05/01/2024
Greetings to all my USS Towers, Shipmates!
Well, the weather for the last couple of weeks, all over the country, has had many different personalities. Some are hot, some very windy, some are cold and for some it is just right.
I have been asked if I could get this information at the start of the ‘News on the 9’ so here it goes:
– Shipmates, we have the information needed to reserve your room for the USS Towers DDG-9, 2024 Reunion in Fort Worth, Texas. Please go to usstowers.com and under ‘Upcoming Events-2024 Fort Worth, TX Reunion, Please read and use either of the two options to reserve your room. Please use the Hotel Direct number when calling for reservations or if you are going to be staying outside the Reunion dates of September 17 through September 22, 2024. There is a ‘Personalized Reservation Link’ on that page. Underneath, in blue, is “Book your group rate for USS Towers DDG-9 Naval Ship Annual Reunion”. This will direct you to where you will make reservations using the group rate. All reservations need to be made prior to 08/17/2024. Anyone that waits until the last minute to reserve a room could potentially not be eligible for the discounted group rate. It is early and if there are any issues, please shoot an email to the Association’s email or message David Lillis so that we can assist in clearing up any issue you may have.
This week on ‘News on the 9’ the focus is on our itinerary for our 2024 Fort Worth, Texas reunion and some of the updates that have been done on the USS Towers website.
Please look at some of the updates on the itinerary, that we have for our schedule. We are collecting the information on who will be coming to the events so we can plan on getting reservations where needed and transportation planned. We will also, keep track of those who would like to attend the Hop On, Hop Off and any other place that folks would like to get a number on who is interested in going.
With everyone’s schedule being a bit crazy, the Executive Board will get to a meeting sometime in the near future, soon. For now, we are keeping in touch with suggestions on the itinerary through email.
I will be sending a spreadsheet by the weekend that is a list of our Shipmates who have already made their reservations. This list we will be able to update once a month from the reservation list that we will get from the hotel. This spreadsheet will also have the information that we will use for printing out Name Badges for the Reunion, Reunion Event Schedule with attendance and to update our membership roster. It will have Last and First Name, Hometown, Spouse/Guest (Please let us know if your Spouse/Guest is not coming. We will be printing them a Name Badge also), Highest Rank you held in the Navy, Rank/Rate while on the USS Towers and Years that you were aboard. I will need to keep this list updated so that we can get the Name Badges printed before the reunion. I will only be sending this list to those who have made their reservations with the Marriot Hotel. If you do not get this list, it is because we do not have a record from the hotel that you have made reservations, in which case please shot me or David Lillis a message or email and we will make sure that the Hotel gets you on the USS Towers Reunion list.
I want to thank Shipmate James Weston for shooting your info over to the Association’s email. Got you updated on the Association Roster and the Reunion List of Attendees. I do ask that Shipmates, Alex Cloninger, Fred Luebker, and John ODell please shoot me an email to the Association’s email address so that I can update my records. I do not have your email addresses. Thank you.
One more Shipmate that I need the correct email address for is from Shipmate Tom Holstrom. The one I have on file does not work. Tom, please send an email to the Association’s Address so that I can update our Association roster. Thank you, sir!!
I have added additional information to our Free Time section. I have some updated addresses and pricing that I know of as of now. I will break down further the places that are in Sundance Square, which is a neighborhood in Fort Worth. However, after I went to sundancesquare.com there is no way that I could give you the amount of information that they have on their website. They even go out of their way to find 2.5 hours of Free Parking every day when you visit a Sundance Square business. Go out and take a look at their website, it is very informative.
Again, I need to announce for the 2024 Fort Worth, TX reunion that Mike Duffy is looking to put a fishing trip together. It is $175 per person and there is a 3-person minimum. It is about two hours from Fort Worth. The guide will need two months’ notice to confirm a reservation. Please shoot an email to the Association or message Mike Duffy if you are interested.
HOT TOPICS With Important Information
-Here is just an updated but still abbreviated schedule that we are looking to set up and finalize. We are getting closer to finalizing some of the events.
9/17 Day 1
Evening-Hospitality Room will be open and stocked. Association will provide the Pizza. I believe that it will be open by 1700ish.
9/18 Day 2
Morning-Tour of US Treasury Mint
Afternoon-Stockyards for 1630 roundup and dinner?? We have tentatively found that the ‘Second Rodeo Brewing’. Located at 122 E. Exchange Ave, Suite 340, Fort Worth, TX 76164 the ‘Second Rodeo Brewing’ has the room to hold most of us if we want to use the location to met when we get there and then when we leave the Stockyards. Will look to see where there is Parking. More to follow.
