Hel= lo shipmates,

Win= ter has finally come to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. There’s about four inches of= snow on the ground and freezing rain predicted.= Snow is fine, we don’t like the freezing rain. We had to make a trip to Massachusetts on December 31. Pat’s moth= er was failing so we drove up. We ar= rived at the nursing home at 6:15 pm and her mother passed away at 6:30. Family members said she was waitin= g for Pat and they were right. The visitation was on Thursday, January 3 and was more a celebration of her life than a sad time. Family and f= riends gathered to share memories and stories.&nb= sp; The funeral was on Friday morning and was beautiful. We arrived home on Sunday evening = (January 6) and are getting back to normal.

Pla= ns for the reunion well underway. Be= low is the information on the hotel. As we get information on tours, we will put them in newsletters and on the websit= e. There is a reunion page on the web= site with the hotel information. Additions to that page will be made as information becomes available= .

Holiday<= /span> Inn Seattle-Renton

October 1= -5, 2008

One South Grady Way

Renton,= WA <= st1:PostalCode w:st=3D"on">98057

425-226-7700

www.holidayinn.com/rentonwa

Reservation Method:

Reservations MUST be made by phone directly to the Hotel at (425) 226-7700 x 7225. Reservations must be made by August 15, 2008. In order to rece= ive the negotiated rate, you must indicate the group name: USS HENRY TUCKER REUNION. Should you use any other phone numbers and/or book via online internet search engine you may not receive the negotiated rate listed above and the guest room block will not be credited. All reservation requests must be accompanied with a first night room deposit, o= r be guaranteed with a major credit card. Please note that Room Types and Special Request cannot be guaranteed as they are based upon availability. We will have information on = RV parks in the next newsletter.

Transportation Services:

Airport: The Holiday Inn Seattle-Renton offers complimentary 24-hour Airport shuttle service to and from SeaTac Airport (Seattle/Ta= coma International Airport). We recommend that you make advance arrangemen= t by calling the hotel directly at (425) 226-7700 for pick-up. OR as you arrive at the baggage claim area, look for Hotel’s courtesy phone and dial #18 and then proceed to the 3^rd level of the parking garage. Shuttle will pick you up at the designated “island.R= 21;

Mall: Also the hotel’s local shuttle provides daily schedule services within a five-mile radius including Westfield Shopping town (over = 200 retailers including Nordstrom, Macy’s, and numerous restaurants), loc= al parks, and more.

The = room rate is $119.00 per night. Th= is is higher than the rate for other reunions, but the price includes a welcome buffet on the first night and a full breakfast buffet (varied each morning) each morning in our hospitality room for attendees staying at the hotel. We feel that the price is quite reasonable. For those not sta= ying at the hotel, a charge of $15.00 per person will be charged for the welcome buffet and each day’s breakfast if you plan to attend.

Rese= rvations can be made at any time and we suggest you reserve early. If your plans change and you cannot attend, you can always cancel. We also suggest looking into airline reservations early because the prices will be lower if you book early.

Tent= ative plans are for a tour to a flight museum as well as a visit to the USS Turner Joy. We would like to have the memorial service on or near the Turner Joy. Information and pricing will be in= the next newsletter. Of course th= ere will be a banquet and business meeting with a raffle.

We&#= 8217;re also looking ahead to 2010. T= hat reunion will be on the East Coast and we’re looking at either Wilmington, North Carolina or Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Both are in areas with interesting sights to see and things to do. We’d like to plan it for September so the weather would be war= m.

We received an email message from Jim Poole (ENS/LTJG, 59-61) on December 25 informing us that Mrs. Ann Hanson (widow of CDR Ralph M. “Swede” Hanson) entered hospice care in her home in November for leukemia. Her daughter Karen shares her resi= dence so she is well cared for. If = you would like to send Mrs. Hanson a card, here is her address: Mrs. Ann Hardy Hanson, 754 Neptune Court, Chula Vista, CA<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> 91910= -6322. As of this writing (January 19), w= e have no further word on her condition. Please keep her in your prayers.&nb= sp; Mrs. Hanson and family members attended the banquet at San Diego in 2002.

Website News

The website is always a work in progress. If you haven’t visited the site recently, please do. On the main page is a prominent li= nk to the reunion page. Visit often= for updates. Be sure to also visi= t the history page and the veterans’ information page. There is a wealth of information o= n the veterans’ information page.

