Attendees

USS Mahan Association 2010 Reunion

WASHINGTON, DC

12-17 October, 2010

TUESDAY, 10/12

Tuesday was check-in day and time for reminiscing and renewing old and making new acquaintances in the hospitality room.  A couple of the local members came by to swap sea stories.

WEDNESDAY, 10/13

Wednesday was a beautiful day in Washington and we piled on the bus at 0900 and headed out for our first day of touring.  Our first stop was the Iwo Jima Memorial at Arlington. 

Next we visited the World War II Memorial, which is quite impressive.

From there we proceeded to the Navy Memorial for the Navy Birthday celebration. 

After leaving the Navy Memorial we went to the Pentagon Mall for lunch.  After lunch we proceeded to the east side (?) of the White House.  This is the area where all the protestors are allowed to be.  One old lady, Concepcion Picciotto, has been there since 1981 protesting nuclear war.  It must be working because we haven't had one!  There were also South Korean veterans of Vietnam who were also victims of Agent Orange.  According to them, neither their country, who sent them there, nor ours, which produced the chemical, have provided any assistance.  There were also other protestors of various types.  Quite entertaining!

Next was the Vietnam Memorial Wall, which is always an emotional experience for me, as I know several names among the 58,000+ on The Wall.  One of our shipmates from DLG-11 will be added to the Wall on Memorial Day 2011.

THURSDAY, 10/14

Thursday morning we boarded the bus again for a trip to Arlington Cemetery and a wreath laying by MAHAN crew members at the Tomb of the Unknown.  The morning started off gray and gloomy, and proceeded to get worse.  It rained constantly during the entire ceremony, but it was worth the experience. 

From there, we went to lunch at the Pentagon City Shopping Mall.  After lunch we did a bus tour of many of the Washington monuments and buildings, i.e., Capitol Hill, Treasury Building, Supreme Court, Fords Theater, and Washington Monument.  We made a brief stop at the Lincoln Memorial for anyone wanting to dodge the rain drops to visit.

FRIDAY, 10/15

The third day we went to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis.  The visit started with a movie titled "To Lead and to Serve".  We then took a walking tour of the Chapel area, although we couldn't go inside because two past classes were having memorial services.  We did tour John Paul Jones resting place under the Chapel.

From here we walked past the dorm areas, including Mahan Hall, on our way to observe the noon parade formation prior to the middies' lunch.  We then proceeded to the Dry Dock Restaurant for our own lunch.  Following lunch we had a chance to spend some time in the Visitor's Center and Gift Shop before leaving the Academy and going to downtown Annapolis for more walking and shopping.

SATURDAY, 10/15

Our last day of touring was spent in the new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, which is the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum's newest facility near Dulles International Airport.  This facility has some very interesting and unique aircraft and space artifacts, including an SR-71 Blackbird, B-29 Superfortress "Enole Gay", Space Shuttle "Enterprise" and a Concorde SST.

Saturday night was our annual banquet held at the Holiday Inn.  Our guest speaker this year was Command Master Chief Mike Conran, formerly  of the USS Mahan DDG-72, and currently the Command Master Chief for Commander, Undersea Surveillance (CUS).