Kinda sad tonight...

A note on the USS DENVER...General Jones (former Commandant of the Marine Corps, now EUCOM and Supreme Allied Command Europe) deployed on the DENVER back when he was a 2ndLt during Vietnam. Before the BELLEAU WOOD ARG deployed in 2002, he came to San Diego to visit his son (a new 2ndLt) who was also deploying on the DENVER with 11th MEU(SOC). Talk about history.

cool Carl, I didn't look into it but the Austin was the only one I knew about... interesting they moved her to the west coast... she used to be at Little Creek, VA.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Dragonfire Tom, There a a lot of the LPHs still around both East and West Coast. Like mentioned earlier, the AUSTIN is still pumping. Here are a couple of West Coast active duty LPHs with Vietnam ribbons on the bridge wings: USS DULUTH USS DUBUQUE USS DENVER USS AUSTIN USS JUNEAU Semper Fi! Carl

Actually these are LPD's

oh yeah! I didn't even notice that... I just saw all the ship names and thought LPD... yeah the LPH's are the Guam, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima etc... there are a few non standard (for the class) names... the Boxer, the New Orleans etc which were converted Essex class CV's and CVE's

Therriman,

You're right...I had a brainfart on that one.

Tom,

The AUSTIN is still based off the East Coast. Below is a link showing all active duty LPDs and homeports.

http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/factfile/ships/ship-lpd.html

the new LPD's look kinda neat, that would make a good kit too... no one likes the gator freighters tho... not as impressive as a battleship or carrier to most...

Maybe it's up to us "Gator Sailors and Marines" to push the issue to get the "Gator Navy" built in plastic. I'm betting that Dragon will build the SAN ANTONIO Class soon after their commissioning or first couple deployments. New ship, new model.

especially with them having a bit of that 'stealth' look to them... hmm I am forming an idea... maybe we need to all start mailing them... it probably won't mean a hill of beans to them... but it wouldn't hurt!

Some listen, contact them at
www.dragon-models.com
by the way Tom, I know the difference between an eagle and a crow.
Thanks for your comments. they were a lot more the hunks of metal.
John
Helicopters don't fly, they beat the air into submission

Ah, Little Creek... spent a week or so there in 86. Why anyone sent an Army battalion to Amphibious Warfare school, I'll never know. We had fun though. It was cool being waited on in the mess hall on shore (I was an E-4 at the time). I had no trouble with the Navy ranks, but trying to make sense of the ratings was another matter, BM3 and EW2 was just so much WTFO to me.
We spent a couple of nights on the Harlan County, anybody know what kind of ship that was? It was meant to carry Marines and it had a well deck, but I don't really remember much about it. We were clueless. We thought the life raft pods were depth charges, couldn't be counted on to salute in proper sequence when coming aboard or going ashore...They made us go over the sides on cargo nets into flat-bottom LCUs (or whatever those things were called)--one real bad casualty on that, an RTO in another company slipped off and landed on his radio, broken back--and we also got rides in those L(more alphabet soup)-7 tracks.
All the E-7s wished they'd joined the Navy (on account of the way the Navy treats the Chiefs).
What I remember most is my platoon being tasked to play OPFOR against the battalion in the final exercise. 33 guys against over 400 and we lazed the heck out of them. Then in the after-action review the Marine instructors said "Don't blame your OPFOR, they did a really good job, If this had been real, you would have taken a lot of casualties. BUT you achieved the mission objective and you took less than 60 percent casualties, which in the Marines we consider an acceptable level for an opposed landing." Holy Cow, 60 percent casualties is a reality that Marines live with. That gave me something to think about.
Al

QUOTE: Originally posted by grandadjohn Some listen, contact them at www.dragon-models.com by the way Tom, I know the difference between an eagle and a crow. Thanks for your comments. they were a lot more the hunks of metal. John Helicopters don't fly, they beat the air into submission

haha yeah mostly SP4 and up had no probs, these kids were mostly just out of basic though and were going by the adage "when in doubt salute" I think we all went through that at one point or another...

yeah now you know how I felt being stationed at an Army post Al, it's a whole different world when you cross over into each others worlds... I loved Ft. Sam... the interesting thing is we did a neonatal ICU clinical at Wilford Hall AF Hosptal in San Antonio... the first time through the chow line was unbelievable... it was like a Lubies on steroids! Those AF guys were pampered... on Thursdays they had live entrertainment and matching cuisine to boot... one time it was Mexican food and they had a mariachi band serenading us, the next time it was some French dish and it was a jazz band etc... I woulda crossed over just for the food!

