SPECIAL EDITION

DECEMBER 21, 2005

This article is about " Carpenter shipmate"  Ray McCune , (ETR3 - 1960-62).

(REF. - December 2005 Issue of MidWest Outdoors Magazine – Page 40 Main Section and Page 108 Indiana Section)

Ray McCune, a feature editor, cooking columnist, and humor columnist for MidWest Outdoors, a popular outdoor magazine, was recently notified of winning one of the top places in the hearts of the magazine’s more than 65,000 monthly readers.

Ray, an outdoor freelance writer and author of a recently published book of humor, HOW TO EAT A WILD GREEN PANCAKE and other humorous tales, was notified by Gene Laulunen, editor & publisher of MWO magazine, that he was voted one of the top writers in the main section of the magazine and as one of the top writers of the Indiana Section. In telling the readers the results of the MWO Readers’ Choice Contest, he stated,

“ The past four months we have received over 3,000 readers’ votes for their favorite writers. Hundreds of respondents said they love all the writers, and they couldn’t pick one over the others. With over 150 writers to choose from it is a difficult job. Here are the top vote-getters for the main section. The winners for the different state sections will be featured in their respective sections. When you read about the ideas and backgrounds of these writers, you will understand why we are very proud to have these writers in our MidWest Outdoors’ family. This is the finest collection of outdoor writers in the nation. We would like to thank all who sent in their ballots. This helps us continue our mission: HELPING PEOPLE ENJOY THE OUTDOORS.”

Among the readers’ choices for MidWest Outdoors ‘main’ section writers (in alphabetical order) are:

Dan Basore, Phil Cadez, Roger Cormier, Mike Cyze, Capt., , Dan Galusha, Dave Genz, Ray Hansen, Adam Johnson, Keith Kavajecz, Dan Keating, Larry Ladowski, Tim Lesmeister, Mark Martin, Walt Matan, Ray McCune, Mike Mladenik, Dr. Ken Nordberg, Jerry Pabst, Gary Parsons, Scott Richardson, Gary Roach, Jim Saric, Jack Schwab, Ted Takasaki, Jack Schwab, Mick Thill, Babe Winkelman, and Gregg Thomas.

MidWest Outdoors readers’ choice contest winning ‘Indiana’ Writers include:

Tom Berg – Dyer, IN, Dave Dyer – Chesterton, IN, Phil Junker – Derby, IN, Ray McCune – Fort Wayne, IN, Ed Mullady – Kankakee, IL, Mike Ratter – Calumet City, IL, Jack Spaulding – Milroy, IN, and Bill Takacs – Hammond, IN.

Born in Gassaway, West Virginia, Ray is the son of Blanche and Bruce McCune (both deceased). He is a Navy veteran and a member of American Legion Waynedale Post #241 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He’s a Life Member of the National Rifle Association, and has been a Boy Scout leader for 25+ years. Ray graduated from Gassaway High School, the U.S. Navy School of Electronics, attended Santa Ana College in California where he majored in Journalism, and graduated from Indiana University/Fort Wayne. He retired from GTE in 1993 and turned to his love of writing as a second career. Ray was Associate Editor for THE WAYNEDALE NEWS for 5 years from 1999 to 2004; and is now an Outdoor Freelance Writer full time and has authored several hundred articles that were published in various publications. He is a self-proclaimed Dutch oven chef and is writing a cookbook called KAMPFIRE KOOKIN’, which he says will be like an unofficial Boy Scout cookbook. Ray is currently working on two more books of fiction humor, which he says will be collections of his best Humor Corner Columns which have appeared in MidWest Outdoors magazine and elsewhere. Ray is married and the father of one daughter and four sons. Ray and his wife Joanne reside in Fort Wayne, Indiana; they have eight grandchildren.

A MidWest Outdoors’ interview with Ray McCune:

MWO: How long have you been writing for MidWest Outdoors?

Ray: First article? 1983. First column? 1996.

MWO: What is your favorite outdoor activity? Where do you like to go?

Ray: I like writing about outdoor activities that I do (hunting, fishing, camping, and cooking) and I enjoy making people laugh. I like Salamonie Reservoir and the Pigeon River Fish & Wildlife Area in Indiana and my brother’s log cabin in West Virginia.

MWO: Who is your outdoor hero?

Ray: I have two, my brother Joe, who was the inspiration for my book (How To Eat A Wild Green Pancake), and Patirck F. McManus, a writer/humorist for Outdoor Life magazine.

