From the Slater Signals

September has been Reunion Season. This past month we were visited by the crews of USS WILHOITE DE397, HARVESON DE316, PILLSBURY DE133, ALEXANDER J. LUKE DE577, FRYBARGER DE705, VANCE DE387, GUSTAFSON DE182, CLARENCE E. EVANS DE 387, ZELLARS DD777, and CURRIER DE700. Needless to say we were kept busy with ceremonies and memorial services. Ken Kaskoun's dedicated color guard crew was stretched pretty thin making all our commitments, but with the help of the Michigan volunteers, we always managed to turn out a color detail. Our thanks to Ken, Jerry Jones, Bob Dawson, Larry Williams, Bill Coyle, Dick Walker, Gene Cellini, Dave Floyd, Les Beauchaine, Jack Madden, Bill Schroun, John Edwards and Pat Cancilla who look sharp in all kinds of weather. My most memorable event of the month was helping a CURRIER radar man make it up to CIC. He was on oxygen and had a wheeled bottle with him, and we hauled bottle and tubing up two decks to he could see his old station at the DRT. The DE sailor is not to be denied.

We are coming up with a new way of recognizing those ship crews that have come to Albany for a reunion. When we complete our new gift shop we will line a shelf close to the ceiling with the hats of all the ships that have held reunions aboard SLATER. So, if your crew participated in an Albany reunion, we need a hat from you for the spring.

And later..........
"Speaking of legacies, several years ago at the USS CURRIER reunion, a radar man who was on oxygen wanted to get up to CIC. We volunteered to carry his oxygen bottle so he could climb the two levels to sit in CIC at the SA console for a few minutes and reminisce. That man was Walter Moore. He and his wife Ramona were so appreciative that he sent me pictures of the event. Walter passed away, and Ramona remembered the SLATER writing "My husband loved the SLATER and would never forget how the crew helped him up to the radar shack when we were in Albany a few years ago." To express her appreciation Ramona donated 100 shares of 3M stock to the SLATER Endowment Fund. Our best wishes and gratitude go to the Moore family for their thoughtfulness. We’re glad we could be here for Walter and all the other DE veterans who come to visit. If you want to see something special, just ask. "