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
One of the best time of my life was serving with my shipmates on the ROSIE, from 1959 to 1962 down in engine rm. #3.
Served on the Rosie from 1973 TO 1976 Batt Div. Went by the name Opie.
Met the Rosie at the Brooklyn Naval ship yards in 1960. Never saw a ship that large in all my life. Being a “un-rated” Fireman, I was assigned to be a Boilerman – 10 decks +/- below sea level. Man if only I had known lol! After the “re-fit” we went for sea trials, then on to Mayport, FL… From there, we made 6 month cruises to the Med. I’ll never forget the beautiful nights in the middle of the Atlantic on way to the Med – and being able to experience “night – ops” right there in front of me… Bone chilling to watch that! Incredible machines taking off and landing in Pitch Black darkness! What a thrill. Everything was worth that alone… Working in the Boiler rooms… Not so much lol. 4 on and 4 off for months at a time… and always short handed (who in their right mind would sign up for that duty voluntarily??) They used to send sailors and Marines who had been sentenced at Court Martial to hard labor – to come down and work with us! Every 600 hours of boiler time we had to “re-brick” a boiler… carrying two pails of bricks up 10 ladders or so top-side to get rid of them – and bring new ones down… I MOST PROBABLY WOULD HAVE RE-UPPED IF IT WASN’T FOR THAT JOB! Life in the Navy was FABULOUS! Food was great – friends were great – and I would have never in a lifetime seen the places, and done the things I experienced if I hadn’t had joined the Navy and traveled on the Rosie. With all the hard work, I remember – over 50 years ago – being teary eyed when I left her for the last time…
Anyone in the BT Division at that time – or anyone on the ship at that time… love to hear from you… beaublack1@gmail.com
PS… If anyone remembers Lloyd Black – my brother serving on the Rosie at the same time in the Electronics Division – let me know… He met a girl from Lyon on the last Cruise in 61, married her, and has been living in Canne, France for over 40 years…
hi every one i,m looking for more shipmates from v4 div. there is a group of us all ready in touch with each other there is a group getting together in Aug in Tenn. if you want more in formation contact me at erv48@verizon.net or on facebook
Was a member of the Navy band aboard the FDR on the Med cruise of 1962-63. I will never forget her and she holds a special place in my heart. Came home for a few weeks and then shipped aboard the Intrepid.
Served from late 1958 till early 1960. Then transferred to Port Lyautey in Morrocco. Then in the Navys best transferred me to Brunswick Maine, where I froze. By the time I thawed out personnel had gotten their senses back and sent me to Washington D.C. I don’t know if I was sent there to straighten things out or what but I was discharged before I could complete the job.
I was aboard the FDR from late 1970 into early 1973 and made the 1971 and 1972 cruises. The ’72 cruise was a long one. I was the LPO in VLA or Plat/Lens and we maintained all the flight op. video as well as the entertainment TV. We came under the V-2 Division. Your description of goings on is pretty accurate. During the latter part of the ’72 cruise I was the Ham Radio Operator which patched phone calls to the States. We didn’t have cell phone or computers back then. You are right about getting to travel a lot of places that I would have never seen. Capt. Youngblade seemed to really like Greece and we spent a lot of time there. I really liked the Greek people. They were most friendly. I enjoyed all the ports that we visited. I well remember the time in the Bay of Biscay as we took a good sized fish into a hatch via a forward starboard catwalk. DavorJo@bellsouth.net
remember some but not all, hope who are still on this side are doing well. I was on her june 1965 to February 1969 messdecking ,then A-7 Div untill I got out. i still live in Maryland and like are time in Portsmith yards. My son retired from Navy and My son-in-law is a Marine.Just can’t get away from the U.S. Navy :<). To all who where and to those who are now THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.
r div. from 1957 t0 1959-interpreter in palma de mayorca by coincidence . a tremendous journey. tremendous shipmates!. my buddy farol one of them.
Apollo Soucek , First CO . He was my uncle. Anyone with pictures or memories of him would be appreciated. Email me at : don.mccann@aol.com
As a young FN (R Div)I reported aboard for duty in Jan/Feb 1956 prior to recommissioning in Bremerton Wa.I am proud to have served in her.If memory serves me right,we had FIELD DAY nearly every day while in route to our new homeport,Mayport Fa.I completed that tour and a few more.retiring in 1974.