MWO: What is the most rewarding experience of your career?

Ray: Being recognized by Patrick F. McManus as “. . . a fellow humorist. I sent him a column comparing his writing to mine. He wrote back and said, “you’re funny! You have a nice comic touch that should carry you a long ways, even in this tough business.”

MWO: What is your favorite piece of outdoor equipment?

Ray: I have two: a hunting knife, my brother made for me and a 14-inch steel camping skillet, that my Mom and Dad were given when they got married.

MWO: Do you have a favorite motto or any words of wisdom?

Ray: My dad used to say, “If you ain’t havin’ fun doin’ whut yer doin’, then you shouldn’t be doin’ whut yer doin’,” and to me, that says it all. Oh, and he also said, “Anyone can be ordinary!”

MWO: What is your most memorable outdoor experience?

Ray: Honeymooning with Joanne, in a tent, in the pouring rain, dining on cold pork and beans, and toasting marshmallows over a Coleman lantern inside a wet, soggy umbrella tent. That was also her very first camping experience. She still speaks to me.

DECEMBER 13, 2005

TRUE OR NOT ?

On 23 August 1779, the USS Constitution set sail from Boston, loaded with 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons of water, 74,000 cannon shot, 115,000 pounds of black powder and 79,000 gallons of rum.

On 6 October, she made Jamaica, took on 826 pounds of flour and 688,300 gallons of rum. Three weeks later, Constitution reached the Azores, where she provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 300 gallons of Portuguese wine.

On 18 November, she set sail for England where her crew captured and scuttled 12 English merchant vessels and took aboard rum.

By this time, Constitution had run out of shot. Nevertheless, she made her way unarmed up the Firth of Clyde for a night raid. Here, her landing party captured a whiskey distillery, transferred 13,000 gallons aboard and headed for home.

On 20 February 1780, the Constitution arrived in Boston with no cannon shot, no food, no powder, no rum, and no whiskey.

She did, however, still carry her crew of 475 officers and men and 18,600 gallons of water. The math is quite enlightening:
Length of cruise: 181 days
Booze consumption: 1.26 gallons per man per day
(this DOES NOT include the unknown quantity of rum captured from the 12 English merchant vessels in November).

Naval historians note that the reenlistment rate from this cruise was 92%.

Thursday, September 1, 2005
The Advanced Electric Ship Demonstrator, Sea Jet, funded by the Office of Naval Research, is a 133-foot vessel located at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division, Acoustic Research Detachment in Bayview, Idaho. Sea Jet will operate on Lake Pend Oreille, where it will be used for test and demonstration of various technologies. Among the first technologies tested will be an underwater discharge water jet from Rolls-Royce Naval Marine, Inc., called AWJ-21, a propulsion concept with the goals of providing increased propulsive efficiency, reduced acoustic signature, and improved maneuverability over previous Destroyer Class combatants

DD-21 CONCEPT

FEBRUARY 28, 2009

On Sat, 2/28/09, Ted Zahn  wrote:

From: Ted Zahn
Subject: RE: Navy buddies & unfinished projects.
To: kennjd3@sbcglobal.net
 Date: Saturday, February 28, 2009, 11:24 AM
Thanks for your kind words. He was a very good man.
You can publish the note on the web site if you like.
Ted

Original Message-----
> From: Jimmie Kennedy [mailto:kennjd3@sbcglobal.net]
 Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2009 11:01 AM
 To:
 Subject: Re: Navy buddies & unfinished projects.

 Hi Ted,
 
 I am so sorry to hear about Forrest's passing. It must
 be awfully hard on
 his family. I will see that it is posted on the association
 website under
 the Memorial page and his name will be read at the Two Bell
 Ceremony at the
 reunion in Branson. Also, this is a very touching story and
 I would like to
 have it posted on the website, with your permission.

 Thanks for letting me know.
 
 Jimmie
 

 
On Fri, 2/27/09, Ted Zahn  wrote:
 
From: Ted Zahn
 Subject: Navy buddies & unfinished projects.

 I really hate unfinished projects.

 In the last couple of years I mentioned to Wiseguys
 and my
 musician buddies
 about the joy of reconnecting with some of my old Navy
 buddies.  One in
 particular is Forrest Rosaire, a musician with whom we
 played music on the
 ship.  Since those days way back when, he became a
 local
 icon on the Olympic
 Peninsula.
 
