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WELCOME ABOARD THE USS FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT CVB/CVA/CV-42 WEBSITE.
THIS SITE IS DEDICATED TO THE FDR, HER SHIP’S COMPANY, MARINE DETACHMENTS AND ALL THE NAVAL AND MARINE SQUADRON PERSONNEL WHO HAD THE HONOR TO BE A PART OF HER LIFE.
Please sign the GUEST BOOK so your shipmates will know that you have been here. It’s also a great way to get back in contact. Your comments and suggestions are important to us.
The Feedback Page is now a Forum Page as well. Please help make it a popular discussion site.
Contact me at larryb442@verizon.net if you have photos or sea stories you would like to share. Shipmates are sending new stuff all the time and we’d like to show your photos too.
The first Rosie website was conceived and started by Steve Graham back in the 1990s and ran until 2002. Bob Dorais (Webmaster for the Coral Sea CV-43 website) started a replacement site (CV42.COM) to fill the void. I started this FDR site in Jan. 2009 as an offshoot of my USNAVYPHOTOS.COM website. Bob already had his hands full running several other websites at that point and after this site became established we agreed to merge the two sites and I agreed to do the work. As a result you now have the content from both sites right here. This site is accessible as CV42.com, CVA42.com and USSFDR.com as well.
After the ship’s reunion in May ’08 we began a project to preserve the movies many of us took while aboard the FDR. That film is getting old now and won’t be playable much longer. If you have any film that you are willing to share with your shipmates please click larryb442@verizon.net to contact me and I will (at no cost to you) have it converted to digital format, give you a DVD Video copy of your film and add the video to the collection shown at the Annual Reunion. You will also get a free copy of the final Video that includes your film. Revenue from the sale of the Cruise DVDs is shared with the USS FDR Reunion and helps defray the cost of the digital conversions. The generosity of many shipmates has allowed me to produce 9 Cruise Video DVDs so far and additional commitments of film will help finish more. Please look at the “Videos” page to check the current status.
CREWMEMBERS – Please read the message on the VIDEOS page.
I badly need a little more film from the 1967-68 Cruise. It’ll never get done unless some shipmates help out a bit more. It’s almost finished! —- Also check out the OPHIST page. I need some help there to fill in some gaps…c’mon you guys who kept diaries!
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The following information is needed to help finish the 1971 Cruise Video. In which ports did the following take place? 1. “Steak Day”. 2. “Swim Call”. If ANYONE that was the on the ’71 cruise remembers please contact larryb442@verizon.net . I’m thinking Palma at the end of the cruise but I wasn’t there and I’d like to put the scenes in the correct place.
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The following Cruise Videos are now available: 1957-58, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962-63, 1964, 1965 Med Cruises and the 1966-67 Vietnam Cruise. Click HERE and then on the individual VideoPage to see a demo clip. If you’re interested, contact larryb442@verizon.net . We gladly accept PayPal.
Click HERE to see which Cruise Books are now available on CD. 
If you get some enjoyment or good information from this site and are able to help out a bit please go to the donate page. We can certainly use any financial help you offer no matter how small.
Any shipmate who has not yet become a member of the Reunion group is encouraged to join. It’s a wonderful group and holds annual meetings around the country. There is a link to their site on this page.
UPDATES:
16 Aug.: The “Feedback” page is now open for moderated discussion…please go ahead and use it.
13 Aug.: The 66-67 VietNam issue of the Presidential is now in the Publications section.
03 Aug.: The 1967-68 Cruise Book on CD is now available. Click HERE .
01 Aug.: Several format changes have been made to conserve vertical space. The sidebar menu has been made collapsible and several crew photo pages now view in slide show format. Please direct any comments on the changes to the feedback page.
Use the new Search Function if you have trouble locating something that used to be part of a page title i.e. if you want to find Wendling’s Equator crossing pics just search the word “equator” to find their slideshow on Wendling’s page.
14 July: 1951 Christmas menu added.
13 July: New Welcome Aboard booklets added.
09 July: 1969 photos and story just posted.
07 July: Interesting stuff from Mike Keohane (on board 74-77) just posted.
06 July: Phill Gemmill’s photos from 1958-60 are now on the site.
05 July: I’ve been adding to my personal photo page. 1958 & 60 stuff.
30 June: Jim Burroughs from VF-84 Photo Page now up.
27 June: Jim Reardon’s Color pics are now up.
25 June: Gary Menso sent photos from the Gas Gang…just posted & Gene Williams’ 1970 photos are up too.
23 June: Bill Prahl’s VA-15 Photos from 1964 are now up.
15 June: 1970 Cruise Book CD now available!
14 June: Some of Jim Reardon’s nice black & white photos from 1970-71 posted.
24 May: 1973-74 Med Cruise Video is now available!
22 April: Mishap recount of 1970 A6 & Pilot Loss posted.
09 April: 1960 Med Cruise Video is now available.
05 April: 1972 Cruise Book CD available.
11 Feb.: Several newspaper articles about the 1967 Capetown Visit. Good reading. Submitted by Gary Chamberlain.
10 Jan.: Added “Feedback Page” for discussion topics. (Not to be confused with the Guest Book Page)!
03 Jan. 2010: Link installed to Valions Veterans Website VT-4 • VA-2A • VA-15 • VFA-15.
27 Dec. 2009: 1959 Med Cruise Video now available.
02 Oct.: 1962-63 Med Cruise Video Released!
30 July: 1963-64 Video DVD “Flight Deck” & 1946 Video DVD “Operation Sleepless” now available!!!!
28 July: 1964 Cruise Video DVD now available!!!!
