Memorial and Reunion for Veterans of the little
known
Asiatic Fleet
Recently your Yeoman was reading some of our 'On-Site Memorials' and came upon one entered by Kelley Long. I wrote her what a moving memorial she made to her Grandfather, a sailor who lost his life while serving in the Asiatic Fleet, off of Java in WWII, and received an E-Mail back from her, announcing to me the recent Presidential Proclamation which I am including on this site. I believe knowledge of this, heretofore little-known Fleet be made public and it behooves me, your Yeoman, to make some space for this acknowledgement. Please read Kelley's return Email, and the subsequent History regarding the Asiatic Fleet, and then, the Presidential Proclamation, making March 1, 2002 as "Asiatic Fleet Memorial Day... follow these links; they are very important to all of us...
"Hi Jake,
Thank you for your kind words. I have been truly blessed to have pursued this path and made the discoveries. As up until then, we only knew my grandfather was MIA. We had NO idea the wealth of information that was eventually brought to us. And I think this has helped my mom immensely as she was one month short of being two years old. Her older sister and brother knew their father, but she would never be held by him or hear his voice. She had a hard time mourning someone she never knew, yet was so much a part of her. By divine intervention, I have become acquainted with a number of Asiatic Fleet veterans and invited to the USS Trinity's reunion in San Diego earlier this month. The connection with the Trinity was that the Edsall helped to escort the oiler 1/20/42 off Darwin, Australia when they came under enemy submarine attack. The crew of the Trinity held fond memories of the Edsall and treated my mother so sweetly. Anyway, I have attached quite a bit of information, and you can share it with everyone you know. These brave men did so much for our country, I felt the need to help them get the word out.
On behalf of the veterans of the Asiatic Fleet from WWII, I would like to share this message* with you and anyone else you can share this with. I have attached President Bush's Proclamation, and included in the text below the requested announcement - a letter that one of our surviving Asiatic Fleet veterans had written hoping the government would honor their request to be acknowledged, and the history behind getting the Proclamation. Many people do not even know about the Asiatic Fleet so I hope the attachment and the enclosed letter will help enlighten you on what these brave individuals accomplished for our country.
Sincerely,
Kelley Long
Mission Viejo, CA"
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The
History - Offered in MS Word Document Form
Submitted by Walter Asche -
Wfashe3@aol.com
THE FLEET
THAT DID NOT EXIST
"The History"
Page 2
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THE PRESIDENTIAL
PROCLAMATION
"The History"
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PRESIDENTIAL
PROCLAMATION
Other
Presidential Proclamations
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Support the National WWII Memorial
South China Yangtze Patrol Asiatic Fleet
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Visit the Asiatic Fleet Club at Yahoo.com
Asiatic Fleet Club
Vic Campbell webmaster vic@grade-a.com
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U.S.S.
HOUSTON CA-30
"The Galloping Ghost of the Java Coast"
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USS Augusta CA-31
Dictionary
of Naval Fighting Ships History of the Augusta CA-31
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"The Augie Maru"
U.S.S. Augusta CA-31 Homepage
USS Langley (CV 1)
Being abandoned after receiving crippling damage from Japanese bombs,
south of Java, 27 February 1942. USS Edsall (DD-219) is standing by off Langley's port side.
Photographed from USS Whipple (DD-217).
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"An Ordeal to Forget"
From the Naval History Magazine
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Jim Nix's tribute to the USS Edsall DDS 219
E-Mail
nixj@bellsouth.net
(grandson of JJ Nix, captain of the USS Edsall DD-219)
U.S. Asiatic Fleet 4-Stacker Destroyers
President - Clifford Teer, 4616 Anlo St., Waco, TX 76710, 817-754-8534
VPs - Charles Ankerberg, P.O. Box 15698, St. Petersberg, FL 33733 (COB)
Bert Koentopp, 208-773-5315
Dan Mullin, 803-884-2360 (PR-Historian)
South China - Yangtze Patrol Asiatic Fleet
President - Ray Kester
VP - Ben Potter
Secty/Treas - Denver Keplinger, 70 Crescent Circle, Amherst, OH 44001, 440-985-2044
Quarterly Newsletter - China Gunboatman
Editor - Walter Ashe, 2606 River Ridge Dr., Asheville, NC 28803
The Eisenhower Center for American Studies
University of New Orleans
923 Magazine St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
504-539-9560
504-539-9563 fax
Michael Edwards - cthulhutex@hotmail.com
Indicate you would like to add Asiatic Fleet information
The Wall of the Missing - Philippines
For more information on this:
The American Battle Monuments Commission Asian Region
Manila American Cemetery
PSC 513 Box 5
FPO AP 96515-1800
632-844-0213 p
632-812-4717 f
The Admiril Nimitz Museum.
328 E. Main Street, P.O. Box 777, Fredericksburg, Texas 78624.
830-997-8600 p, 830-997-8092 f.
nimitzf@ktc.com
At the museum there is a room there filled with USS Edsall DD-219 information.
A plaque has been placed there sponsored by Mr. Malcolm MacDougal, now deceased.
Contact: Mrs. Marty Kaderli, Membership Secretary
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U.S.
Navy Destroyer Veterans
508-677-0515 (p), 508-676-9740 (f)
President - Thomas J. Peltin
VP - George T. Moore
Treasurer - Owen F. Hayes
P.O. Box 100, Somerset, MA 02726
800-223-5535 (to join)
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U.S.S. Augusta CA-31 Association
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The United States Asiatic Fleet
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Asiatic Fleet, 8 December 1941
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Naval Affairs: A Sailor Who Was There,
An Asiatic Fleet Veteran Remembers WWII, by Frank Barger
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Asiatic Fleet: Congress finally should recognize this WWII heroism
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Forgotten Fleet Remembered
You need to scroll down the page
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Fleet News about the current USS Ashville
returning to the site of it's predissor
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