The first of many steps in planning the first all hands reunion for
the USS Oriskany CV/CVA-34 by Vernon and Pam Williams of Burtonsville MD, started with the 1989 ad in the American Legion
magazine by Jean Rainville. Jean (G-div) of Grand Rapids MI wanted to locate shipmates from his division. However
at this time he didn't want to start a ship's reunion. After a few phone calls I informed Jean that I would like to
plan a reunion, and asked him to send the names he had received from his ad.
We started with ads in newspapers, VFW and the American Legion magazines
for any shipmates that would be interested in having a ship's reunion. The letters and phone calls started coming in
from all over wanting to know where and when the reunion would take place. We were told about the village of Oriskany
in upstate NY. We felt that it was only fitting to hold the first reunion in the place which our ship was named after.
We contacted Mr. Robert Heeley and told him about our plans to hold a reunion in Oriskany NY.
Pam and I made a trip to Oriskany
NY and met with Mayor Donald Rothdiener, Museum Curator Robert Heeley and American Legion Parkhurst Post #1448 Commander
Richard Montgomery, to discuss our plans for the upcoming reunion.
We set the dates as September 28-30, 1990. Over the weekend a number
of shipmates came by from the local area and were unable to stay but wanted to hear more about our plans for the next reunion.
At this time we didn't know if there would be a next reunion! We had a total of 194 attending the dinner/dance who had
their pictures taken for our first reunion book, five of whom were Navy Captains.
We held our dinner/dance at the Parkhurst American Legion Post #1448.
We wanted to keep it as inexpensive as possible. Our cost was $12.50 per person. We heard from several shipmates
after the reunion that they thought we were going to serve hot dogs and french fries because of the low cost. It was
a pleasant surprise for them to find a band on both Friday and Saturday nights and a wonderful buffet put on by members of
Parkhurst American Legion Post #1448. Pam and I had no idea back in 1990 at our first reunion that we would be going
back to Oriskany to celebrate our tenth anniversary! This would not have been possible without our shipmates and friends
getting the word out about our association. Our thanks to all who have made this possible!
HOW MANY OF THESE ORA REUNIONS WERE YOU ABLE TO ATTEND?
PLACE
HOSTS
1990 – SEPT. 28-30, ORISKANY NY
VERNON AND PAM WILLIAMS
1991- AUG. 23-25,
NEW YORK CITY NY DANIEL AND JOANNE KEARNS
1992 – MAY 29-31, ORISKANY
NY
ANCHOR MEMORIAL DEDICATION
1992 – OCT., LAS VEGAS NV
LEO AND MARGARET CONNOLLY
1993 - ORISKANY
NY
A-4E SKYHAWK DEDICATION
1994 -
SAN DIEGO CA
F. SCHULTZ, R. HAWLEY, D. SCHULENBERG
1995 - OCT. 12-15, ORISKANY NY
VERNON AND PAM WILLIAMS
1996 - SEPT. 29-0CT.
3, LAS VEGAS NV LEO AND MARGARET
CONNOLLY
1997 -
MAY 23-25, ORISKANY NY
ORISKANY MUSEUM DEDICATION
1997 - SEPT. 22-24, CHARLESTON SC
PETE CATALANO
1998 -
OCT. 5-7, ORISKANY NY
LITO AND BETTY PUGLIA
1999
- 0CT. 3-7, SAN ANTONIO TX
RAY DIETRICH, ED DOLEZAL
2000 -
OCT., ORISKANY NY
LITO AND BETTY PUGLIA
2001 – SEPT. 30-OCT. 2, BREMERTON WA
DON AND JOYCE GOSSARD
2002 -
AUG. 4-6, ORISKANY NY MINI
REUNION, BATTLE OF ORISKANY
225TH ANNIVERSARY
2002 - SEPT. 29-OCT. 4, TUNICA MS
PHILIP AND LIBBY CARTWRIGHT
2003 -
SEPT. 28-OCT. 1, ORISKANY NY LITO
AND BETTY PUGLIA
2004 – PENSACOLA
FL WASHED AWAY BY HURRICANE, RICHARD AND DORIS FALL AND ART GIBERSON
2004 – OCT., ORISKANY NY
MINI REUNION, INFORMAL
2005 – OCT. 2-6, EVANSVILLE
IN
CHARLES AND SHARON STRICKLAND
2006 – TUNICA
MS
PHILIP AND DIANE CARTWRIGHT
2007 -
SEPT. 17-19, DULUTH MN
DENNIS AND KAREN FRANK
2008 - SEPT.
28-OCT. 2, ORISKANY NY MARK AND JOYCE
PARRISH
2009
OCT. 25-28, PENSACOLA FL
MBT DIVERS AND COMMITTEE
