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
VF-43 spent a week aboard in the fall of 1952. We were ‘qualifying’ some new pilots and had just switched from F4Us on the USS Coral Sea Apri-Sept.. We left some scrap ‘aluminum’ on the deck that week. As an AE3, it was a horrible trip for me. We had just finished a Med Cruise….my first out of AE ‘A’ school in NTTC Jax. I was seasick from the day I walked up the gangplank until we got off!
I served on the “Fru de Rue” from 1962 through 64 in OE division as an ET3. I have many fond memories of my time on board and the nine month Medcruise therein. I would greatly appreciate any contact from anyone I knew on board during that time. Email address is wbierce@aol.com
I served on board in V-6 division from Sept 1960 till April 19, 1962. Stayed out till Aug 64 and joined the USCG. Retired 31 Jan 1985 as SKCS . Served 27 months in the Vietnam War, 1967 – 1969. 100% disabled VA Vet. Any ship mates that remember me please e-mail me @
rpj541@aol.com
The FDR was my first ship. I served aboard from July 1975 until her decommissioning in late 1977. I worked as a teletype repairman in the Communications Department.
I served In M – div . 1960 to 1964
danlewis104@yahoo.com
I served on the FDR from 69 to 71 in V-4 Division until I received orders to Binh Thuy. I spent most of my time in the V-4 office as yeoman and then up on the flight deck in fuels repair as a P.O. 3. I have fond memories of all the guys and the fun we had on liberty in Majorca-Rhodes-Barcelona-Canne-Malta etc. We had a great apt on Jax beach all of us shared the rent —-Tom Yurko-John Calvert-Denny Neel-Mike Nathan-Ed Spiritos if you recall the good times drop me an email at corjft@surewest.net
For the 1971 cruise, I was the Representative (Sand Crab), for Vought Aeronautics on the A-7, attached to the Carrier Air Wing, working with VA-15 and VA-87. One of the highlights of my working life, thanks to Black Shoes and Airedales.
In particular does anyone know anything about Lt. Terry Gibson (HC-2), he was a very special Liberty Bud. If anyone can shed any light, drop me an email.
Roger (Rotten Rog) Goodwin roger_goodwin@hotmail.com
Donald is my husband and served on Rosie I believe 68 – 72. E2 classification. Anyone out there remember him or Wendall Whitcomb
i was in 1st div.from nov 1965 to oct 1969.would like to hear from any one.
Sail on the old Rosie from 1968 to1972. Work in M divi #2 engine room and #2 generator room ,meet an work with some great Guys. Have great 4years on her. If you in Brookfield Il look me up.
January through August 1959, I had the pleasure of being assigned to FDR CVA 42 on a Med Cruise with Marine Air Wing VMF 114, delta wing F4D. It was the high light of my life and was able to visit place never available to me again. I worked in the maintenance office as an engineering clerk 6491 MOS taking care of aircraft log book entries. I notice an entry from an HBO writer about Palma Majorca and even though I was not there in the 70’s, I thought it was one of the best stops for just relaxing with food and drink and the people there were the friendliest of all ports. Some places we visited did not like Americans at all except to take their money but Majorca which I believe was Spanish owned but ran by English or American business men was exceptionally nice to the service men. Hello out there to all who served on FDR however young or old or which service and to those now serving our country.
Looking for a shipmate who was in the catapult division. His name was Frank. He served during the 1972 Med cruse. Also looking for a Larry Johnson who was in the Yellow Shirts on the flight deck during the 1972 Med cruse. Thanks
My father was on board the Rosie in the mid 50’s and was part of the suez crisis. I am not sure of what he did on board the ship but I think he was in the engine room or generator room. He told me about the artic cruise for catapult testing.
