AP TROOP TRANSPORT GROUP REUNION

8 JUNE 2006: I have belonged to the AP TROOP TRANSPORT GROUP for several years now but have never attended one of their reunions. In 2006 they are having a reunion in Virginia Beach, VA, June 8-11th. I'm definitely going. My flight and other reservations are already made. While there, we will also go to Williamsburg, once again, and then, on the way back, we'll be stopping off in Dallas for a few days to visit with relatives there. We are going to arrive in Virginia Beach on June 5th and will be leaving on the 11th. These guys are Navy and some Merchant Marine. I'm not sure of the mix ratio. I don't know anyone but I think that we have a lot in common to revisit when we get together. As far as I know, membership and attendance at the reunion is open to anyone who served on a transport, traveled on a transport, had a friend of relative who served or traveled on a transport, or is just interested in the history and memories of the transport era. (Note to residents of Rio Linda: That means membership and attendance is open to absolutely anybody who wants to join or come! Even if you are a resident of Rio Linda). More info on this on my usnsbarrett.com website on the page marked "Bulletin Board" or something like that. Also on my website (www.usnsbarrett.com) I have a "Link" page that takes you quickly and easily to other interesting sites but mostly to "yesteryear". (Nope, nothing on the Lone Ranger!).
Sometime on June 7th, 2006, the all-volunteer Ventura Liberation Navy will board the BARRETT, seize control, liberate her, and then sail her back to Port Hueneme, CA. At present, the "Navy" consists of only one volunteer who holds the rank of Fleet Admiral. The BARRETT is presently at anchor in the "Ghost Fleet" at Fort Eustis, VA on the James River. (Failing in that, and since the Admiral really doesn't know how to start the engines or navigate her, I'm going to try to get them to give me the glass out of the porthole in my old room!)
UPDATES: 21 FEB 06: Still running into bureacratic stonewalling by the Maritime Administration but I'm determined to get back on board. I'll be appealing to a couple of congressmen and a Senator soon for help. (No, not either of the California Senators!) The two California senators would only help me get back aboard if I agreed to go down with the ship!
8 MAR 06: Saints be Praised! It now seems very likely that I will be allowed back aboard in early June of this year! I'm still lacking the "official" air-tight approval but it seems to be just a matter of some paperwork now! It was fifty years ago that I left that ship to be discharged and I have never even seen it again, much less be aboard it. It will be a momentous occasion for me!
13 APR 2006: EUREKA! Bingo! I just this moment received official approval for my visit to the BARRETT for picture taking. I have yet to arrange the details with MARAD onsite people. I'll post those when I get them settled. I will also be sending out individual "Thank You's" to all who helped and to my MARAD contacts!
6 MAY 2006: It now seems as assured as anything can get. I will be on board on June 7th barring any major problems. But, of course, anything may go wrong at any time. My GPS receiver says that the ship lies on a true course of 073 degrees from my office at a distance of 2390 miles!
22 MAY 2006: I'm all ready for my BARRETT reunion and my AP TROOP TRANSPORT GROUP reunion. See my "official gear" below. You can "click" on each photo to make it larger. There are a lot of good sites now where you can get good photos, hats, shirts, jackets, mugs, etc. I got the hat from seaweed.com and the shirt from navalshopping.com. Both were OK to deal with and fairly reasonable. The BARRETT silhouette is so unique that neither of the silhouettes looks much like the BARRETT but they're not too bad.





27 JUN 06: OK, I've been there. I'm trying to get these photos available with my limited ability and knowledge. So I'm starting at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonsan. Check that out. It will be a while before I get them all on and even longer before I get the "comments" sections done. I think that I'm done trying to get them in a photo album on classmates.com that many of you are prevented from viewing. Next year the reunion will be in Jacksonville, FL, May 31 to June 1st, 2007. Be there.

2006 OCEANO REUNION

15 JULY 2006: A multi-class reunion for the Oceano Elementary School "kids" from the '40's & '50's is planned for the Oceano Depot on July 15, 2006. A bar-b-q is in order. More info and specifics as they become available. Mark your calendars and plan to attend. More info also will be posted on the Message Board at classmates. Here's the url: http://group.classmates.com/user/mboard/?group_id=2218610&type=hs. Classmates changed their rules for a time and did not allow basic members to view photo albums but they fairly quickly saw that was going to be a big mistake so they changed the rule back again.
23 JUN 06: Well, Classmates may be about to outsmart itself. There are other, even better sites coming on line now where you can post photos and that are even better than classmates and that don't require a membership. See http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonsan/ As soon as I get the time and get better and quicker at it, I may move or duplicate all my classmates photo albums on to a site like flickr.com. It just doesn't pay to try to rip people off on these on line sites because just too much new and better stuff is coming on line every day.
15 JUL 06: Well, it's history. But it was great. Great weather. Great bar-b-q. Great company. I'll try to get more information on here later. The cooks put out over 250 plates and were looking for more so I don't know exactly how many were there but for a rinky-dink school in a podunk town, the turnout was stupendous!
15 AUG 06: Here are some good photos of the reunion: http://www.pictage.com/214796. Be sure to click on the "View all Images" link up in the top right area. I also put together a list of my "favorites" shown as "Jon's favorites". These just show people that I knew or went to school with. (I tried the "favorites" albums and they don't work well so it's best to use the "View all Images").

OCEANO DEPOT

16 OCT 2005: We were at the Oceano Depot for a dedication and "mini-reunion". I have added some photos and comments in my photo album on classmates.com at the Oceano Elementary School site. The url to get there is: http://photos.classmates.com/user/photoalbum/album.tf?album_id=132403. Check out the Message Board also.
1-12-06: Those "rotten coyotes" at classmates.com have changed the rules just recently. You used to be able to view the photo albums without being a paid ("gold") member but now they have changed that. You have to buy at least a limited "gold" membership now to see the photos. Other than reading some of the postings there is no point in going to classmates.com unless you are already a paid member or are willing to pay to be one. It seems that everybody is now moving toward requiring money for everything. I haven't been to Vegas in a long, long time since they raised the prices on everything and I don't think it's likely that I will ever be there again. The last time I was there, New York, New York was just starting construction.
23 JUN 06: Well, Classmates is about to outsmart itself. There are other, even better sites coming on line now where you can post photos and that are even better than classmates and that don't require a membership. See http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonsan/ As soon as I get the time and get better and quicker at it, I'll probably move or duplicate all my classmates photo albums on a site like flickr.com. It just doesn't pay to try to rip people off on these on line sites because just too much new and better stuff is coming on line every day.
8 FEB 08: Classmates seems to have wised up. You can now, once again, view the photo albums without being a Gold member.