Born: January 24, 1940
Died: January 2, 2010, Carrizozo, NM

Ronald Reinard, 46-47, Seaman 1st class

Born: November 19, 1927 in Crosby, PA
Died: January 31, 2010 in Crosby, PA
Laid to rest in Norwich Cemetery, Colgrove, PA
Military honors accorded by American Legion; John Berg Post #976, Crosby, PA

Michael Young Sr.

Mike Young RM-2
66-68

SharePRINCETON — Michael John Young Sr., 64, of Princeton died Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010, at O.S.F. Medical Center in Peoria.
He was born Dec. 23, 1945, in Princeton to Jack and Helen (Jackson) Young. He married Barbara Mikrut June 17, 1983, in Wyanet. He graduated from Wyanet High School in 1964. He was a Vietnam veteran. He was a salesman for Browning Chrysler Ford in Princeton. He was a member of Bureau County Christian Church, president of the Princeton Bowling Association, “Toys for Tots” with Princeton Elks and V.F.W. of Wyanet. He enjoyed being with children and coached Wyanet Little League and volunteered with Wyanet High School football.

Survivors are his wife, Barbara of Princeton; his first wife, Nancy (Kelish) Young; two sons, Mike Young Jr. of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Jack (Angela) Young of Carbondale; four daughters, Lynette (Doug) McFadden of Walnut, Louise (Rick) Poplawski of Kentucky, Laura (Dan) Barton of Waconda and Vicki (Butch) Schnabel of Yorkville; one brother, Fred Young of Martinez, Ga.; two sisters, Nina (Roger) Nutter of Princeton and Judy (John) Welsh of Lake Havasu City, Ariz.; 12 grandchildren, Ashton, Dannelle, Brooks, James, Lydia, Samantha, Trevor, Jacob, Chase, Madie, David and Lia; and one great-granddaughter, Alexis.
He was preceded in death by his parents and one sister, Peg.
Services will be at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Grant–Johnson Funeral Home, Princeton, with Pastor Keith Beard officiating. Cremation rites will be accorded after the services.
Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home.
Contributions may be directed to the Princeton Elks “Toys for Tots” in his honor.

Born: November 2, 1930
Died: November 5, 2001

Survived by wife Betty, children Jeff and Teresa
His daughter Teresa notified us.

Died June 18, 2009
Murrietta, California
Buried at Riverside National Cemetery with full military honors.
Bill and Alice had been married 52 years

Cards may be sent to Alice at:
Alice McBurney
39437 Cardiff Ave
Murrieta, CA 92563

LEO E. HANCE SOUTH BURLINGTON

Leo E. Hance passed away at the Vermont Respite House Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009, after a brief illness. Leo was married to Betty (Pender) Hance in 1950. Born in Fairfield, Nov. 19, 1926, the son of the late Mary (Lagosia) Hance Lozell and the late John Hance. Leo was a long time resident of the Burlington and South Burlington area. He was a veteran of World War II, in the Navy and served on the USS Mispillion AO-105 in the Pacific and was discharged in 1949. Leo then joined the Vermont National Guard and was in Service Battery 206 Field Artillery, 172 Infantry 43rd Division.
In 1950, was federalized during the Korean Police Action and Leo was sent to Camp Pickett, Va. as a Sergeant. The Division was then sent to Germany until 1952, when he discharged from the Army. Upon returning to Vermont, Leo then joined the Naval Reserves in Burlington, and spent the next five years in the "Sea Bee" Division 1-44 Reserves.

Robert H. Smith, SK3, 63-65
Salado, Texas
Born: March 14, 1941
Died: May 8, 2008
His wife Barbara notified us.
Robert was one of the guys who put together the 1964 cruisebook.

Melvin J. Moore, 46, S/2c

Melvin J. Moore, 46, S/2c

Died August, 2, 2007 in Dayton, OH.
His daughter notified us of his passing.

Joe Briggs, MM2, 1952-1956
Born: Feb 2, 1933
Died: Nov 14, 2008
Joe passed away from leukemia. Shipmate Terry Little notified us of Joe's passing.
Graveside services will be on Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 1:00 p,m, at Sunset Cemetery, Gallup, NM
Cards may be sent to the Briggs family at:
P.O. Box 312, Gallup, NM 87305

Thomas Benach, MM2, 45-49  Plankowner

Born: October 1,1928
Died, September 20, 2008

Kenneth Loren Swinford

Kenneth was a corpsman on the 52-53 cruise
Born: January 10, 1931, Joliet, Illinois
Died: May 10, 2007: Mr. Swinford died at his home in Sandpoint, Idaho
Thanks to shipmate Tom McClain for providing us this information.