Gary O’Neil continues to expand on the Tucker history for the website. We’ve lost track of everyone= who has contributed to this project, but it is wonderful that so many have come together to work on it. If yo= u have any information that you can add to the history, please contact Gary directly (em= ail: goneil@new.rr.com, phone: 920-738-0634).&n= bsp; The next time we post the history to the website (hopefully around t= he time this newsletter goes out), it will be separated into sections. The original file was getting so l= arge we were concerned that people with older, slower computers might have probl= ems downloading it, so it will be available in smaller files. Please see page 5 of this newslett= er for information from Gary on the history.

We h= ave been adding obituaries to the Memorial List on the website and would like to post as many as we can. If yo= u have a copy of an obituary (or death announcement, or funeral home announcement)= for a shipmate, we would love to post it. If you can scan it and email it to Pat that would be good. If you don’t have a computer= , you can send the original. Pat wi= ll scan it and return the original to you.&nb= sp; See the last page for address info.

It&#= 8217;s been awhile since any photos have been posted on the website. Tom Byrne, who has done an excelle= nt job with that project, has had to take some time off to go to Vermont so he and Julie can care for h= is daughter Laura who is seriously ill. Please keep them in your prayers.

As always, if you move or change your email address, please let us know as soo= n as possible. We need up-to-date information to be sure we can get your newsletters to you. This newsletter will not go to a h= andful of shipmates because we don’t have current addresses or email address= es and haven’t been able to find them.&= nbsp; Also, we want to be sure your email address is current on the websit= e so your shipmates will be able to find you.

On p= age 4 of this newsletter is a letter from Bob Miller with information on his ongoing project of having cruise books put on CD.

Fair winds and smooth sailing!

Bill Siler=

Additions to the Crew List=

Ande= rson, Dale J.

FTG3= , 62-64

Ashb= y, Claude P.

FN1/= c, 51-52

Bifu= lco, Frank F.

SK2,= 46-49

Bowl= er, Jr., James R.

LT, = 50-53

Davi= s, James E.

CS3,= 48-50

Ihrk= e, Warren C.

FTC,= 49-52

Joan= is, William L. “Piss Ant”

CS3,= 61-63

Juen= gling, Jr., Karl F.

LTJG= , 45-46

Keit= h, Willie J. “Bill”

BT3,= 50-53

Magn= ano, Ignatius J. “Iggy”

FN1/= c, 48-50

Mauc= k, Kenneth C.

ME2,= 50-53

McCa= ulley, Ben

MM2,= 49-52

Nail= , Curtis F.

FN, = 64-65

Orla= uski, Robert W. “Bob”

SM3,= 72-73

Plan= z, Vernon L.

MMC,= 56-58

Poe,= Sam G.

SN1/= c, 50-51

Rago= n, Donald E.

GM1/= c, 45-46

Reed= , Robert A.

MMC,= 52-53

Rida= , John W.

SN1/= c, 45-46

Roep= ke, John R.

LTJG= , 55-57

Ten = Eyck, Winfield C. “Win”

FC3,= 45-47

Yage= r, Joe

Ple= ase keep the following in your thoughts and prayers:

Ruth Willson, wife of Tommy Willson (FN, 52-55), passed away on January 18, 2007= .

Bru= ce Cardin (FN, 52-55) has been ill.

Day= ton Powell, (BT2, 51-55) has had eye surgery recently.

Cruise Book Information

Hello Shipmates,

Requests for USS Henry W. Tuck= er Cruise Books have picked up slightly. Since the last newsletter I’ve received enough requests for the, 1955, 1956 -'57, 1959, 1968 -'69 1969 -'70 and the 1971 Cruise Books to have them professionally scanned.

Each book consists of two CD’s. The first is a pdf file while the second are jpg files. They are enclosed in a jewel case and adorned with the books cover on the front.

The following Cruise Books are= now available on CD’s

1953 <= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> 1956= 1959 &= nbsp; 1968 -'69 &nb= sp; 1971

1955 <= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> 1956 -'57 1963 -'66 &= nbsp; 1969 -'70

[These CD’s are only available to former shipmates or their families]

When sufficient requests are received for the remaining books I’ll have them professionally scanned and made available.

This is not a business for me.= It is in fact a method of preserving some of our history while making these books available to others who for whatever reason do not enjoy a book of their ow= n. Your donation gives me the financial ability to continue this practice.