 In the last five years, Rick Meadows (bass player from
 WZMG) and I performed
 at three of the Summerfests that Forrest Rosaire
 hosted on
 the Elwha Indian
 Reservation in Washington State -- just outside of
 Port
 Angeles. 
 
 During our Vietnam days, Rick, Forrest and I were said
 to
 be thick as
 thieves.
 We were an unlikely assemblage of a ship's clerk,
 a
 deck ape, and a
 technical guy.
 
 On one of our much needed breaks somewhere in the
 middle of
 the South
 Pacific, we were rehearsing one of Crosby, Stills,
 Nash
 & Young tunes (Suite
 Judy Blue Eyes) in the chain locker, and one of our
 shipmates came in
 thinking that beautiful sound was coming from an
 original
 recording -- being
 played on high-end stereo gear.
 
 Our rock band also included a sporadic drummer, Rick
 Moncado who ran the
 ship's store, but in the cruise book the photo of the
 band has Forrest
 playing drums. There were other players like Bill St.
 John
 and Dale Hudson
 who occasionally joined us for various instrumental
 configurations.  We had
 a very strong fan base on the ship -- there is nothing
 like
 having a captive
 audience.  There was no TV, no Booze*, no Internet and
 precious little else
> > to do on your time off except write letters, grab a
 meal,
 take a shower and
 collect your laundry.

 We won the Flotilla 5 "Best Rock Band"
 competition.  Unbeknownst to us one
 of the officers entered us.
 
On our modest 390 foot destroyer, our competition
 included
 the endless
 talent in the rest of the Pacific Fleet's Flotilla
 5.
 We were tied up in
Pearl Harbor next to a carrier (one of our
 competitors) and
 from> stratospheric heights above, a large part of the
 carrier
 crew lined up to
 watch us play.  We were way down below on the fantail
 (very
 back deck) of
 the USS Carpenter.  After the carrier's own band
 heard
 us play, the carrier
 withdrew from the competition.
 
 It was a wonderful experience, and the gift of getting
 reacquainted after
 all these years has taken on special meaning to me.
 
 I got an email yesterday from Tico (Forrest's wife) in
 which she stated
 Forrest had a heart attack and died. It just did not
 seem
 possible since
 nine days before I had just wished him a happy 57th
 birthday.
 
 My first impression was that it was some sort of a
 cruel
 joke, but after a
 few agonizing hours it started to sink in. After
 collecting
 my thoughts, I
 called Tico and she shared the following story:
 "I had been out of town for a few days, and
Forrest
 was with the girls. The
 day I returned, he came home from a 'jam' and
 we
 sat down and had a long
 talk (just the two of us) for hours on the couch.  We
 talked about love and
 we talked about growing old together...  then he just
 stopped talking".
 
At that point she -- stopped talking.  I gave her my
 condolences, and
 promised to pass the word.

 I didn't get to know Forrest's daughters all
 that
 well (There was an ongoing
 joke that he was keeping us away from them -- you
 know,
 musicians and all
 that.)
 
 His son, <little> Forrest (Or officially Forrest Jr.)
 has downs syndrome and
 when I was up there visiting, his every waking moment
 was
 within ear shot of
 his dad.  He could usually be found within a few yards
 of
 <big> Forrest.  At
 the Summerfests, it was like they were attached by a
 tether.  Just hitting
 his teens, <little> Forrest was his dad's
 biggest
 fan and was always close
 to the front of the stage when his dad performed at
 Summerfest.  In spite of
 being dealt a difficult hand to play in his life, he
 is a
 fine young man.
 
 <Little> Forrest like his dad, is a very loving
 person and I cannot even
 begin to imagine how hard it will be for him to process
 this new change in
 his life, but I have no doubt that it is much harder
 than
 it is for me.
 
 It is odd that I got a call from Forrest out of the
 blue a
 few weeks ago,
 and he asked me to help on a recording project he had
 just
 started -- he
 wanted me to perform some keyboard parts on an
original
 tune he had just
 written.  We had for years planned to collaborate on a
 project, and it was
 finally going to happen.

 (I really hate unfinished projects).
 
 This is a disturbing and compelling reminder not to
 just
 get your projects
 started earlier, but to get them started NOW.

 http://www.forrestrosaire.com/
 
 After I called Rick last night to tell him, he
 provided the
 following link:

 http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20090128/OBIT/301289993/-1/OBIT
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~