He told me that he spent his best days on board the Rosie and would not change a thing. Sadly he is dying from complications of heart disease. His name was Kenneth L. Williams and I know he was on board in 1956 and also during the Suez crisis.
my name is Jack Dubow i was aboard the Rosie 1957-1959. I was in the 3rd division.Please let me hear from any one that was there the same time i was abbysgrandpa97@aol.com
Proud to have served with my shipmates in CR Division from 1964-1965. My best memories ever so I wrote Navy Days: Memoirs of a Sailor in the 60’s available on Amazon.com. Does anyone remember losing our screw in the Med and getting a new one in Bayonne, NJ and riding with me in a 55 Cadillac through New York City?? Would love to hear from my mates at navydays@usa.com
Smooth Sailing to all and see you at the reunion next year.
was on the rosie on the 71 cruse , was with va15, had the experince of a lifetime. if i live to be 100 i’ll never forget, palma barcalona,malta and most of all the crew, never worked so hard or had as much fun
as it was said in the navy times nuff said
1957 (fireman) 4Alpha fireroom 1957 Med cruse. Great Ship !!!
Med Cruises: 73-74 and 1975; Third Division
I had the pleasure to serve on the “Rosie” from Jan. 73 until Oct. 75 enjoying two deployments to the Med. Wow, what an experience. From the Portside 5″ 54cal gun for my GQ station, to nightly helm duty on the bridge. If anyone experienced the wonder Atlantic Storm that we experienced on our return from the Med cruise in 75, please write. Can tell stories from that experience on the bridge watchstation during the storm. Also, does anyone remember the dismal time of the racial riots that occurred in, I believe, during the 73-74 cruise. We had a great crew in Third Division and no one in our crew was involved in that fiasco. Love to hear from anyone. Take care shipmates. dpbaldschun@wavecable.com
Just got the following from HBO:
My name is Rahul Rohatgi, and I am a television producer with HBO Sports in New York. I’m writing to you because I’m currently working on a documentary for HBO about the late St. Louis Cardinals baseball player, Curt Flood, and thought you might be able to help. Flood became famous in the late 1960s and 1970s for challenging baseball’s economic system in court and leading to free agency for players.
However, in the early to mid 1970’s, specifically 1971 to about 1975, Flood moved to the Spanish island of Majorca, where he ran a bar in Palma called the “Rustic Café.” Flood’s bar tended to attract American visitors of all stripes, especially servicemen whose ship was making a stop in Majorca. The U.S.S. Franklin D. Roosevelt was one such ship, and I see based on your wonderful “USS Franklin D. Roosevelt” webpage that you served on that ship and are in frequent contact with veterans from that ship. I was wondering if you would be able to pass along the message that I am looking for anyone with memories of stopping by Flood’s bar, or even hearing that he was on the island. Or, if not, if you had any contact information for your fellow sailors on the Little Rock that I could ask the same question to.
I’m interested in this story because it is a part of Flood’s life that is the least well-known. What was he doing in Spain? What kind of person was he? How did he treat people at his bar? I’m hoping someone might remember something from oh-so-long-ago, and help me learn a bit more about his story.
Thanks so much. If you think you might be able to help, please reply to this email address Rahul.Rohatgi@hbo.com, or give me a call at (212) 512-5774.
Sincerely,
-Rahul Rohatgi
HBO Sports
1947 -1952 great ship, great shipmates had the best time in my life, and the chow was great!!!!
I was just surfing the net when I came across this web site. My father and uncle served
aboard your sister ship USS Midway. I’ve enjoyed a few stories of the friendly rivalry between the Midway and the Foo Dee Roo as the Midway crew would call the FDR.
They were truly beautiful ships and the pride of the Navy for sure. Anyway, you have a
great web site…keep up the great work…and as I shove off, I wish you Fair Winds and
Following Seas.
My father, Harold R Buce, CPO, B Div Oil King, served aboard the FDR from ’58 until his retirement in ’62. He passed away jan. 31, 2007. He spoke often about his time aboard the “Rosie”. I would like to hear from anyone who knew him. My e-mail address is: whiteknight37@dishmail.net. Many thanks.
I was in AIMD during 67-68 med cruise. good times.
Mike BeRoth.. I was on the FDR in op DIV the same time Give me a shout. dennis.smithrv@bresnan.net Dennis Adels
Yeoman in OPS Office and Strike Center 66-67. Viet Nam and Med Cruise. Saw a lot of the world in just two years time. Would like to hear from any OPS personnel from that time frame.
May you all have “Fair winds and following seas”.