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This particular page has been neglected for a while. There are simple reasons
for this neglect: nearly everyone of
us have full-time jobs and the time we donate is done freely and, we enjoy
it.
Nevertheless, some history about how all of this came about is in
order, as well as where we are now and where we are headed (which is
exciting).
Richard McMichael (Seattle Washington) started these pages as a way to preserve the
memories of the ships he served on:
USS McGinty DE 365, USS Edmonds DE 406
, USS Uhlmann DD 687,
USS Theodore E. Chandler DD 717, and
USS Hull DD 945.
That was in the Fall of 1996.
There were many contributors to the site by the time I stumbled on these pages
in early 1997, looking for information on the ship I served on, the
USS Whipple (FF-1062).
What fascinated me about Destroyers Online was two simple things:
One, I sent an E-mail to Mr. McMichael - and he responded. He
further encouraged me to send in whatever I hoped to see in the beginning's of a
web-site for the Whipple and; Two, the easy navigation of Destroyers
Online.
Shortly thereafter, I became enamored with the net and all of the potential
it held; it would soon become very apparent that the net had the ability to
reunite two people from diverse backgrounds who shared a very special two days
aboard Whipple.
In the Spring of 1997, I submitted (and Rich McMichael posted) an essay of
mine that was published in a college Honors Journal in 1988. Sitting in my
dresser drawer and on floppy for 9 years, I felt it was a good story to put
up on the internet. It was an essay of
Whipple's rescue of 410 Vietnamese refugee's in high seas and heavy winds in
August, 1978. A few months after the essay went up on the net,
Richard Chen
who was 14 years old at the time of the rescue - and was searching the internet
for the ship that rescued him - contacted me. I sent Richard a number of
photographs from the rescue in the mail. Richard showed these to the
Wing Luke Museum in downtown Seattle.
The next thing I know, I'm being invited to Seattle
as a guest speaker - with Richard - to share our stories.
Our re-uniting was the focus of considerable media attention:
Seattle Times,
Detroit Free Press and a host of T.V. & Radio.
I felt extremely fortunate to meet with Richard after 20 years. There were
many other shipmates aboard Whipple who had
more prominent roles during the rescue; I simply tried to convey my
feeling that the crew as a whole felt extremely fortunate to execute one of
the under-reported aspects of Destroyer life: Aid to vessels in distress
on the high seas.
And this is just one story. At Destroyers Online, we have numerous examples
of fellow shipmates who have re-kindled friendships after many years. Some of
these shipmates have discovered that long-lost shipmates are a short drive from each
other.
In the Summer of 1997,
Brad Davis came to our site looking for the ship his Grandfather served on,
the U.S.S. Hazelwood (DD-531).
Because of health reasons, Brad was never able to serve, but he had a
wealth of information on his Grandfathers service and the Hazelwood in general.
Brad quickly became involved and is now our point of contact for the
Fletcher class Destroyers.
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In late 1998, Destroyers Online was fortunate to acquire the services of our
firstofficer, Dave Seay
(LCDR-ret). Dave has done a stupendous job in handling the
Sumner class Destroyers. Some of the
things he has initiated for the Sumner's is where Destroyers Online is headed:
Automation.
There are others: Lonnie Hanson helping
with the Frigates; Jack Atkinson -
Charles Adams class, Gerry Surette
- Forrest Sherman; and a host of other dedicated parties helping to present
what you see in these pages. (We have several class's of ships where we need
help. If interested, please contact one of
us.)
Content:
Our motto at Destroyers Online: To reflect highly on the Navy, the
ships and their crews. Anything that does not fall into that simple
theme, we usually will not put up. Sometimes, a sailor will
write in explaining that his Petty Officer, Officer or
Captain was a real --- ---- you get the idea. He probably
was, but he's probably a trial Lawyer now specializing in slander suits.
So, we try to keep it clean. Pictures? Same thing! Often, a
fellow shipmate will send in picture(s) of a group of sailors on liberty in some
foreign port with their "Girlfriends" in attendance. We usually will not put
these up. Why? The sailor who sent it in might not object to his
picture up on the net, however, there may be other sailors
[in the picture] who would.
Beyond any of these examples, it's pretty much open season.
The Future:
Dave Seay is on the cutting
edge (as he is fond of reminding us .... :). What Dave has done for the
Sumner class is fabulous. When he first came to Destroyers Online, the
Sumner's were languishing for lack of attention. Dave came onboard and quickly
automated the
"Crew Locator" function for the class. This has become a very popular
way of getting shipmates listed in a timely fashion.
Some of us html "Neanderthals" (which includes me) are uncomfortable with the
"Box method" ("Forms") of communicating. Like others in this medium, I
feel they are impersonal and I don't care for them. However, with the
amount of people visiting this site, "Forms" will probably be a bigger part
of the experience. The Forms are also key to opening up other
possibilities.
(Rich McMichael and Mark Roberts are in "class" for
Oracle database's.)
Imagine: selecting a "Form" and being able to search an entire database for
a ship, the name of a particular sailor - or All of the sailors for
a particular ship, or all of the photographs for a particular ship; and
having this data processed into a web-page designed to your particular selection?
With Oracle, we will be able to bring these capabilities to you. (The
goal is further automation without loosing the "personal touch.")
So, Destroyers Online will continue to grow in capability. We are
interested in this medium for the same reasons you are: to collect,
preserve and display historical information about the ships, their
crews and the U.S. Navy. Nearly all of us have served (or is close to someone
who did) and we enjoy hearing from "our fellow shipmates" and the varied
experiences they have to tell.
We sincerely enjoy this endeavor and hope that we can contribute to a subject we
know you hold special too.
Mark Roberts
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