In 2012 the Reunion will be held in Branson Missouri at the Lawrence Welk Resort. Currently the dates will be 13 June 2012 through 16 June 2012. The hosts will be Wayne and Florence Harclerode, if any of you have been to one of the Reunions they host, you will be excited (as I am :-) ) More info coming soon. Today is the day ! Attached are the letter and Registration Form in Microsoft Word, if you have trouble opening or printing please email Ed Benningfield. Click on the below links and download the files to your computer. Invitation Registration

Ahoy Shipmates

You are heartily invited to attend the 57th annual Ashtabula Reunion to be held June 22,23,24,and 25th 2011. This year we’re meeting in Evansville , Indiana on the north bank of the Ohio River at the southwestern tip of the state. Our hotel will be the Clarion Inn (formerly Holiday Inn) which has offered us a good rate of $70 per night which includes a Hot Buffet Breakfast for which they normally charge $10 per person It’s good. Also a large Hospitality room which will have no curfew. The hotel is close to the airport and other restaurants and is on USHwy 41 N. For room reservations call 812-424-6400. Be sure to tell them you are with the USS Ashtabula Reunion.

This is the patch that Dan Polecheck has had made, if you would like one this is what Dan says: If anyone is interested, send your email to pollycheck@charter.net and I will send you a picture of it. The cost will be $10.00 and that includes the shipping. It is a 5 inch patch and I think it really looks nice. I hope to hear from some you

The 2009 Reunion(55th Annual) will be held in Myrtle Beach SC and the hosts will be Grom & Lee Carroll. Early Information has been received from Lee in the form of the Fall 2008 Newsletter. The dates will be Sunday, June 7, 2009 through Thursday June 11, 2009 at the Landmark Resort 1501 South Ocean Blvd in Myrtle Beach SC 29577. The deadline for Reservations will be May 7, 2009. The Reservation number is 1-800-845-0658. There is a 4 Night Package available and you can make other arrangements if you need to. if you have questions, email Grom & Lee at the address in the Roster page. A quick comment: Be sure you make the Deadline for the Registration, there is a lot of planning and arrangements for food, and other activities. When you just show up at the Reunion you take a real chance in not being able to attend the Dinner and other activities and it makes it doubly hard for the Hosts

Thanks to Ron and Peg Smith

Ashtabula from an approaching ship! Thanks to Neil Greer and the USS Virgo website. USS Virgo alongside Ashtabula in 1969.

Ashtabula was awarded eight battle stars for World War II service, four battle stars for Korean War service, and eight battle stars for duty in the Vietnam War Top Row - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation - American Campaign Medal Second Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (5) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) Third Row - National Defense Service Medal - Korean Service Medal (4) - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (4-Quemoy-Matsu, 9-Vietnam, 1-Korea, 1 Op. Frequent Wind) Fourth Row - Vietnam Service Medal (7) - Humanitarian Service Medal (1-Frequent Wind, 1-Boat People) - Philippines Liberation Medal Fifth Row - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)

The 49th Reunion was held in Atlanta Georgia

The Ashtabula in 1957 The Ashtabula in 1969

The 53rd Annual Reunion was held June 20, 21, 22 and 23, 2007 in the Greater Cincinnati Ohio / Northern Kentucky area at the Hilton Cincinnati Airport Hotel. If anyone has a group picture that they would like to have posted, please email Ed Benningfield (ebenning@suddenlink.net). The 54th Annual Reunion will be held in Springfield, Il. on June 19-22 2008 and the hosts will be Ron & Peg Smith, they can be reached at pegsmith652 at hotmail.com. As more info becomes available it will be posted. The 2009 Reunion (55th Annual) will be held in Myrtle Beach SC and the hosts will be Grom & Lee Carroll.

The 2006 Reunion (52nd Annual) was held in Independence Missouri in June of that year. The hosts were Wayne and Florence Harclerode.

These pictures were taken by Paul McGinty at the 2001 Reunion.

Welcome to the USS Ashtabula website. It’s been changed to a little different format so it will be easier for the crew members to manage the site and keep up on the latest events. Ed Benningfield is currently administrating the web site. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact him directly.