Happy New Year!

Hope your New Year is a great one. I can just imagine the different fellowships that are going on tonight. I'm sure some of the conversation will be about our times we experienced at the great reunion with friends in Pascagoula.

It's hard to find the words that express what I felt when we reunited the first night. Seeing so many familiar and not so familiar faces was a really joy. A moment I will long remember. My photographs are available to anyone interested in printing copies or storing on hard drives. Let me know.

I can recall the lump in my throat while I photographed the plankowners who were deep in their own special thoughts. I saw a couple of tears, too. Tears washed with memories of twenty years ago, when most of us saw the Yorktown for the first time. Echoes in our minds of the words we once heard while walking through the passageways might have lingered in our thoughts.

I am sure Max Liberty was just around the corner holding his hands to his face as he smiled about old memories. He might have whispered, "some day you will have complete liberty with the sea gods." With a wink and a nod, we could almost see and hear 'ol Max.

I hope to help the site grow and most importantly, make it enjoyable for plankowners and sailors that served on one of the best ships to float the seas. What made it best? The crew.

I can never forget my shipmates on the USS Montrose (AKA 212) during Vietnam and that is a special moment in my heart. Yorktown ranks right up there with her and the many friendships I have made are highly cherished. Many sailors have served on great ships but I am proud to say, the Yorktown plankowners were top notch and we proved it over and over.

I haven't heard from the officers of the Yorktown and I hope they participate in the site as it changes. I invite all to contribute with articles, sea stories and photographs. I would like to see the site a place to meet shipmates and plan reunions. Pass the word. USS Yorktown is alive on the web!

Many thanks to those who donated financial support. It will be used to cover monthly expenses and to set up a Yorktown store. The store will be used to offer Yorktown memorabilia. If you have a photograph that you would like printed on coffee mugs, t-shirts and various items, let me know. You will get to see samples of items that I will put on the store site.

Once more, Happy New Year and thanks so much for visiting the site. Be sure and check out the new Ceremony 2 photographs that I uploaded to night. Select this link to go directly to the album.

While looking around on the web this afternoon, I ran across this link supported by www.navysite.de This is the USS Yorktown CG48 page with comments of sailors that left their names and commetns on the site.

This is not the official site of the U.S. NAVY, you can find the official one at http://www.navy.mil/.
This website has no official connection to the US Navy or the US Department of Defense.

Thanks to the following plankowners for donating to the site:

Gary Getman
Dan Perrse
Jeffery Smith
Don Arnold
Mike Hirsch

I need a complete roster of all Yorktown Plankowners. If anyone knows how I can obtain this list, please e-mail me.

If anyone wants to write articles for the site and do not want to upload them, send them to me by using the link in the articles. I will be glad to post them for you.

Sea Stories! I know there are some sea stories out there just waiting to be published on the site. Send them to me or create an account and upload the stories. Just click on the account link in blue and join the site.

Shoving off for now.

After having completed repairs to one of the eductors while underway, a loud boom resounded from Aux 1, I never seen the CPO mess empty as fast as it did that night!  AUX 1 got crowded in a hurry! XO got on the phone pronto!  WHAT USE THAT BOOM!  HTC Getman reported that we just removed that stubborn DC plug that had been put in the hull so that we could make repairs to the eductor!

A 15# CO2 extinguisher was used to eject the DC plug from the hull!!!

 

Hope all is well with Yorktown shipmates and their families. The Christmas celebration is just around the corners. Children and grandchildren are in great anticipation.

I wanted everyone to know that Gary Getman has agreed to help me administer the site. I really appreciate his offer to help and the site needs two volunteers to keep the site up-to-date and handle any problems. Thanks Gary!

Also, Dan Persse, James Limric, Jr., William Bunting and Mary Morley have joined the site. They have upload capability and posting privileges. Anyone can have the same access. I know that it might seem clumsy and perhaps it might seem that way, but carefully look for links that will take you to "creating an account" or if you have received an invitation from Blogware, that is the company that is hosting our site.

