HAVE YOU CHECKED THE HOME PAGE FOR THE LATEST INFO?
I have managed to resurrect some of the Guest Books from the previous FDR Websites. There are some that are lost forever but this is the best there is at the moment. There is a lot of good stuff there.
Click on the year you want to view. Click on the left arrow at the top of your browser to return to this page.
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006-09
MISUSE OF INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN COULD BE AN INVASION OF PRIVACY!
Sign in using the comment form at the bottom of the page and please leave a valid email address. It will NOT be viewable to visitors! If you want to hear from your shipmates leave your email address IN THE MESSAGE ALSO.
SO
Please put your email address in your message so your shipmates can get back to you (if they can remember you).
There is software on board that makes it unreadable to the “bots” who collect that sort of stuff.
All entries must be approved before they will appear in the book. Any inappropriate entries, as well as those with invalid email addresses, will be deleted and will not appear. I check daily so don’t despair if your entry doesn’t appear immediately.
Due to a rash of automated spam messages we now use “captcha” authentication. Just enter the “captcha” code and then SUBMIT. Don’t worry about upper or lower case….either will work. If you have trouble reading it just click the little button to the right and it will “refresh”. Thanks!
Many shipmates have told me, via email, about having visited this site. Oddly many have not left entries here for their shipmates to see. THEY do wonder how you are and probably would love to hear from you. This is a great way get back in contact.
REMEMBER….THE ONLY WAY FOR YOUR SHIPMATES TO GET IN CONTACT WITH YOU IS HAVING YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR MESSAGE
For YOUR protection – No home phone numbers or addresses please. Please save that for when you make email contact.
REMEMBER….IF YOU WANT TO BE CONTACTED MAKE SURE YOU PUT YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN THE BODY OF YOUR MESSAGE
Worked in the laundry 61-63. I remember Pappy Sims, he was a rate grabber, Hembree ran the laundry, Goins ran the cobbler shop, Froelich ran the dry cleaning shop. Other names were Fairchild, Blake, Patterson, Burnett, I think he went to EM school. Willy Dilly, George Harris, Moe, Happy Chappy, Leroy Sanford. I remember one of the guys, name might be Chandler got sentenced to the pea farm for 30 days. A fun 30 days leave . Harry, Hughles, Kilduff ran the ship stores. Later I worked in the dry cleaning plant with Ruben James Garcia. We pressed the officers clothes and did comshaw. Always had a buck in our pocket. Blake and I drank beer at moms, it was next to silvers at the end of mayport road. Called mayport 500 now. Also we patronized Marys. We got lots of liberty. Had a “0” liberty card, open gangway. Usually got our work done on Thursday afternoon then we were off for the weekend, Daytona bound with pooled money in my 54 ford convertible. Always had money, like I said from comshaw or found in the extractors and dryers. Hard job, could not make a rate but always had money in your pocket.
I remember watching flight ops. Do you remember when Kryway skidded off the angle deck? I believe he retired a Captian. That helo was on him in a minute.
Anyway I was transferred in Feb 63 while we were in Barcelona to Submarine School in New London and retired in Jan 88.
It was hard but well worth it!
served in the cat crew 73-76. still have lots of friends from the ship. the photos of the scrap yard sure are sad. not a good way to go.
Phil Dyer… thanks for your photos… I was with VA 15 during 72 med cruise. Worked nights on the flight deck hyd. troubleshooter and slot checker…. I spent a lot of hours in the cat walk next to the port cats…. I hated jumping up to the flight deck and back down…. HEY… maybe that’s why my knees are shot!
I served on the FDR from April 1957 till July 1960 in V-1 Division as a plane director(yellow shirt)on the flt. deck.Made three cruises to the Med.Im proud to have served on such a great ship and to have served with such great shipmates.A great web site Larry. THANKS!!!
Please put my Email on the guest list. Dave Olson, olsondd@charter.net
What a great idea, on the FDR Qual. cruise late 1958 and Med. cruise 37-59 Feb thru sep 1959,,,,,,,,,,lots of exiting times for an 18 year old,,,,,,john
Thanks for this webb site. I serve on the FDR with VFP-62 Det 37-57 57/58. Med Cruise.I!m always looking for other members. So if you are out there please contact me. There are 3 of us that have been in contact. 50 yrs ago is a long time. this stuff keeps us all young. Thank you. Dave!
Served in Catapults 1972-1975. Three Med Cruises with Shore Patrol Duty during the last two. Lots and lots of memories that get better with time, and it’s been a long time. Thanks to Larry for the work in putting this site together. Best wishes to all you FDR vets out there it was the experience of a lifetime wasn’t it?
My late husband, Johnnie W. fox was on board the FDR from 1965-1968. He was proud of the FDR and his navy days. I heard all the stories of his time aboard the Proud Lady.He cried when the navy scrapped it. Today his daughter serves in the navy aboard a carrier,the USS George Washington. She would have made Johnnie proud. Sandra Fox
I WAS ON THE FDR DURING 1966-1969. I WAS IN THE V-3 DIVION, HANGER DECK CREW.. BOTH THE ‘nam-cruise and the “med”… any division mates out there????