My grandfather served on the USS Franklin D Roosevelt in the mid 50’s
Odas Arno. He has since passed away.
early 1968-end of 1969 , i set up, started and ran the NORS desk while in drydock and during trials out of Norfolk shipyard. Was attached to ships company Aviation Supply. Visited Gitmo played softball outside the fence in Gitmo , visited St Thomas with all my friends , wish I cud do it all over again really enjoyed the Rosie.
good to see old shipmates at the reunion
Served on the Rosie from ’68 to ’71. Worked in the print shop which was part of Executive Division. I’m at tralietalk@comcast.net.
Allen D. Bowen – Served with the Marine Detachment 1973-1975
Contact info: seastallion53@verizon.net
lester lookingbill of Frederick, remember me. phil mason from 1st division 71-73. you and me and Donald clem were friends, 1972 med cruise. write. from Frederick also, living in Gettysburg now. Email me kempophil@comcast.net
I was aboard from ’65 – ’68 attached to W Division. Any of my mates out there? Panda444@juno.com.
Just wondering if anyone might remember my brother jimmy streight. Served from 1957 To 1961 a couple years on the USS FDR I think. Went to Naples several times .3d
Served on Rosie 1961-1962
Was on board from 1973-1975 with VA-87 Golden Warriors. Would love to hear from anyone who remembers me from the squadron. Especially Ordnance shop
B. Laskey. Are you the one who put me in Solitary confinement, the Med Staff used the excuse of “Asiatic Flu”. I wass confined in a small compartment with about Twenty other POOR souls.
We were locked up with NO READING Material, games, card or wepons to assault each other.
I came off the Flight Deck at about 0200, was ordered into a rack. I woke up two or three days later. Then put into the DUNGEON for the next two weeks.
I was a part of VF-41 on the January ’70 cruise. I was TAD to the electronics shop for about half the cruise. The ports were great, and the shipmates better. I will not forget our encounter with a rogue wave; that was something. I originally met the ship off Guantanamo during the shakedown, I guess. I also remember getting a call at 3 in the morning, saying “Pack your bags. You’re going to sea.” I was in Virginia Beach, VA at the time. But by 3 in the afternoon we were underway from Mayport. We never heard what that was all about. We sailed out for a couple of days, then we sailed back. There were some sad times too. Our squadron lost two planes, one on approach, the other to pilot error, some distance away. An A-6 missed the wire and spaced down next to the ship. One of the crew got tangled in the wreckage and was pulled under, with a SAR guy still trying to cut him loose. We lost an A-3 to a cold cat shot; the ship pushed it under. No crew was recovered. We always joked that the FDR should be turned into razor blades, and I guess she was. Sad, actually. Me email is jim.willette@q.com
was onboard from jan ’68 ’til july of ’71. that was when # 1 elevator was fwd. ctr deck. was on warrant othmers golden fire party and worked mainly in the dc shop. did some time in pump shop, valve shop, and hcff shop. gary sogge liked to rotate people for the education of it all. to most of us it would piss us off ’cause once you were settled in it was better to stay put. left navy in 71 and started working high rise steel. after 12 years of not falling I reentered the navy. that is another story. to cntct chefpasserogv86@cox.net
Was transferred to the FDR from real soft duty in Annapolis Md. Was a Corpsman in Sick Bay at Bancroft Hall , home to our future officers , three out of four weekends off etc. ,etc. Was waiting for the ship on the pier at Mayport in June of 1957 . Couldn`t believe the size of it as it came closer and closer . There was about 20 or so Corpsmen waiting to board it .Still hadn`t figured out too much about the layout of the ship when a few days after sailing a steam line burst killing two men and injuring a lot more . Even though most of the Corpsmen were new to the Rosie , we knew our job . The lead Petty officer and I had ” A failure to comunicate ” so my name showed up on every billet on the watch quarter and station bill. From man overboard to crash boat , ( pulling the pilot and photographer out of the bay in Barcelona , followed by a race to the ship to keep the Spanish authorities from taking the bodies which we won ) I wound up going to the “morgue ” in the basement of the hospital in Barcelona that looked like it was out of a horror movie . AJ Downing , my first class PO told me not to let my shipmates bodies out of my sight and that was one order that I obeyed . When the people from the American Embassy took the remains I found my way back to the ship . AJ told me ” Good job Lasky ” I was finally off his s**t list .There were a few other casualties before we got back to the States but all in all I wouldn`t trade the time on the Rosie for a million bucks . Thought I was going to be discharged in Mayport Fl , but the joke was on me. Ship went to the Brooklyn Navy Yard , My travel pay consisted of a Subway token .