TEXT ONLY VERSION OF
THE WINTER 2000 ISSUE (VOLUME XII - NUMBER 3) OF
THE RED NOSE REVIEW.
SQUADRON-235
The Death Angels. We are a
small band of Marines all of whom served in one
or more of the following Marine Corps Aviation
Squadrons: VMSB-235, VMF-235, VMF(AW)-235,
VMFA-235. Our members, while in these squadrons,
flew, crewed or serviced & maintained the
SDB, F4U, F9F, FJ, F8, F4, or FA18 aircraft
during the period from 01 JAN 1943 to 14 JUN
1996.
We are an "At Large"
Squadron of the Marine Corps Aviation
Association and we gather each year in
conjunction with the MCAA Annual Symposium. Our
first reunion took place in Pensacola in 1989.
We continue to meet each fall at the site of the
MCAA Symposium.
=============================================
EDITOR'S
MESSAGE
At long last I am pleased to report that as
we go to print with the Winter 2000-2001 issue
of the Red Nose Review, we have a spanking new
editor on board. Join me in welcoming Dave
Swaney to our editorial staff. I am sure that
many of you already know Dave. For those you do
not, Dave comes to us with impeccable 235
credentials. He served seven of his twenty years
with 235, serving in numerous and varied
capacities. The last being as Instructor RIO and
Maintenance Control Officer. Dave is now retired
and living in South Florida trying to work on
his handicap. Welcome aboard, Dave.
I would welcome any and all correspondence
that you would deem pertinent to our paper. Any
item of interest may be emailed to
DaveSwaney@aol.com or mailed to me at:
2107 Pier DriveRuskin, Florida 33570
or if you would rather phone, please feel
free to call me at 813-641-9896. It would really
be a great assistance if I could receive many
articles from you. The more you assist, the
better the Red Nose Review will be.
Our officers & staff are:
Tom O'Rorke • President-for-Life &
Web Site Manager
Jim Strawn • Secretary/Treasurer
Hondo Ondrick • Vice President &
Social Chairman
Vince Falzarano • Vice President &
Social Chairman
Tom Elser • Web Site Email & Photo
Manager
Dave Swaney • Editor-Red Nose Review
All of us are reachable via email, snail
mail & telephone.
=============================================
GRAND OLE
TIME IN CAPITAL CITY
If you didn't attend the MCAA 2000 reunion,
you missed a dandy and if you did attend, you
had a good time. To all of the fine folks that
obviously spent an enormous amount of time and
effort to make everyone feel comfortable and
welcome, a tip of the hat. There were plenty of
check-in stations, no lines and the welcome
aboard packages we received at check-in were
full of hats, brochures, discount coupons, area
guides, more bags and it just goes on. The
evening festivities were, without reservation,
the very best.
The 235 Ready Room, as usual, was in a grand
state due to the superb details of the
committee, Hondo Ondrick and Vince Falzarano and
of course, their Ladies. There was a buzz of
activity going on at all times and it was great
to see some old friends and some fresh faces
that showed up to enjoy the camaraderie that we
cherish so much as Marines.
The Squadron dinner at Powtowmack Landing was
enjoyed by a large entourage and missed by only
one who had planned to attend. He shall remain
nameless. The excellent reconnaissance and
efforts of Billy Adams and Tom O'Rorke in
securing our reservations and coordinating the
evening were appreciated by all.
The welcome aboard event was also a fun
evening. Tremendous food and efficiently
distributed. There were an adequate number of
refreshment bars and plenty of seating.
Fun Night was just that, very funny. A nice
meal was served and all honorees and their
families were there to enjoy the evening. A
comedic performance by an old showbiz Marine was
enjoyed by all.
If you didn't make it to Washington, you
might start planning now for a San Diego trip.
Be assured it will be well worth your effort.
See MCAA 2001 this page.
============================================
MCAA 2001
- SAN DIEGO
With Washington, DC behind us and San Diego
in our sights, why not get an early start on
your plans to attend the West Coast symposium.
