Well Shipmates, the 62nd Annual USS Hornet Reunion has come to a close. For those of you that were unable to attend, we missed you.

The Reunion was held in Tucson, Arizona, at the beautiful Hilton Hotel. Mother Nature really cooperated with the weather. By  Reunion-Time, the temperatures in Tucson were around 80 degrees, everyday. Those attending got to have dinner at an old west-themed restaurant, with a live action gun fight. We visited the Pima Air & Space Museum, Old Tucson Movie
Studios and the Sonora Desert Museum.

Our Memorial Service was held at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, in the beautiful Chapel. The Base Honor Guard presented the Colors, and the Base Chaplain, Bryan Cottrell gave an exceptional Invocation. My wife Karen once again blessed us all with her singing of, Blades of
Grass and Pure White Stones", assisted by her good friend Dwight Shupe; and a very emotional slide show of military tombstones around the world. Our Bell Ceremony was performed by Stu Kerr, Tom Graham and Clyde Holsclaw. Our 2010 Honorees, Jim Hill and Bill Ballenger
presented a beautiful wreath near the end of the ceremony, which was finished by a playing of Taps by a Navy-Uniformed sailor. I felt that we did an excellent job of honoring our departed Shipmates once again.

Our Saturday evening banquet was opened by an inspiring Invocation by Clyde Holsclaw. Our speaker, Captain Donald Tarquin, informed us all about the strength and missions of our nuclear submarine force. He gave us as much secret information as he could, without "having to kill us" afterwards.

Our Reunion volunteers once again came forth and helped make this another great event. We even had a bartender dressed up in his Uncle Sam outfit..thanks Sam Duncan. Karen and I could not have made this happen, without all of your help.

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention all of the work and effort that our Chairman put into this reunion. Stu oversees each reunion, to assure that everything is covered, and the event progresses as smooth as possible. His contributions make certain that we always have the best reunions.

Thank you all for coming and we sincerely hope that you all enjoyed our beautiful city, and had many opportunities to visit with old friends and made some new ones too.