From the Editor's Desk :

Fellow USS Intrepid Association, Inc. members...What IS our Association?

It is an organization of former USS Intrepid crewmembers who have something in common!

Whether we served aboard the USS Intrepid CV-11, CVA-11 or CVS-11, we are all former crewmembers of the USS Intrepid. We have formed a relationship; a closeness; a rapport...in trying to maintain a shared interest in our Association's goal to preserve the history and memory of the USS Intrepid and all who have served aboard her.

As Active Dues Paying Members, we have committed ourselves to that shared interest, not only to maintain activities toward that goal, but also to maintain a shared interest in our efforts to continue that goal.

Throughout our organization's existence, we have come upon some rough seas, as did the Intrepid. The Intrepid made it through, and so have we.

We have all taken part in selecting a Board of Directors to make sure that our organization does not lose sight of our goal and to maintain continuity and order in maintaining that goal. In the process - through the years - some have determined that some rights and benefits of our members have gone by the wayside. Basically, Communications, Fairness and Respect, were determined to be primary concerns.

At our last National Reunion it was established that, by the request of some of our members, some positive changes must be made within our organization...and in the end...our Board of Directors agreed.

At present, our Board of Directors is faced with one more issue and it has been determined that some 'rough seas' may be in the forecast, again. The up-and-coming Intrepid homecoming 'Ride' back to Pier 86 is the issue in question. At this date, there have been many former crewmembers - upwards to 200+ - that have submitted their names to be place on the 'Ride' list.

The number of former crewmembers that will be able to participate has been set and established at 150. This number has been set, primarily, by the U.S. Coast Guard, with additional input from New York City and Insurance Companies, and has been accepted, reluctantly, by the Intrepid Museum.

Our Board of Directors is presently tirelessly at work in their attempt to help increase that number.

As a past Association President I can assure all, that our Board of Directors have been doing their utmost in determining who, out of the many FCMs that have submitted their names, will be able to participate in the 'Ride'.

For those - who will be advised - that they will be one of the participants in the 'Ride', it has been determined, as per the Intrepid Museum, that it will be necessary to fill-out three (3) forms...a Embarkation; Medical and Risk Advisement/Release of Liability Form. Also, for those who will be participating, our Board is working on having parking available in the parking lot across from Pier 86 (12th Ave & 46th St.). The Museum's Security Department is also looking into obtaining some 'No Hit' Parking Permits that will facilitate - hopefully - some available parking on some of the streets, adjacent to Pier 86...keeping in mind, that on this special day...in this area...NY City will be inundated with visitors and tourists.

Following are a few other details that can now be noted:

- The 'Ride' will take approximately 2 1/2 hrs.

- A block of twenty (20) rooms have been placed on 'hold' for participants who wish to use, at the Holiday Inn

in Staten Island, at a cost of $139 per night. If you are one of the lucky ones to be able to participate in the

'Ride', after you have been notified, you could call the Holiday Inn at 718-698-5000 or 800-532-3532 to make your reservation...or...

- Arraignments have also been made with the Hudson Plaza Hotel, in Bayonne, NJ (201-823-2000) with the

following room options:

- Double Occupancy - $74.00 Cash - $77.00 w/Credit Card

- Single.................... - $64.00 Cash - $67.00 w/Credit Card

Please remember your Board of Directors are doing their best to be fair-as-possible and respectful to all, in their attempt, not only to make this 'Ride' a memorable occasion for all who will participate, but also for our entire membership.

Again, if you are one of the lucky FCMs chosen to participates, you will be notify ASAP.

Let Us Not Forget Those Who Are Not Here, With Us, To Make the 'Ride'

John Simonetti, KETCHER OnLine Report Editor

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From the Board Room :

The 50th anniversary of the commissioning of the USS Intrepid "The Men of Intrepid Come Home" DVD's

have finally arrived and will start going out today. Let's all get behind this worthy cause and show what our

Association can do for "Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund." Many thanks to Lee Heydolph for his graphics on the DVD cover...it all came together very professionally. Hopefully when Intrepid returns we will have it in the Museum store.

To order send check or money order for $10.00 to: "USS Intrepid Association, Inc." and mark for "DVD

Project." Mail to: USS Intrepid DVD Project, PO Box 2301, Bloomfield, NJ 07003-2301.

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Letter to the Editor :

"To Whom it May Concern:

Many issues back, probably around the time she was moved to dry dock, an inquiry was posted as to the location of the red E. I do not know if this has been resolved but thought it worth forwarding the attached photo I took while in dry dock in 1970 clearly showing the red E on the port side of the funnel.

The original photo clearly shows the E as red, I mention this as I noted the diminished colors of the scanned

copy and more may be lost in transmission. Glad to help in any way I can.

FCM Jim Boyd , Membership #3065, Email: jimboyd@customroofingco.net "

=============================================================================================== Intrepid Flag Program : - The Birth of the Flag -

In May 1497, John Cabot set out from England to explore the north-eastern coast of North America for Henry VII, with the king's authority to display "our banners and ensigns." A century later, Sir Francis Drake, circumnavigating the world in his famous flagship, the Golden Hind, anchored off the coast of what is now California and named the country New Albion, in honor of an ancient name for England. A period map of Drake's voyage shows the flag of St. George planted on New Albion, marking this English claim in the New World.

John Cabot, his son Sebastian, and Drake all had special permission to fly, along with the red cross, the royal standard - the king's own flag - with its heraldic devices from France and England.

The Jamestowns flagship, Susan Constant, flew a third banner in addition to two flags of St. George. This was a flag whose design would endure in America well into the Revolutionary War. It was created after the death of Elizabeth I in 1603. The Scottish king, James VI, had been asked to take the throne and so became James I of England. To give the ships of the united England and Scotland a proper ensign, in 1606 James proclaimed: "from henceforth all our subjects of this Isle and Kingdom of Great Britain...shall bear in their maintop the Red Cross, commonly called St. George's Cross, and the White Cross [of Scotland], commonly called St. Andrew's Cross, joined together." In 1625, in the list of flags raised at James's funeral, this was called "the Banner of the Union." Thus it became the Union flag or, simply, the British flag.

The founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony also sailed into the New World under the cross of St. George. it was there, in the settlement of Salem in 1634, that the earliest known flag desecration on American shores took place. The staunch Puritan leader John Endecott expressed his disapproval of non-Puritan ways and devices - from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer to the ancient maypole dance. He did not like the cross on the flag because, as Governor John Winthrop explained, "the red cross was given to the king of England by the pope, as an ensign of victory, and so a superstitious thing, and a relique of antichrist." Endecott ordered the cross to be cut away from salem's flags. Many leaders of the Massachusetts colony thought the action a rash and dangerous defiance of royal power, and Endecott received an official rebuke.