Sometimes it got a little confusing for us too... the rating thing... what was really confusing in the medical field is we had the MOS type numbering for our specialties (NEC's) ... we were all corpsman, but I was a 8451, but a 8541 was a Nuclear Med Tech I think, etc.. etc..

Most of them were easy MM (Machinist's Mate) EW (Electronic Warfare specialist) it was when they added letters to the thing... I can't remember anything specific but it would be like thakin a Gunner's Mate GM, and then you suddenyl come upon a GMGS (I made that up) or something, and you have to figure out the rest of the rating...

oh yeah Al, I almost forgot... USS Harlan County was LST 1196, she's been decommed but is serving with the Spanish Navy... as L-42 Pizarro

here's a link to a page on her: http://navysite.de/lst/lst1196.htm

we used to feel sorry for those guys on the LST's, it's like crossing the atlantic in an aluminum jon-boat. The waves tossed those things around like rubber duckies... one minute you see them, the next they are gone... then they would come bursting up from under a wave only to do it again... (we're talking 20+ foot waves)

I'd like to interject another comment, and I feel kind of bad for starting this in the ships forum because it is a bit off topic, somewhat on topic as it deals with ships, and a lot of ship data has been presented in it... but we stray now and then and stroll down military memory lane..

no one's expressed offense so I guess they either ignore it or join in... I just felt if anyone understood what I was feeling, someone in here would... and maybe it's shown some model ship builder some more of what the real ships were constructed of.. and Hueys etc.. etc.. etc.. it seems no matter what military branch, our tools are our life... and we come to love them. Not as tools of destruction, or bringers of death, but as well maintained, almost living things that become part of us, part of our unit... or maybe it is us that becomes part of them...

of course there are those that never felt the way we do that served, and thier opinion is thiers and I respect that... but so far it is eye opening to see the similarity in all of what we worked with, served on etc...

Don't feel bad. I think what you started was needed and it has been an eye opener for me too.

I think that we all had similar feelings about our ship's or aircraft. They were all that you said and I might add each had its own personality. A trip down memory lane? Maybe. But this is also part of our hobby, to help preserve history, be it a ship, or aircraft or tank. This is for our childern and our grandchildern. Since we can't preserve them all, models take their place. Having fun trying to teach my grandson to say "HUEY" and " big iron bird" when an airplane flies over and listening to my granddaughter saying "this will be the horse we ride" from WE Were Soldiers clips on TV when the HUEY flew by the hanger.

I have enjoyed reading this topic and have found that regardless of which branch we served (I have had friends that served in all branchs) in our feelings are the same.

From Shakespere:
"From this day to the ending of the world,
But we it it shall be rememer'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today sheds his blood with me shall be my brother."

John
Helicopters don't fly, they beat the air into submission

P.S. try
www.trumpeter-china.com
they seem to listen to what we want

Well said grandad... not to associate us with that TV show... but we are all a band of brothers... for all the competitiveness while in service we are all one now... (.ie.e the names we had for each other like squid, puddle pirate (USCG), jar head etc...)

It would be hard for someone else to understand the feelings I get when I see a CH-46 fly over, or I am sure you get when you see a Huey... it's almost like seeing a best friend you haven't had contact with in years... but they were always inside you...

Thanks for your feedback, it feels good to be part of this....

History is more than what it did, where it went and what FS color it was painted... it is about the men who flew her, served on her, loved her...

ok.. all of us squids, jarheads, and dogfaces that remember what it feels like to love a piece of metal... and even those who just like ships period... lets go to the trumpeter site and say something.. ok we're only 10 or so people but let's make a stand... nothing will happen I am sure.. but let's at least say something for a class of icons, our ships... that we served on.. loved, or felt the same about another craft (Huey etc..) about and understand...

Ask for an LPH or an LPD... 1/400 or better...

Doc...which department did you send your email to? Was it the U.S. Sales Dept...Stevens Int'l?

Carl

no I sent it to this one Carl...

88wxl@trumpeter-china.com

thats the design and technology dept. I guess one to marketing wouldnt hurt either... I got it off here: http://www.gzysd.com/war513/resume/en_callme.asp

Roger that, Doc
1/350 sound's good
Never called a Doc a name
Out
John

Helicopter's don't fly, they beat the air into submission

Doc,

Email has been launched.

