THE
FIRST EVER USS TIDEWATER REUNION
Charleston, SC Town & Country Inn and Conference Center
THE SPIRIT
OF REUNION 2004
a memo from Bill Cook
Several
years ago a Tidewater Sailor by the name of Roger Nash logged onto the
USS Tidewater website and left a message on the Fantail. And he sent along
a photo that he wanted to share with us that was taken when he was aboard
the Tide and on liberty. He and a good friend and shipmate by the name
of Fred Smith that he had lost track of over the years were in the photo
with a darling of a waitress that they had met on liberty that day.
Maybe a year went by and as luck would have it, this friend of Roger's logged onto the USS Tidewater website for the first time and found the photo of himself and Roger and the bar maid. In his words, he yelled excitedly to his wife in the next room, "HONEY! YOU'VE GOT TO COME IN HERE AND SEE THIS!
Needless
to say, Fred and Roger got together again via e-mail and the memories
of the years they spent with each other aboard AD31 were relived. At our
Steering Committee meeting in September 2003, I met Roger and his wife,
Judy for the first time. Roger had certainly changed alot from the photo
he had sent to the website, but I could tell it was him. And I was amazed
at how closely his wife seemed to resemble the beauty in that photo.
So when Reunion 2004 came along and Fred Smith and Roger Nash were in attendance, I couldn't resist trying to recreate the photo with Judy standing in for the gal in the original photo. What do you think? Isn't this an amazing "forty or so years later" photo?
