Tidewater Tour
Submitted by “Andy” Anderson
The recently completed Chapter-sponsored
visit to Tidewater Virginia provided all the interest and excitement one
could wish. Ideal early fall weather made perfect the scheduled visits
to the original site of the Jamestown Colony, Colonial Williamsburg, the
Revolutionary War battleground and British surrender site at Yorktown, and
the awe-inspiring Civil War battlefield at Fredericksburg. Equally,
rain did not deter or detract from a beautiful tour of Washington by night,
including stops at the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials, the Korean War Memorial,
Vietnam Wall, Iwo Jima Memorial, Navy Memorial, Roosevelt Memorial and much
more.
The highlight of the trip was a visit to the Joint Forces Staff College in
Norfolk. This featured a detailed command briefing followed by a comprehensive
tour of the facility, including the Distance Learning Center, seminar rooms,
a war gaming suite, the library, and administrative offices. A group
photo was taken on the Quarterdeck by the JFSC photographer upon completion
of the visit. Immediately following, thanks to arrangements made by
the JFSC, the group departed for a splendid and all-inclusive guided bus
tour of the Norfolk Naval Station complex, including the Main Navy Piers
(with aircraft carriers, frigates, amphibious, and service forces present),
Destroyer Piers, “Admirals’ Row” residences dating from the Columbian Exposition,
and the Breezy Point Naval Air Station.
A second highlight of the week was a visit to the
Mariners Museum in Newport News, site of the recovered remains and artifacts
of the Civil War ironclad, Monitor. Her gun turret and portions of
her hull and engines can be viewed as they are painstakingly preserved as
a lasting memorial to the day that Monitor v. Merrimack forever changed the
course of naval history.
All in all, this TROA-NH tour has been one of the
very best to date, even though the adrenaline was generally raised by the
bus transits back and forth between Washington and Richmond during the height
of the Maryland/Virginia sniper attacks.
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The Annual Meeting and Luncheon of the New Hampshire
Chapter was held once again at the Manchester Country Club in Bedford on
November 16, 2002. Another record of 265 members and guests had signed up
for the luncheon; however, threatening weather that day resulted in a large
number of people staying home. Those who did attend were treated to another
excellent meal put on by the staff of the Manchester Country Club. While
the members' business meeting was going on, the spouses and friends' were
treated to a thoroughly delightful presentation on quilting, titled "Clueless
About Quilts?!", by Marilyn Follansbee, wife of chapter member Herb Follansbee.
Marilyn's imagination, and the sample of quilts she showed, is remarkable!
We were pleased to have Col Steven P. Strobridge, USAF (Ret.), Director,
Government Relations, TROA and Co-Chairman of the Military Coalition as our
guest of honor. He updated everyone on the latest legislation affecting the
military community and fielded numerous questions from the floor. He also
presided over the installation of the newly elected officers and Board of
Directors of the Chapter. We were joined by sixteen first time members: Marjorie
Anderson of Concord, Susan Cuddy of Amherst, Jack and Ginny Deady of Bedford,
Ronald De Yoe of Merrimack, Francis and Susan Fuselier of Peterborough, Dexter
Hodgeman of Derry, Dave and Sandy Houde of Hudson, Kenneth McCann of Sunapee,
William Merrill of Londonderry, Charles and Alice Smith of Nashua and Robert
and Anneke Tabachnikoff of Hollis.