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“THE ELSIE ITEM” Number 59 • April, 2007Official Newsletter of the USS LCI National Association , a non-profit veteran’s organization. Membership in the USS LCI National Association isopen to any U. S. Navy or U. S. Coast Guard veteran who served aboard a Landing Craft, Infantry. Associate membership, without voting privileges,is offered to others.Published quarterly by the USS LCI National Association. John P. Cummer, Editor. Any material for possible publication should be sent to theEditor at 302 Pinewood Cottage Lane, Blythewood, SC 29016OFFICIAL NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETINGAs required by the by-laws, official notice is hereby given that the USS LCI National Association will holdits annual meeting at 9:00 A.M., Saturday, May 19, 2007, at the Radisson Hotel, Branson, Missouri.Your Dues are Due!Annual membership dues—$25.00—for Fiscal Year 2007ARE NOW DUEDues may be paid upon receipt of your invoiceor at the Registration Table at the Branson reunionIf paying by mail, please send your dues to:USS LCI National Associationc/o Nehemiah Communications, Inc101 Rice Bent Way #6Columbia, SC 292292
A Word from the EditorGreetings, once again, shipmates!We've pushed a bit to get this issue out to youbefore our Branson reunion so that we can be assure as possible that each and every one of youknows all the details and can make your plans tobe with us. You'll find all the information andregistration blanks that were in our last issuerepeated here.Remember to let Connie Mulherin (address onthe officer's page) know if you'd like to take partin the after-banquet entertainment! On thatpoint, I would like to categorically deny that thefeature of the entertainment will be the officersperforming “Waltz of the Flowers” dressed intutus!In this issue:A theme or emphasis for this issue started withsome photos Vaughn Hampton sent of the officersof Gunboat Flotilla 3, Group 8 receivingmedals from then Secretary of the Navy, James E.Forrestahl. It reminded me again of that gallantaction which resulted in the CongressionalMedal of Honor being awarded to Lieutenant,Junior Grade, Rufus Herring and Silver Starsawarded to the Captains of six other gunboatsAs it was, we ran into problems of identificationof the officers in the photo so were not able touse it, but it led to my decision to re-visit thataction and, in particular, remind us once again ofwhat Rufus Herring did.The center piece of this issue is the researchand writing of Carl V. Batzkall, a Viet Nam eraNavy veteran who became intrigued with theaccounts he had read in previous issues of ElsieItem and undertook to find the deck logs andaction reports of the ships involved, particularlyso that he could trace just what happened tothose wounded aboard the gunboats. I hadreceived his lengthy report, painstakingly andbeautifully hand-written, about a year ago, butits length seemed to make it unworkable.Because it is so well done, I decided to run abouthalf of it in this issue and the other half in theJuly issue.I then retrieved from the files the officialaction reports of Herring's ship, the 449, writtenby Lt Mittleman who relieved him after he wasseriously wounded, and of LCI(G) Group 8. Thesetersely-written, almost matter of fact, accountsmade the whole action seem as if it had justoccurred and led me to share this all with you.I hope it is a reminder to all of us of the braveryand sacrifices made by many of our shipmateswho did not have our great privilege ofreturning home to live the lives we have lived.We can be both proud of and grateful for theirsacrifices.A Look AheadBranson is just around the corner! My sensefrom all I've heard is that it may well be one ofthe best-attended reunions we have had. Wesincerely hope that you will be able to join usthere. .There are significant developments that augurwell for our future. The Associates are organizing;the state directors are active, particularlydue to the excellent leadership being given byHal Bleyhl; the response to our request for specialdonations from Life Members has resulted inalmost $11,000 being given; and the newarrangements for administrative support withNehemiah Communications is off to a goodstart. All of these developments are greatencouragements and reinforce our convictionthat our Association still has some good yearsleft in us. Realistically speaking, that may beonly about four or five years, but we can makethem very good years and we can encourage ourAssociates to pick up the torch and carry on.See you in Branson!John Cummer3
Page 1: OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THEUSS LANDI
Page 5: USS LCI NATIONAL ASSN. REUNIONMAY 1
Page 9 and 10: LCI 713 JOINS THE FLEET FORTHE PORT
Page 11 and 12: Associate Members. I'm expecting a
Page 13 and 14: The Gunboats at Iwo Jima: Part IThe
Page 15 and 16: After wounded were transferred, shi
Page 17 and 18: 1117—Hit portside, Captain's cabi
Page 19 and 20: Deck Log, USS New York (BB-34):1352
Page 21 and 22: The Heroism of Rufus G. HerringComm
Page 23 and 24: “We Were There”Present Members
Page 25 and 26: The Homecoming of Flotilla EightByJ
Page 27 and 28: Carl Chapple Donates AnotherModel f
Page 29 and 30: Coastguard LCI Veteran Writes His M
Page 31 and 32: USS LCI NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONAPPLICA

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