I was onboard the Roosevelt in the early 70’s as an illustrator draftsman in the public affairs office and also worked as a broadcaster (mostly 60’s music) which was piped throughout the ship and sent to other ships as well.
I served with VF-84 during the extended “72” cruise. I was tad to ships company in supply and was a barber most of the time. Unfortunately, someone pilfered a bunch of my stuff and I have no cruise book.
Looking for people who remember the unusual…er…aerial “antics” that were taken out of the logbook back in the 50’s in the N. Atlantic.
Look to the skies.
Discretion is assured.
Larry,as always a job well done. The site is clean and informative and is a great memory jumpstarter. I enjoyed about an hour wandering through.
I invite everyone to look at our reunion site http://www.ussfdrcv42reunion.com we have a reunion coming up in May of this year in Jacksonville,Fl. we are dedicating phase 2 of the memorial to our beloved “Rosie” with several Former Captains planning to be there. THIS IS A MUST ATTEND FOR ALL HANDS WHO SERVED ON THE BEST OF THE BEST.
Ahoy FDR vet’s,
I was on one of the sister ships USS Coral Sea CV-43, another good website of ‘Rosie’ is http://www.cv42.com
Take care
thank you blum,really enjoy being in this guest book, and being a member of the roosie reunion glad i joined.
Hi,
My Father was a pilot on the FDR and was killed in a mid-air collision in January, 1949. I was wondering if anyone might remember him. He was Lt. Eugene Calvin Hoskins.
Thank You,
Stuart Hoskins
X div. Print Shop 1961 to 1962. Lithographer 2nd. class.
I have a lot of FDR stuff. Also donated many books & information to USS Midway museum library in 2005. (35 boxes)
I served on the FDR (BT) 1967-1971. I currently live in Clearwater, FL
I am trying to locate Barry Crown. I heard he is somewhere in FL.
Has anyone heard from him?
Thanks for putting this site up.
I served on the FDR (V-1 division) from late 63 to mid 66, just before she left for Vietnam.
2 Med cruises, et al was exciting. We saw much of the Caribbean and Southern Europe.
I still stay in touch with a few shipmates.
I was there from 1965-1968. Lots of good memory’s..
Here’s to the flight deck crew, Fly-1, Fly-2, Fly-3 and REP-8.
hey great site have a ton of great memories aboard the rosie, 1970 – 1973 . thanks for putting my pics up. still looking for those movies and great the times on the med cruises. working on getting to reunion. hope to see everyone there
I was recalled during the Korean war, took a DE out of Philly and picked up the FDR in Gitmo. It was so hot the first night we were allowed to take our mattresses up on deck and sleep there. Spent the usual first few months mess cooking (the whole time in the spud locker and smelled like a potato for the next several months!) Also, spent the first several months getting lost. I had never been on a ship so large. Life was good in the Photo Lab, though. It was quite an experience for me though, as my first hitch was in the Air Force and the largest ship I had ever been on was a Troop Ship and the Hoboken Ferry.
A great site to cherish the memories of a great ship. I never served aboard Rosie, but i did serve aboard Australia’s last carrier HMAS Melbourne ’77-’79. No matter which navy, all carrier sailors share in the same history.
HELLO THERE IM GLAD I FOUND THIS SITE , I WAS ON THE FDR FROM APRIL 1969 TO ABOUT DEC 1971 IVE THOUGHT ABOUT THE SHIP A LOT IN THE PAST FEW YEARS AND WHAT I WENT THROUGH WHILE ON BOARD WHEN I FIRST WENT TO HER SHE WAS IN NORFOLK FOR ONE OF THE BIG REFITTINGS SHE WENT THROUGH. I REMEMBER GETTING OUT OF MY CAB ON THE PIER AT ABOUT 1 IN THE MORNING IN FRONT OF THIS HUGE SHIP. BOY DID I FEEL LOST.I WAS 19 AND DIDNT KNOW A THING IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN . ANY WAY I HAVE O LOT OF PICS THAT I TOOK IN LATE 69 AND 70 MY WIFE AND I ARE LOOKING FOR THEM AND WILL TRY TO GET THEM TO YOU IN THE FUTURE. I WISH I COULD HAVE GONE ABOARD HER ONE LAST TIME BEFORE THEY CUT HER UP, SHE WAS IN BAD SHAPE WHEN I WAS ON HER IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE THOUGH JUST FOR THE MEMORIES I FEEL A LOT DIFFERENT ABOUT HER NOW AT 58 YRS OF AGE THAN I DID WHEN I WAS 20. WISDOM COMES WITH AGE I GUESS, FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME ANY TIME,I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN THE NEXT RENUION IF THERE IS ONE