakfast on Friday and Saturday.
Please make your reservations as soon as possible so we can ask for more rooms if necessary. The reservation numbers are 781-932-0999 or toll free 800-445-8667.
The hotel is located 10 miles away from downtown Boston. Visit the website at bostonwoburn.hilton.com
USS Franklin Museum Association 