Carl

They already emailed back!! wow wasn't expecting that... of course he thnks 1/700 is big enough... (grumble grumble...'tiny little things'...grumble)
He wants specs though so I guess I have to start digging... I'll have to call his bluff and actually produce some plans or something...

here it is:

Dear Sir

Thank you very much for your suggestion for the ships. Yes, we have a
possibility to release the kits but first we must research much more
data and i think 1/700 would be fine, any questions please advise!

Do you have any data for them?

Best regards
Jackson

QUOTE: Originally posted by grandadjohn Never called a Doc a name

At least not a bad one John..

---Tom---

E-mail has been sent, asked for 1-350 scale, couldn't get it out last night, so I sent it today. Hope it helps.

Always called them Doc or by their name
John
Helicopters don't fly, they beat hte air into submission

yeah, with the blue side they always called me by my name... with the green machine they mostly called me doc except some of the Sgt and up... if we knew each other and hung out together they called me Tom... but called me Doc on duty...

I appreciate y'alls help John and Carl... It is actually kind of exciting to think of a styrene version of an LPH coming out. I just found out Aurora did a 1/600 version some time back (prior to my modelling years.. even the early ones when I was a teen I am afraid) And if I remember it was mentioned that it was rather uncommon to rare to find one... maybe I can find some info on it..

The hard part is I am not having luck on finding plans for the Guam... at least yet. I am contacting this company in MD and see if they have any or could get them from the Nat'l Register or something... I am sure they will cost a decent amount but who knows? just for deck and superstructure plans might not be TOO much!

Doc
I was surfing thru
www.navy.mil
on one of the heading's i found "frequently asked questions" and clicked on it and found a listing for ship plans. They do sell them, but thought you might want to check it out. Hope my directions will help you find the site. If not let me know and I'll try to be more specific.
John
Helicopters don't fly, they beat the air into submission

Thanks John!

That is definitely I was looking for! Gonne zip them off a letter tonight...

For anyone else looking for plans for a scratchbuild or something like I am doing, here is the link:

http://history.navy.mil/faqs/faq26-1.htm

they also have a list of commerical sources for plans there too...

Doc
Glad the link helped. Hoped it would. Got an answer to my e-mail today, same respond you got, but it will show them people are interested. I incourage all others to e-mail them also, the more the merrier.
John
Helicopter's don't fly, they beat the air intp submission

wow... this has been an eventful night... just found smeone who has the 1/600 model of the USS Guadalcanal (same class as the Guam, different radar) only prob is it is 150.00 but I am still thinking of buying it... I guess it will be my Christmas present from my wife (already told her that's what I want)

I am going to still press Trumpeter for a 1/400 or better build... hopefully the nameless who see this thread might ask for a model of an amphibious assault ship as well. Landing Platform, Helicopter to be exact... (LPH) ... I might buy the old skool Auroroa kit from the 60's just the same.. even though it is not accurate according to the forum I read... it still expresses the shape and size (i.e. massive) of the LPH they said...

again, thaks to Carl and John and whoever else is helping in this quest to get an entire class of ships recognized... the only amphibs I know of are the LHD class and they are kind of boring to me... untried except in Somalia and there was no competiion there... sure they look good and carry the LCAC's but that's it... no history... no war wounds...

1/700 = about 4 inches in the LPD class, about 5 inches in the LPH class... thats sad...

ok!!!! (teletype sound, circa Saturday Night Live "The Evening News") just got an email back from Jackson... if that IS his name...

Tom:

Well! That sounds a good idea you would send me the data.
Anyway we would consider to do it as large scale as possible, as you
know
we are doing very well in large scale even the ships.

Thank you very much for your attention at this!!

Best regards
Jackson Xiao


ok sounds like a buncha crap but lets see!! yall email him you are looking for the prints too.,.. (I will get them if they are public domain now, should be as it is stricken from the Naval Register) just to keep the pressure up hahah... I didnt say anything about scale so obviously you all's emails got to him too... if it is a "he" and not a generic mailbox name... we should go for a 1/24 model of the Guam haha... (thiking if my neighbors would mind me taking up their lawns...) of course I do live on the lake so if I sealed it I could register it as a boat here...