“Outstanding” was the consensus of destroyermen and family members regarding the opening speaker, who introduced them to the extended history of the region; “true Americans,” reflected the equally-appreciative speaker following a large number of insightful questions.

Red Hawk.

   Thus did Red Hawk of the Abenaki Nation—Wes Dikeman—impress the audience, and they him, to begin a colorful destroyer weekend at Lake George, New York, Thursday evening–Sunday, 11–14 October.
   The event, planned with World War II destroyermen in mind but attended by many others, was hosted by the Destroyer History Foundation and based at the Fort William Henry Resort and Conference Center. Participants included a core group of 24 representing about twenty ships, including seven of the nine original ships of DesRon 21, with as many as 40 total visitors, some attracted by a timely front-page article in the local Glens Falls Post Star.
   In addition to Red Hawk’s introduction, Friday’s presentations included By Sea through the Solomon Islands and By Sea through the Philippines by Dave McComb—color images taken on cruises since 2005. This was followed in the evening by a dinner cruise on the Lake George Steamboat Company’s Lac du St. Sacrament with a warm personal welcome from President Bill Dow, himself a destroyeman.
   On Saturday morning, to an audience that included Bill Cole, II (son of Fletcher’s commissioning CO, Comdr. William M. Cole), McComb returned to present Another look at the evolution of night surface tactics in World War II. In it, he focused on the Battle of Tassafaronga and identified Adm. Cole and his XO, (later-Adm.) Joseph Wylie as pioneers who first used what became known as the CIC in battle, and thereby provided a model that influenced the four great night surface victories to follow in World War II.
   A sunny Saturday afternoon brought many attendees back out on the lake for a Paradise Bay cruise on MV Mohican, now in its 100th year.
   Dinner that evening was followed by the closing presentation—Capt. Steve Davis’ review of the Battle of Vella Gulf and his recent command, USS Vella Gulf (CG 72). An extensive question-and-answer session left the audience impressed with both Steve and his wife Wynne—“our republic needs ten thousand more like them,” said one. Steve ended by proposing a gathering at Crystal City, Virginia in August 2008—jointly to be hosted by the Destroyer History Foundation and Tin Can Sailors—to commemorate that victory on its 65th anniversary. All participating ships’ crewmembers and identifiable Japanese survivors and family members would be invited.

At USS Slater, Albany.

   For Sunday’s concluding event, participants drove south to Albany, New York. Boarding USS Slater (DE 766) there, they held a brief memorial service at noon on the fantail, then toured the ship for 2½ hours with Gordan Lattey, knowledgeable volunteer since Slater’s restoration began ten years ago. Again the guide and his audience were mutually stimulated—Slater is in beautiful condition and the visitors fully appreciated what they saw, from engineering spaces to flying bridge.
   From Albany the group dispersed, glad to have shared a “great weekend, great venue and beautiful scenery with interesting participants and presentations.”
   “I never imagined people I’d never met before could feel so much like family,” said one veteran. “I wish there were a way that our young people could have come, met and talked with these extraordinary people,” wrote another. “Possibly they might then realize the sacrifices these men have made in order for them to live in freedom.”

— Dave McComb