Evening-trip to American Legion HEB Post 379. It is Karaoke Nite till 2100. Hot Dogs and such are on the menu. Opens at 1000 and Closes @ Midnight.
The Hospitality Room will be available. (Hospitality room will have room passes. We will work with the hotel management to find how many passes we can hold or if they have a better solution.)
9/19 Day 3
Morning-Free Time
Afternoon-Rangers baseball game against Toronto Blue Jays. It is a 1338 start to that game. We are looking to get Group pricing for seats that generally run in the $40 range. If you look at the Rangers website we are looking at Corner Box seats (First and Third base sides), All You Can Eat and the Karbach Brewing Rocking Chairs sections. For those who have made your reservations, I will be sending you a spreadsheet that I would like to know who is going to the Ball game. I would like to reserve our seats as early as possible.
The Hospitality Room will be open.
9/20 Day 4
Morning and Afternoon-Free Time
Evening-Banquet and Action at the Paddock which is on site.
The Hospitality Room will be open.
9/21 Day 5
Morning-Association Business Meeting in the Hospitality Room
Afternoon and Evening-Free Time.
9/22 Day 6
Bon Voyage.
Free Time-The following is a list of places to visit if we have something on the schedule that is not to your liking. It has been updated with addresses and costs:
Texas Motor Speedway, 3545 Lone Star Cir, Fort Worth, TX 76177
According to their website that Track Tours are suspended during the month of September. You can gain entrance to the site for $15.00. Will have to investigate what is there to visit if you cannot take a Track Tour. More information to follow.
Fort Worth Aviation Museum, 3300 Ross Ave, Fort Worth, TX 76106
$9.00
Joint Reserve Base, Fort Worth Front Gate, Military Pkwy, Westworth Village, TX 76114
Sundance Square, Downtown Fort Worth, TX
Go to sundancesquare.com and you will see what they have to offer. Currently their September calendar does not have any entertainment scheduled but, when you do get on the site they have many things going on during the present month of April….Take a look. As we get closer to September, we hope the calendar will start to fill up during the week of our reunion.
Fort Worth Water Garden, 1502 Commerce St, Fort Worth, TX 76102
Free
Fort Worth Zoo, 1989 Colonial Pkwy, Fort Worth, TX 76110
Adults (13+) $20; Children (3-12) $16; Toddlers (2 & younger) Free; Seniors (65+) $16
Winstar Casino, Thackerville, OK (About 50 miles away)
Hop On and Hop Off-The train station that stops at Dallas Union Station is about a 20-minute drive and then the train ride is about an hour long. You can pick up the Hop On and Hop off there at the station or if you want to visit Daily Plaza, it is within walking distance from the Dallas Union Station. I will get better details when David Lillis gets back from his cruise.
American Legion HEB Post 379, 1245 North Industrial Blvd., Bedford, TX 76021
Fishing Trip-Mike Duffy is looking to put a fishing trip together. It is $175 per person and there is a 3-person minimum. It is about two hours from Fort Worth. The guide will need two months’ notice to confirm a reservation. Please shoot an email to the Association or message Mike Duffy if you are interested.
Golden Corral-3517 Alta Mere Drive, Fort Worth, TX. We are going to want to know who is interested in going in the afternoon between 1400-1600. We will nail down which day and publish that date on the Reunion Itinerary. For Seniors, there is a $1.00 discount and includes a free drink. More to follow.
Remember that the Marriot Hotel has amenities:
Jackdaw Fort Worth Restaurant-First floor next to the lobby. Open Mon-Sun 1500-2300
Smokin’ Oak Bar and Grill-Inside Golf Course Clubhouse. Open Mon-Sun 0700-1900
BigShots Sports Bar & Pub Grub-Onsite east of Hotel Lobby. Open Sun-Thurs 1100-2200, Fri-Sat 1100-2300. This also has Top Golf.
Creekside Café-Breakfast area next to Jackdaw. Mon-Fri 0600-1000, Sat and Sun 0700-1100
Routine Information
Please continue to pay your Association dues through the usstowers.com website.
Our Treasurer, Chris Perry has started a ‘USS Towers DDG-9 Association’ GoFundMe page. It is https://gofund.me/55a344a2. The GoFundMe page was created February 11, 2024. I have posted this up on the USS Towers DDG-9 Facebook page. I would like to encourage all my USS Towers Shipmates to share this with your friends on Facebook or printout the poster that can be shared and hang on a Bulletin board or Information wall at work, an office you frequent or any other place where folks will stop and read. There is also a QR code that you can share with folks which I know that Chris just recently used at his band, Enemy of None’s musical event and was successful in getting donations. Please get this out to your friends and families. The Associations Executive Board will use this money to benefit our Association members at the 2024 Fort Worth, TX reunion and we do hope to use this for reunions in the future. We will keep you posted.
