USS Whitehurst Logo by: Pat Stephens, Webmaster DESA
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2011 Plaque Installed at The
National Museum of the Pacific War
Fredericksburg, Texas, Formerly The Nimitz Museum |
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At the 2010 Reunion of the Whitehurst Late
Crews, 19-21 September, Reno, Nevada, the attending veterans voted to install a
memorial plaque at the Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, Texas.
With the price being only $350 for the 5" x 7" plaque, no fund raising was
necessary. It was paid for from the USS Whitehurst Assn. treasury.
The plaque, after design, with the able assistance of Marty Kaderli of the
Nimitz Foundation,
Kaderli@nimitzfoundation.org , was ordered in October and delivered in
January, 2011.
The photo used on this plaque was taken at Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, in June 1953, while Whitehurst was in Full Dress, in
honor of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain. The
credit line below the bow of the ship reads, "Photo by: GM2 Glen Anderson".
The photo of the plaque was made by U.S. Navy veteran and professional
photographer Dudley Harris.
dudleyharris@mindspring.com The 8.5" x 11" photo, suitable
for framing, is available for
$25 + s/h (at the time of this posting Jan. 2011). Larger sizes are also
available.
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2004 Plaque Installed at
the Navy Memorial Washington D.C. |
USS
Whitehurst DE-634 Plaque Displayed at the Navy Memorial, Washington, DC |
Prior to the 2003 reunion in Peoria, IL of the 1950 and later crews of
the USS Whitehurst DE-634, Roger Ekman Capt. USN Ret, suggested that we consider
the Memorial Plaque program at the Navy Memorial in Washington, DC. Al
Crawford QMCM USN (Ret.), agreed to gather all the details and present the idea at
the Reunion in October.
After the details were presented, a proposal to raise
the $2500 cost, by asking for donations from the post WWII crews,
was unanimously approved. The sum of $850 was raised before the meeting
was over. Al Crawford was appointed fund raiser. His request was
mailed to everyone in the address list who served aboard Whitehurst after
1950. The response was immediate and positive. Enough was collected to pay for
the Navy memorial plaque, an exact copy for reunion
display ($125), all mailing expenses, with $1,325 left for a Navy related,
non-profit project.
In a business meeting at the 2004 reunion in Chattanooga,
TN, the Whitehurst veterans voted to send the entire $1,325 to the USS Slater
DE-766, now a museum ship in Albany, NY. In July, 2004, Treasurer, Arnold Pettijohn sent the
check to the Slater Endowment Fund.
The Whitehurst veterans listed below, contributed to
the fund for the Memorial Plaque. We wish also to express our thanks to
the many Whitehurst wives and companions who supported this effort. All
share equally in the effort to honor those who died as result of engagement with
the enemy in WWII and those who served later in Korea, Viet Nam and beyond.
We who survive our departed shipmates do continue to Honor
them. We also dedicate this plaque to our family members alive today and
to those of future generations who will visit the Navy Memorial, and the Navy
Log seeking to learn what part crews of the USS Whitehurst played in making this
world a better place.
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Donors for the Plaque Installed
at the Navy Memorial, Washington D.C.
Frank M. Aguilar |
Charles L. Anderson |
James Billingsley |
Glen Anderson |
Gene B. Avery |
Henry R. Belevance |
Andrew E. Bisaccia |
A. K. "Ken" Baroa |
Warren W. Blakely |
Jacob Bufford |
Robert Carter |
William C. Congdon |
Lewis Cowden |
Albert N. Crawford |
Gene E. Crocker |
Richard Cromer |
Max Crow |
George Davis |
Ruth Davis, in memory: Jack D. Davis |
Timothy P. Dorgan |
Roger E. Ekman |
Earl C. England Jr. |
William D. Evelo |
Jack R. Farmer |
Adrian Filipiak |
Roy Foster |
Zane Frasier |
Bobby Gentry |
Don Goldston |
David P. Graham Jr. |
Royland A. Hasty |
Wallace Hicks |
Gary W. Hendrickson |
George E. Holmes Jr. |
James C. Houser |
James E. Howe |
Carroll O. Jenkins |
George W. LaClear |
Tim Lake |
John L Mahan |
Tommy E. Martinez |
John O. McCawley |
Carl E. Mullins |
Jack Nettles |
Harold A. Osgood Jr. |
Robert L. Penny |
Arnold Pettijohn |
Rudolph G. Phillips |
Miller H. Roberts |
Wallace F. Shelton |
Donald G. Smith |
James J. Stafford |
Rodney C. Storz |
Louis C. Strazis |
Sylvan M. Tobin |
Hugh F. Toney |
Miles L. Waggoner |
Duane A. Wakefield |
Noel Wood |
William J. Woodward |
Lloyd L. Wright |
The personal sized memorial with the names of Whitehurst
vets lost in the Suicide Bomber attack 12 April 1945. This was
prepared by Dan Yeager who survived the attack.
Yeager Memorial
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