Thanks to Paul Hopper for sending us the photo of Kenneth Bass fishing.

Joseph Ruffing, ENCS, 73-74

Born: January 10, 1936, Mahoning, PA
Died: March 18, 2007, San Diego, CA
Memorial Service: April 4, 2007, 10 a.m.
Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego, CA
(Rest in Peace Joe) We received this information from Gary Rapalee, MMC, 71-74

CLICK ON PHOTO TO SEE LARGER VERSION

Verlin D McCormack, SN, 69-71
Born: September 6, 1951
Died: March 9, 2008
Laid to rest in Antioch Cemetery, Springfield, MO
Shipmates Eddie Coleman and Richard Irwin notified us of P Nut's passing

Chief Mendenhall
Gene M. Mendenhall
Oct. 9, 1936-April 14, 2005
Gene M. Mendenhall, 68, of Chula Vista died Thursday. He was born in Coffeyville, Kan., and was retired from the Navy. He was a veteran of the Vietnam War and a member of the VFW.
Survivors include his wife, Celia Mendenhall; daughters, June Vespo of Murrieta and Julie Hadano of Oita-ken, Japan; stepdaughter, Nancy Reyes of San Bruno; stepsons, Art Mangubat of Yucaipa and Alan Mangubat of Chula Vista; sisters, Jollene Ellison of Jacksonville, Fla.; and 12 grandchildren.
Visitation: 5 to 9 p.m. tomorrow and 4 to 9 p.m. Friday, Glen Abbey Mortuary, 3838 Bonita Road, Bonita.
Services: 10 a.m. Saturday at the mortuary chapel.
Inurnment: Glen Abbey Memorial Park.
Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune on 4/20/2005.

Russell G. Yamashiro, HT3, 72-73, R div.

Obituary is from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. (May 24, 2002)
Russell G. Yamashiro, 51, of Kapaa, Kauai, a state park caretaker, died Tuesday, May 21, 2002. He was born in Lihue. He is survived by wife Patricia M.; sons Russell K. and Kyle K.; mother Sueko Yoshishige; father Take; brothers Clayton Yamashiro, Jon Yoshisige and Russell Iida; and sisters Renee' Yamashiro and Stephanie Nago. Services: Saturday May 25, 2002 at Kapaa Missionary Church. Call after 9 a.m. Interment to follow at Kauai Veterans Cemetery, Kauai, Hawaii. Casual attire.
I spoke with his wife Patricia the other day. Russell died after a year long battle with colon cancer. She would like to hear from those of you who were his friends. I have her address and phone number. I know it is kind of late, but please remember the Yamashiro family in your prayers.

William A. Olsen Jr.
He served in O division on Mispillion from 1951-1955 and was a PN 1. He passed away in September of 1998. We received this from his brother, Wendell.

Floyd Tillery (1972)
Chief Tillery passed away Sept. 30, 2003.
Chief John Gobbo notified us of this.

Paul L. Teague
SN 2nd Division, 1959-1962. The following info submitted by Dr. Charles M. Flanders: Paul and I were in the hospital at Sasebo together and weren't able to get well quick enough to make ship's movement and consequently would up TDY all over the Pacific trying to catch up with the Mighty Miss. Wouldn't have been so bad, except that we were without pay records and didn't have a dime. we also caught all of the crud duty from everyplace they sent us. We wound up on the Mt. Katmai (AE-16) and rendezvoused with the Mispillion and had to be bosun chaired over. Needless to say our shipmates made sure we were Baptized. Paul and my brother Jerry, were in boot camp together and served the same time on the ship.

Francis S."Frankie" Masionis,
BT 1, 45-48 Plankowner

Born: November 4, 1922
Died: December 1971

Charles Taylor GMC, 52-55

Born: April 14, 1917, Louisiana, MO
Died: December 25, 2008, Boulder Creek, CA

James Benson, EN3, 51-53

Josh Johnston, CDR, 1982-1983

Died January of 2003 in Sandia, TX
He was the master of Mispillion when she was an MSC tanker. He spent 25 years in the Navy, starting out as an enlisted man, became a warrant officer and retired as a Commander in 1970. We received this information from his sister Julia Wilkerson, who is neighbors with shipmate Ken Kelly.