I ask for a donation of $20.00 or more per book. However = when I originally started this project I was unaware there were Cruise Books with = far more pages. Although shipping and handling remains the same, the cost of ha= ving these book scanned were three times greater than previous books scanned. The 1968 –’69 and 1969 are two such books. Therefore I ask for a donation of $30.00 or more for= these CD’s. Similar CD’s sell on E-Bay for over $40, however, they don’t have Tucker Cruise Books. Coupled with the fact that most shipm= ates sent me donations of $30.00 or more for books with far fewer pages I feel t= his is a reasonable request.

USS Henry W. Tucker had a tota= l of 12 Cruise Books they range from 1953 to 1973 and are as follows.=

1953 1956 &= nbsp; 1958 1963 -'66<= span style=3D'mso-tab-count:1'> 1968 = -'69 1971

1955 1956 -'57 1959 1967 &= nbsp; 1969 -'70 1972 -= '73

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p;

If interested

Send me : Your name and the book/s you’re interested in.

[I will notify you as they become available ]

Bob Miller

3009 <= st1:address w:st=3D"on">W. Bryn Mawr Ave.=

Chicago, IL 60659-3724

773-271-6848=

millerbrothers875@hotmail.com=

Bob= Miller sent two websites with information on asbestos exposure and Mesothelioma for Navy vets.

Asb= estosis: http://www.waterskraus.com/index.aspx?id=3Dasbestoslocator&s=3DS= EA

Mes= othelioma: http://www.mesothel.com/ships/ships_guided.htm

Notes on the Hist= ory Project from Gary O’Neil

Although there is MUCH m= ore to do --

THE TUCKER HISTORY IS NOW SPLIT INTO 7 SEPARATE SECTIONS.

Ø The existing history has been split = into 7 distinct sections based roughly on 5-year segments. The individual sectio= ns are now as follows –

1944-1949 - (Includes Commissioning in October 1944 until December 1949)<= /o:p>

      The Enewetok A-Bomb certificate has been added for 1948

      Completely = new info added about the evacuation of Shanghai 1949.

1950-1954 - (Includes the Korean War)

Ther= e is a complete re-write of the Tucker Korean War service.

The = year 1954 has all the storm information added.

1955-1959 - (Peacetime Activities)

Info= rmation added for the Miss Universe visit 1956

More photos have been added.

1960-1964 - (= First lengthy deployment, FRAM and Tonkin Gulf incident)

      Near collis= ion incident added for 1962

Russian Sub incident added for 1962.

1965-1969 - (= The Vietnam War)

Many= small clarifications, and also more pictures added.

1970-1973 - (= End of Vietnam War until Decommissioning)

New = photos added, and the “Fish” story of 1970.

1974-1994 - (History of Marcillio Dias and Sinking)

Pres= ently unchanged.

Ø       These following pieces of the previo= usly posted history are no longer in the 7 sections of the body of the history, = but as separate standalone information.

The “Man” - the Henry Walton Tucker part about the Battle= of Coral Sea and the sinking of USS Neosho in 1942.

The Plankowner’s list.

The Tucker Ribbons and medals section.

The Tucker steaming statistics page.

There will a new Acknowledgements page (soon), which will recognize t= he many who have contributed to this history.

=

Contact Information

J.W. "Bill" Siler, Jr. BTC USNR Ret

835 Claybanks Dr.

Callaway, VA 24067-4524

Tel: 540-483-5727

Email (Bill): jwsilerbtc@earthlink.net

Email (Pat): silerpugs@yahoo.com

Websites

http://www.hwtucker2000.com

Yahoo Group

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HenryWTucker

Baseball Caps

We have baseball caps for sale.&= nbsp; They are Navy Blue with the ship's name and hull number in gold. Ship profile is in white.

The caps come in solid cloth or mesh back. Please specify which you prefer = when ordering.

To order, send a check for $12.00 (covers postage) payable to:

Henry W. Tucker Reunion Fund

Send the check to the address at the left.

=

=

=

= ;

USS Henry W. Tucker DD/DDR 875

Reunion Association

Mission

The mission of = the USS Henry W. Tucker Reunion Association is to bring together shipmates from t= he entire time the ship was in commission, 1945-1973 as the USS Henry W. Tuc= ker (DD and DDR 875) USN and 1973-1993 as the Marcilio Dias (D25) of the Brazilian Navy.

All shipmates of all rates and ranks and their families are considered to be part of the Tucker Family and all are welcome at reunions. This includes widows and childre= n of our departed shipmates.

The mission is = also to honor those who have gone before, our deceased shipmates.

=