April 2025 Newsletter

Herald April 2025

April 2025
With much sadness we report the death of longtime shipmate FT2 Otto Brock. At reunions he either read names or manned the ship’s bell at the memorial service. He and his charming wife Charlene were at the Nashville reunion in 2002 and nearly every one since then. Otto was at the New Orleans reunion with son Ray and daughter-in-law Rita.

 Two other shipmates who attended many reunions also died   recently. BM2 Leo Richard (Dick) Martin and his wife Mary   began attending in 2018. He made the final deployment of the Hubbard, aboard   7/5/1968 to 8/15/1969. Despite the snow, shipmates Jim Stromberg and Doug   Leland were able to attend a memorial service in Eldon MO January 9. Our   association sent a flower wreath.

We also just found out that shipmate Anthony J. (Tony) Felice, Jr. died 11/19/2023  in State College, PA. He and his wife MaryBeth had moved to a retirement facility there from Woodstock, CT, where they had operated a B & B for many years. They began attending Hubbard reunions in 2004, and attended at least six of them. He was in engineering aboard 1963 to 1965.

Korean War veterans ET1 Ernie Moore and CSSN Adam Gdowski attended multiple reunions. Ernie attended twelve, his last being San Diego in 2022.

Mary Linn Hoffmann died March 21 at age 97. The widow of RADM Roy Hoffmann, she attended ten reunions in recent years.

Shipmates being remembered at our memorial service in New England:
SK1 Jack B. Brannan 1964-67 b. 11/18/1934 d. 11/30/2024 Gretna Louisiana;
FT2 Otto S. Brock, Jr. 1956-57 b. 9/1/1936 d. 11/30/2024 Las Cruces New Mexico;
STG2 Robert Ray Cavanagh 1966-69 b. 5/27/1944 d. 3/8/2025 Sonora California;
LTjg Anthony J. (Tony) Felice Jr. 1963-65 b. 12/12/1941 d. 11/19/2023 State College, Pennsylvania;
CSSN Adam John Gdowski 1951-54 b. 12/6/1929 d. 1/8/2022 Missouri Valley Iowa;
LTjg Eugene Francis Gerwe 1952-55 b. 10/3/1930 d. 3/19/2024 San Jose California;
SH3 Paul Steve Grant 1968-69 b. 2/22/1948 d. 8/12/2022 Shelby North Carolina;
S1/c James Frederick Kendrick 1944-46 b. 10/18/1922 d. 9/30/2003 Lake Wales Florida;
MM3 Thomas Melvin Kuhlman 1963-66 b. 7/5/1945 d. 11/26/2024 Kingman Arizona;
LTjg James Allen Mace 1960-61 b. 5/14/1930 d. 1/8/2018 Hattiesburg Mississippi;
BM2 Leo Richard (Dick) Martin, Jr. 1968-69 b. 11/17/1945 d. 12/29/2024 Eldon Missouri;
ET1 Ernest Plummer Moore, Jr. 1950-51 b. 12/10/1927 d. 2/1/2025 Berkeley Heights New Jersey;
BMSN George Morgan 1962-66 b. 2/22/1943 d. 8/17/2024 Weatherford Texas;
MM2 Arthur Gene Widener 1962-66 b. 1/2/1945 d. 1/8/2025 Paradise California.

Welcome Aboard:
BT3 Smith Lee Evans came aboard 10/16/59 from NTC San Diego and stayed until 14 May 1963. RDSN Rodney Park McKee also came direct from NTC, 11/17/60. He was transferred 11/1/1961 to USS Mahan DLG-11.

Newsletter scheduling & costs:
This edition is going out to 403 shipmates and associate members who either requested a paper copy or did not respond to our inquiry. Thanks to the 67 who responded that they did not need a paper copy. The last newsletter was posted on the website and is still available there. It has a photo of the shipmates who attended the New Orleans reunion and an article by SK3 Shane Hayes (68-69) about Fram destroyers and why Hubbard was not one of those. It had a limited mailing.

It costs about one dollar per copy to print an eight page black and white newsletter. To print in color is about three dollars per copy. Doing this one on my home computer with part of it in color takes a long time to do, but with two sets of ink cartridges and 3+ reams of paper it works out to about 45 cents per copy. And color makes a big difference. I bought the printer itself on sale, for $72.74. Ironic that a set of cartridges cost more than the printer, but the company makes money selling printer cartridges not printers. If you visit the website www.dd748.org and find that you can locate and read this newsletter okay, let me know so I can delete you from the mailed list. My email is easy to remember: dd748@mac.com.

My name is Dick Oliver. I was an Ensign aboard 1968-69. I wrote these two pages of newsletter. The Ship Store insert is by SH3 Al Eisenbraun (63-67). LT Brad Howe (64-67) provided the 2025 New England reunion info in the other four pages.

The Original Harry E. Hubbard Herald was a Spicy, Newsy blend:
I first started using the name “The Hubbard Herald” when I was told it was the name used in World War II for the ship’s newspaper. That was September 2006. In June 2010 I got a mailing from J. Harold Wells with some issues of the original newspaper. There were five issues but actually only one was a complete issue. When I got them I had my brother, a high school art teacher, copy the logo from the original. Since then we have used the correct name. It is “Harry E. Hubbard Herald” not “The Hubbard Herald.” Herald is in big print with Harry E. above and Hubbard below it and lightning bolts shooting left and right, as you can see on this and other issues of the newspaper.

James Harold Wells was a YN3, in the ship’s office, and according to the note he sent me, collected and saved copies of each issue. He was born 6/23/1924 and was about 18 1/2 when he enlisted 1/20/1943 at Richmond Virginia. He was in the pre-commissioning crew and then a plankowner when the ship was commissioned. He was aboard until 3/28/1946, when he was discharged. He lived in Martinsville Virginia, the upper part of the Shenandoah Valley, apple country. While I recall him from several reunions, mostly I recall him from his phone calls. The first thing I would hear in a loud booming voice was “LT OLIVER” drawn out in six lengthy syllables. He was likely observing Happy Hour. He died 9/8/2014, a little over 90 years old.

So, this is what I have and what we can learn about them: Issue Friday 26 May 1945 Vol. 2 #32 2 pages, Friday 22 June 1945 Vol. 3 #9 4 pages, Monday July 30 1945 Vol. 3 #31 6 pages, Friday 10 August 1945 Vol. 3 #42 8 pages and Monday August 13 1945 Vol. 3 #44 2 pages. It appears it was published about five times a week though one issue notes it being “published daily.” Issues contained news about significant events such as shooting down Japanese planes as well as canned news ripped from the teletype, drawings, jokes and items about crew members.

The 22 June 1945 issue indicates the editor was FC3 A. A. Villastrigo. It has a message from Radio Guam about the fighting in Okinawa. Also a note that due to a shortage of newsprint the number of copies was reduced from 55 to 38. And jokes such as these: Overheard in the chow line: “I’m behind the rest of them. Most of my paint is barely dry before I have to scrape it.” Much of the humor is unprintable nowadays. Friday August 10 has a front page drawing of two partially clad women. One says, “Don’t bother putting your clothes on Marge, the Hubbard just docked.” In the news, “Rumors in Washington predict early peace.” A full page of discussion with reports from Washington, San Francisco, New York and Guam. And a full page of sports news.

The last of my copies, Monday August 13, was heavy with news, most of it pointing to an end of the fighting. In Washington President Harry Truman made the announcement that the war was over. The next day was V-J day. — Dick Oliver