James Don Warman

James D. "Don" Warman, EM3, 49-52
Longview, TX
Memorial services with military honors for James Don Warman, 76, of Longview, will be 11 a.m. Wednesday, September 20, 2006, at VFW Post No. 4002, with Joe Crenshaw officiating. Arrangements are by East Texas Funeral Home. Mr. Warman was born February 27, 1930, in Drumright, Okla., and he died September 12, 2006, at a local hospital. He was a U.S. Navy veteran, retired from Eastman, a Baptist, and active member of Elks Lodge. Survivors include his sisters, Margie and Ada.

Published in the Longview News-Journal on 9/16/2006.

Captain John S. Oller Jr. 66-67
24 December 1919 - 8 April 2005
Services were held 15 April 2005
Graveside services will be 13 June, 2005 at Arlington National Cemetery

CLICK HERE to see the obituary

Adolph Haag
3712 N. Henke Rd.
Milton, WI. 53563

Adolph was SK and was on the 105 53- ?. Adolph and my picture (Paul Hopper) together is in the 53 cruise book under Supply Div. He had cancer in the throat area and neck, ear area.

Passed away Nov. 19, 2004.

Jerry W. Flanders
Jerry served on the Mispillion from 1959-1962. He died in 1967. 1941-1967. I wanted to have my late brother who served aboard the Mispillion with me. He served as the Captain's gig coxswain until 1961 when he ran her aground under Allie J. Anchors, BM1 (later BMC). He transferred to the Supply division under (___) Nabors. He made SK/3 and left the ship in 1962. He died in Ventura, CA. He was born Oct 12, 1941 and died 16 Oct., 1967. Please remember this shipmate and my brother. There were several sets of brothers on the Mispillion from 1959-1964. Sincerely, C.M. Flanders, HM/3

Tom Pihlgren
QM3 Passed away word from his sister this past June. Tom passed away peacefully on Sunday evening. 6-09-02
We will miss him so much. He is in a better place probably catching up with old friends and family. He died from a battle with cancer. Forgot to mention I know he was on in 67-69 at least. (info submitted by Moses)

William "Bill" Hughes
YN3, 63-66. Bill died Feb 23, 1967 from cancer. (info submitted by Ron Wheeler)

Joseph E. Monceret
(from New Roads, La. He became a dentist)
Born March 8, 1931-Died December 2, 2000

Ronald E. Burroughs, S/1c, 51-55
Born 02-23-1932
Died 02-09-2006

Laurent "Larry" F. Cote Sr

Laurent "Larry" F. Cote Sr., 86, died Dec. 28, 2008, at Catholic Medical Center.
He was born in Manchester on March 21, 1922, to Adelard and Marie Louise (L'Esperance) Cote. Following his graduation from West High School in 1941, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy.

He was a veteran of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the China Sea Patrol. He retired from the Navy in 1964 and returned to his native city of Manchester. For the next 18 years, he was employed as a mechanic by International Paper Co.

Mr. Cote was a parishioner of St. Raphael Church and served as a sacristan. He held membership in the Catholic War Veterans, Ramsay Post, and served as its state treasurer and national commanders aide.

Family members include his wife, Jeannine (Ouellette) (Zinis) Cote of Manchester; daughters Lynne Heroux of Pittsfield, Judith Schoonmaker of Wellington, Colo., and Donna Welch of Globe, Ariz.; sons Laurent F. Cote Jr. of Bennington, and Marc Cote of Manchester; stepchildren Christine Benner, Robin Magdziarz, Walter Zinis Jr. and Candy Young, all of Manchester; 10 grandchildren; six step-grandchildren; many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his first wife, Reta (Trombly) Cote, in 1999.

IN HIS LIFE: He was a member of the American Legion, Jutras Post 43, the Knights of Columbus Council 5260, the Fleet Reserve Association, Branch 338 and the VFW Post 5791.

He also was a member of the Retired Federal Employees Association and was a plank owner of the U.S. Naval Memorial. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America and was especially involved with Catholic scouting.

SERVICES: Calling hours are Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. in the McHugh Funeral Home, 483 Beech St., corner of Hanover St. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated Wednesday at 10 a.m. in St. Raphael Church, 102 Walker St. Burial with full military honors will follow in Mount Calvary Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to the V A Medical Center, 718 Smyth Road, Manchester 03104.

