Author Archives: Chris Funck

2018 USS Calvert Reunion – Sept 26th-29th, Springfield, Missouri

Here is the information for the 2018 USS Calvert Reunion, from Glynna Morse, who is this year’s reunion host and also Secretary for the USS Calvert Associates.

Thethe U.S.S. Calvert/Harry Lee Reunion is scheduled for September 26 through 29, 2018 at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Springfield, Missouri.  The same information will be in the CALVERSION newsletter scheduled to be mailed mid-July.

Details and the two necessary reservation forms are downloadable, as .pdf files, here:

  1. 2018 – USS Calvert Reunion – Hotel Reservation Form & Information
  2. 2018 – USS Calvert Reunion – Itinerary & Reservation Form

If you have problems pulling up these file attachments, e-mail me.

If you have any questions, feel free to telephone Glynna at the numbers listed below:

Glynna Morse, Host
U.S.S. Calvert/Harry Lee Reunion
701 S. Windsor St.
Windsor, MO  65360
Phone:  (660) 647-2855 or Cell:  (660) 525-4675

Frank Kubiak, Sc1, 1943-’45

Frank Kubiak, married and a father of two children, enlisted in the Navy at the age of 28 and well past the age of being exempt from service. Frank felt duty calling as the war held on in mid-1943, enlisting on June 10th, and completed boot camp at the the Great Lakes Naval Training Station. Upon completion of training Frank transferred to the Pacific where he joined the Calvert’s 2nd Deck Division on August 12, 1943. Frank served aboard the Calvert until late March, 1945. He then spent time in Bremerton, Washington and Manila, Philippines. He was also aboard the S.S. Tachibana Maru, the famous Japanese Hospital Ship captured late in the war, in August of 1945.

Frank was a lifelong resident of Chicago (having emigrated from Poland with his parents) and worked for Johnson & Johnson as a machinist before and after the war. Sadly, Frank died in 1969.

Appreciation to Frank’s grandson, Larry O’Connell, for the photographs below and solving a big question I’ve had for many years: i.e., A firm date for the 2nd Division Boat Crew photograph below, and here.

Frank Kubiak, USN Seaman First – Class

Virgil Nelson’s (BM, 1946) Model of the USS Calvert

Virgil Nelson, 90, Shreve, Ohio, served aboard the USS Calvert as a Boats’n Mate during Operation Magic Carpet in 1946. Prior to joining the Calvert, Virgil served aboard an LST (landing ship tank) and “Island Hopped” along with the Calvert in the Pacific. He was one of the last men aboard the Calvert after she returned to Norfolk following the War.

As a long-time model ship builder, Virgil kept meticulous notes during his time aboard the Calvert. Beginning in the mid-1950s he began work to build a model of the Calvert so that he could better explain what type of ship the Calvert was to his family and friends. His work on the Calvert model took over five years and on-thousand hours, with most of the work taking place during the wintertime.

Virgil spent his post-year wars working in newspaper production in Wooster, Ohio, building countless ship and boat models, and spending summers with his family on the water and vacationing at his cabin in Canada.

Virgil, with the help of his grandson, was generous in sending a selection of the many photographs that he took while he spent his time building the Calvert model. Also included are a few articles and notes written by Virgil.

The model is nearly 47 inches in length, and is displayed under a glass case in Virgil’s home, among the many other ship and boat models that he has hand-crafted over the years.