It will be held at the Town and Country Resort
Hotel and it's a supreme location with extremely
fine accommodations. I am certain that those of
you who attended MCAA '96 will remember it
fondly.
The specific location of the Ready Room has
not yet been determined but rest assured, it
will be in it's usual choice location and as
always, a welcome venue where the beer is always
cold, the conversation is mostly abundant and
occasionally merits some truth.
Speaking of the Ready Room, let's not forget
that our operation and our functions are not
without costs. We ask that you please send your
dues and bar bills to Jim Strawn. It's never too
early. You will find a coupon in this or future
issues of the review.
=============================================
VMF235.COM
WEB SITE NEWS
Those of you with computers may have noticed
some changes in our web site. Several pages have
been added since our Summer Red Nose Review went
to press.
A Locater/Messages page has been added. This
page is devoted to postings of searches and
information requests. We obtain permission from
the writers and then post their message and
contact information. If you can help with
information on any of these messages we ask that
you respond to the writer as directed in the
message.
The Archive pages have been expanded. Past
issues of the Red Nose Review beginning with the
Spring 2000 issue are shown here, but without
graphics.
A summary of Breaking News Items from the
Home page is also stored here. News items from
15 June 2000 to the present are available for
your review.
Special features are listed on the Archives
page by name. These pages may be letters,
photographs, or any item of interest previously
covered on the web site.
Our Links page has also been expanded. The
Link to Washington has been replaced with a link
to San Diego. There is also a link to the Town
& Country Resort, site of the 2001 San Diego
gathering. Theirs is an excellent web site
complete with videos of the guest rooms,
restaurants and other facilities.
The VMFA-531 Gray Ghosts were kind enough to
provide a link to our site from theirs so we
have reciprocated by including a link to their
outstanding site. A link to the Marine Memorial
Association Club/Hotel has been added for those
of you in, or traveling to the San Francisco
area.
The Snapshots page has been completely
overhauled. Tom Elser handles this page and has
done a great job in reworking it. He has
expanded it to multiple pages.
Tom established a page(s) for each of the
Squadrons' decades. The 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s
and beyond. This greatly simplifies your search
for photos of old friends and squadron
mates.
We had an outstanding response to our request
for photographs and we thank all of you who
contributed. A conscientious effort is made to
credit all photos. If you have not yet seen your
snapshots posted be patient, they soon will
be.
As Tom Elser has explained previously, not
all of the photos submitted are of good enough
quality to survive a scanning and conversion to
computer graphics and still look reasonably good
on the computer screen. Also, there is sometimes
duplication of personnel and A/C in photographs
submitted by different individuals; but for our
purposes they are virtually identical. We then
choose the sharpest.
We have a concentration of photos ranging
from about the mid-fifties (FJ) through the
mid-seventies (F4). Furies, Crusaders and
Phantoms we have. Dauntless', Corsairs, Panthers
and Hornets we do not.
If you have Dauntless, Corsair, Panther or
Hornet photographs of 235 aircraft we would be
extremely grateful if you sent them to us. They
will be treated with loving care, scanned and
returned to you. We also welcome slides. Our
slide scanner is currently down but should be up
and running by year's end.
We welcome ideas for the web site. Don't
hesitate to call. Tom O'Rorke and Tom Elser's
numbers are in the roster =============================================
BIRTHDAY -
BLUES
The Blue Angel's Year End show in Pensacola
was outstanding as usual. Falling this year on
the Corp's 225th birthday made it even more so.
CAVU conditions and mild temperatures made for
near perfect weather.
Stony Mayock, one of ours and a former Blue,
and his lovely wife Judy, hosted a cocktail
reception at the Mustin Beach Officers' Club
following the Friday, 10 November
performance.
Among those celebrating the event were our
esteemed President, Tom O'Rorke. Also in
attendance were Jim (Swamp Fox) Harrison and
Fred (Beans) Craig (another USMC former Blue
Angel).
Another Death Angel, John (Fat John) Howard
of Los Angeles fame, flew in from the west coast
for the occasion. All hands were pictures of
decorum and rumors to the contrary, the Shore
Patrol was NOT called.
