Reunion A Hit With Sailors Past, Present

"It's been 20 years and three days since that freezing day in Portland," said retired Capt. Andrew John Combe, the ship's commissioning commanding officer. "It's great to be back, and great to see such a good turnout. The ship looks better than some of us after 20 years and the hospitality and professionalism shown by the current crew was remarkable!"

The ship's current Commanding Officer, Capt. Gary Parriott, said it was a great occasion to show the veteran's how "we are taking care of the ship and carrying on the culture and the traditions that were established back in 1989."

Plankowners and other veterans of the Mayport-based cruiser traveled to Jacksonville for a three-day reunion that included a golf tournament, a ship tour and steel beach picnic, capped off with a banquet on Saturday night.

Fun and laughter with nostalgia in the air was the order of the day as plankowners shared stories about everything from the first cruise, the memorable underway 5K, to captain's mast and getting 'busted down,' losing pay and stripes.

Retired Senior Chief Gas Turbine Systems (Mechanical) Doug Reed ran into two fellow chiefs he hadn't seen in more than 10 years.

"We made chief together aboard this ship, had a lot of good times here," he said.

Reed said the crew was hardly out of pre-commissioning when they got the call to "make best speed east" at the start of the Persian Gulf War. After a hasty goodbye to loved ones and a quick transit through the Suez Canal, Philippine Sea and its Sailors went on to launch the first Tomahawk missiles at the start of the war in March, 1991. Reed said memories of that deployment will stay with him forever.

Chief Fire Controlman Justin Binkley, just recently having served aboard the ship said he wanted to thank the ship's earliest Sailors including Reed and his shipmates.

"They set the model for us, and I am so proud to be able to carry on that tradition today."

For most, the ship tour and the opportunity to mingle with today's active duty Sailors was the highlight of the reunion. For Chief Quartermaster Clifford Petty, a Quartermaster 3rd Class in 1989, things have come full circle.

"I remember when these old guys used to come back for ship reunions and because I was so young back then, I could have cared less. But now, I'm one of those guys!"

Petty told a story of how he and the other QM's carved their names in the wooden handrails on the bridge wings, to signify their place as the first quartermasters to guide the ship. Coming back, he saw the names again - Quartermaster Seaman Morrison, Quartermaster 3rd Class Petty, Chief Quartermaster Ray, Quartermaster 3rd Class Kuklinski, Quartermaster 3rd Class Joyce and Quartermaster 2nd Class Glanville - after years of varnish and polish.

The excitement spilled over to the ship's current crew, including Sailors like Operations Specialist Seaman Trevan Davis.

"It's great," he commented. "I've talked to a few people on the mess decks. They are really thrilled to be here and it's wonderful to see them excited about their old ship."

Although some Philippine Sea veterans served just one enlistment, others went on to retire from distinguished Navy careers. For instance, John Hagan was the ship's first command master chief, and he went on to serve as the eighth Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy in 1992. Rear Adm. Tom Copeman, currently the Pacific Fleet's Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Training and Readiness, was the commissioning CHENG, as a lieutenant commander in 1989.

Retired Rear Adm. Tom Bush was the plankowner Executive Officer. Although neither admiral could attend, Hagan said they and others whose schedules and personal situations did not permit them to attend, were much missed.

Ensign Brittany Kaluscak is the ship's current communications officer.

"I think it's good for our young sailors to see how far some people have come, so they can see that someone just like us who served on USS Philippine Sea went on to do great things for this ship and the Navy at large."

Kaluscak said everyone was interested to see how some things have changed, like female sailors serving aboard today, but many things are the same.

"I think they find it really strange to see females aboard. But then, I think they know a Sailor is a Sailor and we share a common bond, serving on the same ship."

A recurring theme throughout the weekend was that of the current crew's professionalism, pride, and spirit.

Tim Bates, the first officer to qualify as a SWO onboard and earn his pin as well as the commissioning Electronics Material Officer commented, "It's great to be back. The ship looks great, the crew looks great, and it was definitely worth the trip all the way from the west coast!"

Similarly, Chief Firecontrolman Lonnie Marksbury was "so impressed with the skipper and the crew."

"She looks great and the hospitality shown today to us is outstanding! You guys should be so proud," said Marksbury. "I'm grateful just to be back and see Phil Sea in such condition."

According to Hagan, the Saturday night banquet was a rousing success. The banquet hall was decorated with poster size prints of the early Wardog comics, an "underground strip" authored by then Cryptologic Technician (Collection) Seaman Tilley, who retired recently as a Senior Chief.

After an extended reception (which continued the sea stories begun on the ship's tour earlier in the day), the program opened with a soaring rendition of the Star Spangled Banner by the ships second Ombudsman, Mrs. Lisa Moser, and continued with a solemn two-bell ceremony recognizing and honoring deceased shipmates.

Hearty speeches by both the commissioning and current CO's were presented to a very enthusiastic audience, who cheered and applauded both speeches with gusto. The entertainment included former Signalman 1st Class Otto Voss singing and playing the guitar as he had many times before both on board and in many liberty ports.

Former Yeoman 3rd Class Arthur Cummings presented an updated version of the "Wardog Rap" which brought the house down and had to be repeated in encore.

It was a great tribute to the reunion, which received rousing participation from the audience during the rapping refrain "USS Philippine Sea Eternal Vigilance on the Big CG - Home of the Wardogs, so you better get it straight, we talking about the AEGIS Cruiser number 58!"

The rap continued including many crew names, ratings etc., and containing refrains describing the first deployment to Desert Storm "Tomahawks Flying But we were relying - on each other" and concluding, to the loud approval of all present: "From the bottom of my heart 20 years is too short to keep us all apart."

Retired Senior Chief Mike Moran coordinated the reunion weekend, and said he really appreciated the base and the ship's support in making the reunion a big success.

"It really means so much to us and we just couldn't have asked for anything better," he said. "The turnout was great, these guys have a lot of pride and just the chance to get together and go aboard the shipit was really very special."