I know some of you expected a different site, perhaps more static, but I believe this blog can be very useful for keeping track of shipmates. It will become more evident as we get closer to having a reunion. It will prove to be one location for planning a reunion. E-mail is great but strings and strings of e-mail can be difficult to keep up with. Also, photographs of meeting locations, maps and information will be good tools for planning a reunion. '

What's important is that a blog be kept alive with information. I read an article on Yahoo about blog being the number one word requested for the U. S. dictionary companies. So, if blogging is new to you, there is tons of information about it's use and meaning.

I know there are people out there with their own sites and please let me know and I will add your link to the Favorites. In fact, I will add my site the Maldenite. It's my blog about my hometown and local news. You might not find it interesting in the way of news articles but I publish photographs that I hope you might enjoy. I have reserved my Yorktown adventure for this site.

Thanks again to all who have joined the site. Dan Persse gets a special welcome for making a donation for the cost of running the site. Dan will get a copy of the DVD history.

I remember William Bunting mentioning that he made the DVD, so William if you can provide copies that would be great. I am able to rip them and make copies but if you have an easier way, let me know. We can see that expenses can be made to you through our PayPal account.

We have lots of hits on the site. Well over 1,000 so thanks for taking the time to look at the site. Write me for suggestions. My e-mail address is always available in the link for each article.

I just finished uploading the third album for the site. Since I took over 200 photographs during the reunion, I will have more in the next few days. I will be glad to send a CD of the weekend photographs for you to print or save on your hard drive. I know it seems like I am always asking for donations to run the site but a small contribution for cost of CDs and monthly site fees would be greatly appreciate. There is a Donation Button on the right hand side. Any amount can be added and you don't have to be a member of PayPal. I can send a receipt if you like.

Hope you enjoy the site and photographs.

The Yorktown web stats was a total of 438 page views. That means we have traffic but no one is joining the site. Benefits of joining the site is the choice of writing articles and publishing photogaphs. This means the site can be a way of communication among shipmates.

It's easy to join the site to upload your photographs and write short articles about what you find interesting or tell sea stories! Remember the funny stories you might have retold at the reunion? Share them on the site.

I will create a Sea Story folder and when you tell your story, just add the Sea Story category for a quick reference. Be sure and post it to the main  page, too.

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Click on this link to sign up when you view the site. This is where you get your user name and password to use the site.

Well, I hope everyone that checked the site had a blast! Bad pun, I know,  but hey what the heck. I didn't get to complete all the plans I had for the site but there's another day, I hope.

I want to thank Mr. Hutchinson for giving me a disc of photographs that he scanned. In fact, I used one of the Yorktown at sea photographs for the website banner.

Hello and welcome to to the USS Yorktown (CG 48) website. As some may notice this is a blog which means that a definite interaction is capable. In other words, you can post articles and photogaphs by uploading your stories and images directly on to the site.

One of the first steps in joining the Yorktown blog is to "create an account" which is on the right corner as you enter the site.

As webmaster, I will be building folders that are useful to direct readers to when they come to the site. For instance, I have a history folder that can be used for quick reference to postings. When you post, it is best to select a category that your story should be linked under.

I am going to set up a PayPal account that will be used for donations to keep the site up and running. There will not be a specific donation amount. What ever one can donate to help the site will be appreciated.

I also plan on putting up a store where Yorktown items can be purchased. Another link will be added to shop in the store. If you have items to use on the store, send me the photographs and I will use them on our store. The store is a gift item idea, such as, T-shirts, coffee cups, hats, etc.

Hope you have fun and I will be busy uploading lots of photographs that I took at the reunion and decommissioning ceremony in Pascagoula. Words can't really express how much I enjoyed seeing everyone. Thanks for visiting the site and please be sure to use the ideal e-mail notification choice when you create your account. Any questions, e-mail me.

Have fun!
David Black (OS1 (SW) proud member of the OI Division

Hey Guys,
I found the Continental Lineman. I just received an email from York County that stated they retained it after Nick's was demolished, and Yorktown Weapons Station is picking it up tomorrow to have it displayed in a small museum. I am not sure if they know the history of the statue or not. If you want specific contact information email me and I can give you the information I was given.
 

Rudy
Rudy Bohannon
NAVFAC MIDLANT
rudy.bohannon@navy.mil