''The Elsie item'' - USS Landing Craft Infantry National Association

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Letters to the Editor One ofthe real pleasures ofediting "<strong>Elsie</strong> Item" is reading thedaily mail! Scarcely a day goes by without an enjoyable or excitingmoment when a letter is opened and out comes anotherinteresting picture, another funny tale, another fascinating retellingofadventures oflong ago aboard an LCI. It sa pleasureto share some ofthese with you.The Return from RenoMost of us just got on a plane, flew home, and that was it, butJohn Dimm (LCI 399FF) Springfield, Mass. and his wife,Theodora, had one heck ofa time! Here are some excerpts fromhis letter:June 20,2001Dear John,Wasn't the reunion great!!! This made our sixth and my wifeand I enjoyed all of them. We have been to San Antonio andalready are looking forward to revisiting this great city and area.Now --coming home was very difficult. We finally got homeSunday Night, June 17th.We left the hotel and had a good start to a beautiful day. AtBattle Mountain, NV, we stopped for lunch, came out, startedthe wagon (a 2000 Focus wagon with only 12,000 miles on it),got half way around the restaurant and the engine died. Believeme, John, there isn't much in Battle Mountain. I called AAA forhelp. No tow truck after an hour so I called again. Finally aftertwo and a half hours a big flat bed truck arrived. He had to flatme (68 miles) to Elko, NY.The service manager and mechanic were very considerate of mywife and 1. They finally found a 20 amp fuse had blown. Theyroad tested the wagon and it seemed ok. The service man gaveme an extra fuse just in case it blew again. By this time it waslate, so we had to stay overnight in Elko.enough speed to get off the highway, thank God, or the big truckswould have helped us going 90 miles per hour! I called theFord Roadside Help number and gave them all the information.(He didn't seem to know where we were - He was in California!)He told my wife to hold on and he would let us know whowas coming. He didn't come back for approximately ten minutes,and our cell phone went dead!No tow truck, and after about two hours out on that hot salt flat,a Utah State Police Officer stopped. We gave him our story andhe called all the information in to his dispatcher. After a longwait when the dispatcher did not call back, the Officer calledagain. The dispatcher had taken down the wrong VIN numberand was doing nothing! The Officer was a little mad!Less than a half hour later, the dispatcher called and said a towtruck was on its way. The Police Officer was wonderful (a Mormon).He stayed with us for an hour and a half offering us water,etc. He offered to stay longer, but we said that as long as atow truck would be here shortly, he should be on his way.After an hour with no tow truck in sight, two young men stoppedand asked if they could help. We gave them our story and one ofthem called the police again. This time the dispatcher told himthere was no record of our breakdown!Finally we were told a tow truck was on the way from Salt LakeCity. At last, a little after 4:00 PM a big flat bed truck arrived.We had been out on the salt flats alone, except for the PoliceOfficer, since 10:45 AM!The driver flat-bedded our wagon to West Valley Ford, 126 milesaway. The Ford people were wonderful to two very tired seventy-eightyear old travelers! To bring the story to a close, wehad to say in a motel for three nights while the garage calledFord Engineering Headquarters three times before they foundthe trouble!Finally, after some other close calls with big trucks we reachedhome and were we ever glad!Wow, John, I'm tired just reading that account! I think you gotall ofyour bad traveling out of the way, so now you can coastfrom here on in!Next morning, beautiful day and off we go ....after stopping atBonneville salt flats and taking some pictures we started outagain, but only went about 20 yards and the same fuse blewagain! Out comes the spare and, although I was an industrialengineer manager, I managed to put it in the right spot Ha! Ha!Off we go again on Route 80-, speed limit 75 mph. We getabout one quarter of a mile and the engine died again! I had14
Earl Cain Visits "Our" Winery!Aggie Will be Waiting for Us!June 20, 2001Dear John,I'm pleased to know that an enthusiastic number of LClers willbe back in our lovely city for the Pacific Wing Opening[New Orleans, D-Day Museum, December 6-9,2001]. What athrill when I received your letter. We had a great time last yearand I'm eager to hear from the Masons - they were my guestslast celebration. What a memory! Can we top it? Maybe I willdance with Dr. Ambrose! Could I be so lucky!Take good care. Waiting to hear from you again.Always,Aggie Hurdle2421 Charles DriveChalmette, LA 70043Return to Slapton SandsEarl Cain (LCI J078R) visits Donna Elias, Vice President forMarketing, Windsor VineyardsIfyou were at Reno, you know that the 'Javor" this year was aspecially labeled bottle of wine. After returning home to St.Cloud, Florida, Earl's wife, Sarah, sent me the above pictureand this note:August 11, 200 IDear Mr. Cummer,Earl, myself and our son Francis took some side trips after theReno Reunion. One of the places we visited was the WindsorVineyard, where our Reunion wine was botttled. We talked toDonna M. Elias, Vice President for Marketing, who was onlytoo happy to autograph Earl's bottle of wine. Could you put thisphoto and a comment in the next newsletter and mail Donna acopy?Sincerely,Sarah E. Cain.POBox 1829St. Cloud, FL 34770We could, we did, and we will, Sarah!June 3, 2001Dear John,I took a special interest in your book review in "<strong>Elsie</strong> Item" forMay, 200 I, ofThe Invasion Before Normandy, by Edwin P. Hoyt.A friend of mine was killed at Slapton Sands; he was an Ensignon one of the LSTs.About eight years ago my wife and I visited France and went tothe American Cemetery at Normandy. At the cemetery office Imade inquiry about my friend's grave. I identified him as EnsignJohn Gallagher from Philadelphia, PA. After checking theircomputer, the young lady told me he was buried in Cambridge,England. I remarked that that was strange since he was killedon D-Day, June 6, 1944. She told me, "No, he was killed inApril, 1944". At that moment it hit me, "Operation Tiger".I had read and heard stories about "Operation Tiger" in a verysketchy way, and that it had been hush-hush for security purposes;also because of civilian morale.In 1998 my wife and I visited England for two weeks and spentsome time in Cornwall and Devon, checking our family rootsand history. I spoke to English people from Plymouth who rememberedthe tragedy of Slapton Sands.As part of our trip we went to Cambridge and took the bus to theAmerican Cemetery just outside the city. On going to the officethis time I was directed immediately to my friend Jack's grave.15
Page 1 and 2: ''The Elsie item''Official Newslett
Page 3: A Note from the EditorWhat a great
Page 6 and 7: will see that they aren't""We're no
Page 8 and 9: The LCI Association Exhibit feature
Page 10 and 11: Book ReviewThe Solomons Campaigns,
Page 12 and 13: Man Overboard! With a Rocket Launch
Page 16 and 17: I remember talking to his mother sh
Page 18 and 19: Jim Talbert Pulls a Great Work Part
Page 20 and 21: A First-Hand Look at the Modern Amp
Page 22 and 23: "Words fail me when it comes to exp
Page 24 and 25: Headed for the Big BlastRobert "Mik
Page 26 and 27: LCI 23 - One of the Early Gunboat C
Page 28 and 29: out for pot shots at night from one
Page 30 and 31: NEW E-MAIL ADDRESSES Here are the n
Page 32 and 33: Jim then presented John Cummer with
Page 34 and 35: USS Lei NATIONAL ASSN. REUNION APRI
Page 36 and 37: THE OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS OF THEUS
Page 38: USS LCI NATIONAL ASSOCIATION MEMBER

''The Elsie item'' - USS Landing Craft Infantry National Association

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