Spring Field Day '02: Held April 04-07, 2002. Sixteen (16) participants attending including two (2) former KIDD crew members. Those attending came from eight (08) different states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, and Missouri.
Work projects were varied and multitudinous. The aft fireroom continued to receive a great deal of attention. Tim Hayles and George Gordin (DD-661) picked up where they had left off in October in fastening down the deck plates and gratings. By the end of the weekend, they had everything in the entire space locked down. Robin McGee joined KIDD volunteer Rick Worley (DD-576) on the boilers. She needle-gunned three of the four
The Spring Field Day '02 crew takes a break on the fo'c'sle.
Nathan Hendrickson (left) and destroyer veteran
Bruce Kittredge face off with dueling paintbrushes.
boilers with Rick following behind her and giving them a primer coat. Young Nathan Hendrickson--grandson of Richard Truman (DD-661)--apprenticed himself to retired Chief Boilertender Bruce Kittredge (DD-651), and together with KIDD volunteer Bob Allen (DD-659), they painted all four blower rooms before the weekend was done.
Richard Jones, soon to enter the Navy, brought high school chum Marco Madrazo with him on this jaunt to Baton Rouge. Together, they cleaned up the aft engineroom, vacuumed up scale and rust from the bilge in the forward engineroom, painted the deck in the emergency diesel generator compartment, and
painted some of the hard-to-reach spaces between frames on the lower level of the forward engineroom. At one point, Marco was folded up against the hull like a pretzel between steamlines, trying to paint.
While his brother was busy with a brush down below, Matthew Hendrickson joined his grandfather Richard in conducting general repairs of the ship's sound system, as well as tracing electrical gremlins and blown fuses. Virgil Gibson (DD-786) kept busy restoring lighting to the aft ammunition magazines. John Ellsworth (DD-591) lubed the 20mm and 40mm gun mounts and exercised the breeches in 5"/38-cal. gun mounts 51 and 52.
Our deck force this time around consisted of Mike McGee, Syl Schepers (USMC), and Theresa McQueen, daughter of Virgil Gibson. They teamed up to needlegun rust spots on the fantail, followed immediately afterward by priming and paintwork. David Wood (DD-867 & DDG-10) joined the deck force on Saturday. The greatest challenge faced by this crew was keeping Mike in a life vest and tether line whenever painting outboard of the snaking.
Theresa also saw a bit of cumshaw work on Thursday. Joe Vitale received a phone call about a family emergency and had to depart for St. Louis immediately. Theresa, whose husband flies for Delta Airlines, promptly commandeered an office and a phone in the museum and set to work. Within a matter of hours, she had secured a flight for Joe outbound from New Orleans. A quick road trip with KIDD staff Tim NesSmith to the Crescent City, and Joe was on his way. We received word of his safe arrival the next morning.
Our galley crew this time around consisted once again of Bob Hilborn (4009th U.S. Army Garrison) and FRA 371's Stan and Neoma Nahill. The evening meals were very well received if the seconds and thirds were any indication. Tim NesSmith kept the reefers stocked and oversaw lunch, with breakfast being served by McDonalds of Baton Rouge.
Cub Scout Packs 23 and 48 of New Orleans were aboard for overnights and got to talk with some of the veterans during their stay.
This field day was sponsored by both Tin Can Sailors, Inc. and the Fleet Reserve Association.