–USS Towers DDG-9 Shipmate in the Spotlight. Folks that actually read this, Don’t be shocked…..we have a Shipmate to Spotlight or at least I need to recognize a Shipmate and one of our CEO‘s. Shipmate BM2 Kevin Osgood is a busy man who happens to be the curator of the Door County Maritime Museum & Lighthouse Preservation Society, Inc. out of Sturgeon Bay, WI. This former Boatswain’s Mate and Rescue Swimmer for the USS Towers is now the Commander, US Coast Guard Auxiliary Division 095-47 Green Bay. He has also been in his past life the News Director for a media group. In his spare time, he is working on creating the USS Marinette Association for the Ship and its crew. I asked Kevin to assist in the writing of our USS Towers DDG-9 Association Inc. Mission Statement. Between Kevin and running it through my Secret Weapon and Grammar Nazi, who I borrow from Chris Perry, the one the only Mary Sebastian Perry, I thank you for your assistance. Sometimes you can write a rough out but, it needs to be tamed by professional ‘Word Smiths’. Both Shipmate Kevin Osgood and Mary Sebastian Perry took the time to help write our Mission Statement. Thank you!!!!
Please send your Shipmate in the Spotlight nominations to along with a brief explanation of why your nominee deserves this recognition. See this wasn’t so hard. If you know of a Shipmate that is up to no good, just let us know and send it to the Associations email.
Roster Update:
Names on the Roster: 559
Names Verified: 141
I will be contacting all those who have made reservations by Email with a spreadsheet of those attending and what events you would like to attend. I will also want to confirm the information that I have on these members. We will use this information to print out our name tags used during the reunion. We need to know if your Spouse will be attending or not. We will automatically make a Name Badge for Spouse/Guests if we are not told otherwise. Thanks
If you do not get the ‘News on the 9’ please send us your Email address, First and last name, what years you served and your home City/State to usstowersddgnine@gmail.com
Website Updates: Finally got the information under Main/History/Adams Class DDG’s updated with the disposition of all the ship’s that are in this class. Interesting note that there is only one surviving Adam Class DDG the Molders (D186) that is now on display as a museum ship in Wihelmshaven, Germany. Go out to usstowers.com and check it out. The Gallery section has been updated with the 2017 San Antonio reunion pictures as well as the 2009 Omaha, NE reunion pictures. Currently, have downloaded the 2019 Savannah, GA pictures but have about 120 more pictures to upload to the website. Will keep the Association in the Know on when I can start getting more pictures to be added to the site. Will let you know soonest. If you find any of the information on the website that needs to be corrected, please shoot an email to the Association.
Please visit our Facebook page: USS Towers (DDG-9) https://www.facebook.com/groups/65196440936/
Please visit our Reunion Facebook page: USS Towers DDG-9 2024 Reunion Fort Worth, TX Sept 17-22 https://www.facebook.com/groups/23879762748305308/
Please visit our Associations website at usstowers.com
Please visit our Association GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/55a344a2
USS Towers Association Inc. email address: usstowersddgnine@gmail.com
A couple more items from our ‘News on the 9’ reporters. Word has it that Shipmate Dick Ball ran into an Old Boss of mine from the Commonwealth of PA at the Denver Airport. Said, Boss of mine cautiously approached our Shipmate Dick Ball because Dick, just so happened to have his USS Towers ballcap on and my Old Boss knew of the crew’s reputation and asked if Dick knew Bob Whapeles. I hope the stories were good. I had one of our reporters out in Pacific Theater let me know that there are several USS Towers Shipmates who are coming in from that neck of the woods. Sounds like we are going to have some fun in Fort Worth, TX. As I mentioned in our last ‘News on the 9’ that the Association’s Executive Board has started to look at a Mission Statement and that we hope to have it out to the Association membership for your perusal. Well, we have a Mission Statement that we think will work and it will be presented during the Business Meeting on the morning of September 21st and bring it to a vote.
Proposed Mission Statement for The USS Towers DDG-9 Association Inc.
The USS Towers Association seeks to foster the association and camaraderie of its members. Keeping stories and history of the USS Towers and its namesake alive and well. And, to plan and organize a yearly reunion for all those Officers and Enlisted shipmates, who served aboard the USS Towers DDG-9 during her entire service; including pre- and post- commissioning crews.
Please chew on this and as always, I will keep the Association informed of what is being done with the USS Towers DDG-9 Association Inc. website and update you on our upcoming 2024 Fort Worth, TX reunion when I pen the next ‘News on the 9’!!!
Very Respectfully
Bob Whapeles, President
USS Towers DDG-9 Association Inc.
usstowersddgnine@gmail.com
usstowers.com