U.S.S. ESCAMBIA (AO-80)-------------------LIFE LINES
The relocation of crew
members began in August 1974, and Virgil D. Grier (Yeo1c) mailed the first newsletter to 48 men in December 1974 scheduling our first reunion in San Diego, California in June 1975. Our 29th annual reunion was held in Chicago, Illinois in October 2004 and Virgil mailed Life Lines #221 June 2005 (over 1,000 pages of news of our crew). Our newsletter aboard ship was named "Eighty Times", but Joan Lust, Salina, KS suggested a new name of "Life Lines" to better describe keeping in touch with 140 shipmates in 40 States. We
have accumulated over 3,000 snapshots taken at reunions, labeled and mounted in five albums. We formed a California tax-exempt corporation in 1979, U.S.S. Escambia, Inc., operating on $10.00 annual dues from shipmates, plus contributions and funds earned from annual auctions of items donated by shipmates and wives. The current officers of our corporation are:
| Charles W. Larson, Overland Park, KS |
President |
| Wallace A. Brudeli, Bonita Springs, FL |
Vice-President |
| Edd L. Brown, Pioneer, CA |
Director |
| Russell Green, Gloversville, NY |
Director |
| Robert H. McGinnis, Jr, Portland, OR |
Director |
| Norman F. Spindler, Tucson, AZ |
Director |
Virgil Grier, Lifelines Editor, died on February 14, 2006.
His daughter, Linda Grier Pulliam, continues the tradition with an annual newsletter to the 80 known living shipmates and widows.
For a copy of these newsletters, contact her at linda.pulliam@yahoo.com