Photo was taken in 1947

Joseph Oddo, S/1c, 47-48

Joseph Oddo
ODDO Joseph Oddo on Thursday, January 22, 2009. Age 79. Beloved husband of Joyce Palazzo Oddo. Father of Randall Mark Oddo (Earline), Dawnelle Oddo Bychurch (Norman) and Gina Oddo Aucoin. Stepfather of James Daniels (Teri). Also survived by seven grandchildren, two stepgrandchildren, three great grandchildren, and two great great grandchildren. Preceded in death by his brother Anthony Oddo, Jr. and grandchildren, Mark A. Oddo and Adolphus M. Johnson, Jr. He will be sadly missed by "the best dog in the world", Sophie. Joe was an avid fisherman and baseball coach, known to the baseball community as "Papa Joe". He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy. Relatives and friends are invited to attend the Funeral Mass at LAKE LAWN METAIRIE FUNERAL HOME, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd. (in Metairie Cemetery) on Monday, January 26, 2009 at 1:00 PM. Visitation will begin at 11:00 AM until time of service. Private interment will follow at a later date. To view and sign the Family GuestBook, go to http://www.lakelawnmetairie.com

this was taken in 2006 at the Baton Rouge reunion. From the left, Joe Oddo, Al Puppo, Bill Forman, Mac McConnell and Paul Crockett

Harry E Johnson,
BT 3, 63-65

Johnson, Harry E.        Born February 7, 1942  -  Died June 20, 2008

June 22, 2008

Capt. Henry Glass Munson
Born December 31, 1911
Deceased July 17, 1975
Service dates 8/6/52 through 7/6/53
Buried at Sea, Pacific Ocean west of Kauai
Hank graduated from Annapolis in June, 1932, 2nd in his class, brilliant in math. He had previously been an enlisted man and never forgot what it meant to be a seaman. His first command, the WWI era submarine S-38, came in January, 1942. In 6 patrols he sank 2 ships, made the first submarine bombardment of enemy territory, and rescued 58 survivors of HMS Electra from certain death after the Battle of Coral Sea. He commissioned USS Crevalle, S-291, in Feb 1943, in 2 patrols sank 7 ships. His ninth war patrol as a CO was aboard Rasher, S-269, where in a night surface radar attack in zero visibility he sank 5 ships – one a carrier - damaged three others. Subsequently was in command of Sub Squadron 3 1946-47, USS Mispillion ‘52-‘53, & Destroyer Squadron 7. Planned route of USS Triton’s submerged circumnavigation in 1960 as Hydrographer of the Navy, and retired 1961 after 2 years as a test pilot for new nuclear submarines under Bureau Inspection & Survey. Moved to Princeton, NJ to teach physics and sail small boats. Survived by Chris Munson and grandchildren Noel and Marianna.

Dallas D Millican, SN, 56-57

from Camden, Arkansas
Born: October 9, 1936
Died: February 17, 2005
We received this information from his daughter Brenda

Brenda sent us several photos. Please CLICK HERE to see them all

Milton R. (Mick) Hoffman, FT3, 54-57
born:17 Sept 1935
died: 20 Aug 2000

Mick was inducted into the US Navy in December of 1953. Following boot camp in San Diego, CA he served about one year in Washington, DC. He then was assigned to the USS Mispillion as a Fire Control Technician. He was discharged from active duty in November of 1957. He served 18 years in the Naval Reserve in St. Joseph, MO and was discharged as and E-7, Chief Petty Officer.
Following discharge from active duty he returned to Wathena, KS, married his high school sweetheart and raised a family of two boys and one girl. He was employed by the Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. for 30 years, retiring in 1987. In addition, he and his wife operated the Hoffman Country Store for several years, selling produce grown on their farm. He was a trustee of the Wathena First Baptist Church, member of the American Legion Post 161 and Southwestern Bell Pioneer Club. He was active in a prison ministry. He died from complications of lung cancer.
This information was recieved from his brother in law, C W Skinner

Attached are two photos. One was taken in Boot Camp and the other was taken the day he made Chief. Thanks, Steve
P.S. Sounds like Mick lived a very full life. Sounded like a real nice guy.

Arnold J. "Arnie" Gallenbeck Jr. HT 3, 72-73
Born August 14-1950 Died June 23,2004
Died when a tornado struck his rural Wisconsin home.

Hi, I am Judy Hotmar the cousin of---
Arnie Gallenbeck 71 DC
N472 Pleasant Drive
Markesan, Wi. 53946
920-398-1630
gallenbe@vbe.com

I don't know if you already know of this but he was killed in a tornado on Wed. night. I have enclosed a article for you to read. They lost everything in site, his wife was air lifted to a hospital in Madison, Wi. in very serious condition. Many things wrong with her and she is kept very sedated and knows nothing of what happened. The funeral for Arnie is Tuesday, July 6. He was so loved by many and will greatly missed. I hope in some way this can be passed on to the fellows he was in the Navy with.
Thank you for your time,
Judy Hotmar
nvgal@frontiernet.net

The National Weather Service says a tornado that killed Arnold Gallenbeck Wednesday night was an F-three. That rating is based on the Fujita scale which is used to determine the strength of a tornado based on wind strength. Officials say winds measured between 158 to 206 miles an hour. As of late this afternoon, Arnold's wife Gretchen is in serious condition at Madison's UW hospital. She was severely injured in the tornado.

Today more than one hundred volunteers helped clean up the rubble left in place where their home once stood. Volunteers have poured out today, combing the fields around the house in Markesan, looking for any remnants they can find. "He's going to be missed very much," says his dad Arnold Gallenbeck Senior. For the senior Gallenbeck, the debris is saturated with memories of his son. "Found a lot of stuff out there. it's hard to take," he says. And as things are pulled from the rubble, crews try to decide what Gretchen Gallenbeck would like to keep.
"It's unbelievable how it can scatter over the countryside for miles. I live seven miles from here and there are ceiling tiles from this house in my door yard," says Duane Vis who came out to help. Also among the helpers, Arnold's co-workers from the Horicon John Deere plant. "Arnie meant a lot to all of us, and it's kind of a small thing we can do to help the family and remembering Arnie as a great guy," says co-worker Steve Buchholz. After all of the personal belongings are pulled from the rubble, volunteers are taking the wood and anything else that will burn from the house and disposing of it. They're taking all of the metal and anything that won't burn and separating it into a pile for recycling, and later they say they'll try to bury pieces of the concrete foundation here on the property.

I just wanted to let the men that served with Arnie know that his wife, Gretchen, is out of the hospital and doing much better. She is suffering from several fractures in her spine, but is in rehab and starting to rebuild her life. Gretchen attended our Boy Scout Court of Honor on Monday Sept. 27. It was a chance for the boys to tell her how much Arnie ment to the Troop. Arnie was one of our founders and our Committee chairman. "Mr Resourse", as the boys called him, could get anything the boys needed and was always there when I needed to blow off some steam about some kid, or some parent.
The Troop is building a memorial case in our scout room that will include Arnie's scout shirt, his coffee cup, survival kit, and scout ID card. Included in the display will also be pictures of Arnie at camp outs as well as a hat from the Mispillion that was given to me at his funeral by one of you guys.
Thank you very much for your time and prayers for his family, including the scouting family that he left behind. He was a great friend!
John Rockefeller
Scoutmaster Troop 747
Alto / Waupun
PS: A living testiment to how much he ment to this community of boys is that just 2 years ago we started this troop with 6 boys. Today we have a membership of 20.

HMC Oscar Biebenger
He served on Mispillion from 59-63. Died March 26,2001. Oscar received the Silver Star while attached as a corpsman with the Marines at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea.

Oscar Biebinger served in the Fleet Marine Force during the Korean War as a Navy Hospital Corpsman. Whenever a Marine was wounded, Oscar would crawl out over bitterly frozen ground to tend to the wounded. While he did this, he was exposed to enemy fire. They couldn't dig foxholes as the ground was so frozen. The tanks had to have fires built under the engine to get them started. Oscar was wounded several times while tending to the wounded He received the Silver Star for his actions. His bravery under fire and the fact that he would take a bullet for his fellow Marines reflects the honor and courage of the Medical Corpsmen that serve with Marines. We carry a 45 caliber sidearm to be used only in defense of the wounded as per the Geneva Conventions. I was a striker (someone learning the rate) under Oscar aboard the Mighty Mispillion. After I left the Mispillion, Iwent to Corps School at San Diego. Later, I went to FMF training at Camp Pendleton and was assigned to the 1st Marines 5th Medical Battalion in Vietnam. Oscar was more than a shipmate, he was mentor and someone who had courage beyond belief. I am proud to have served with him and to have learned so much medicine from him. your shipmate, doc

Thanks to "doc" Charles Flanders for the info above and for the photo.