TM DIV REUNION 2019

It'd been nearly 30 years since I'd left the USS SKIPJACK (SSN-585), and nearly as long since I'd last seen TM1/SS A.J. Sabol III. Even longer since I'd seen the rest of the old TM DIV crew; around 32 years ago. The idea of a real-time reunion appealed to me and, was originally the brainstorm of former TM3/SS Matt Anderson. Matt had contacted me over a decade ago to hash out a plan for a reunion of just our division, which, while still quite a logistical nightmare, was a bit easier to accomplish than say...a full-blown, full-crew reunion! Of course, there were some tech issues along the way. Like the fact that I had left Facebook early in 2009 and the Skipjack group hadn't been formed yet. And I also do not (currently) possess a "smart-phone". But I did have e-mail. Unfortunately, Matt had lost my old one and literally had to start all over again, just to find me, let alone everybody else on the list. So...early last year (2018), I get a call from Matt and we are able to re-connect and share info. I was still on-board for a reunion and finally gave in and re-joined FB. To make a looooooong story short, Matt was able to get five of us to agree on a time and date. We did manage to re-connect with one other mate and are still looking for a couple more. Maybe next year we'll have more luck in finding them.

That's us, up above. The pic here is one of many and we had Andy's son, AJ, take; a couple pics with each camera. This is one I cropped from mine. From left to right: Rick Luger, Scott Moody, Matt Anderson, Tom Bordenkecher, myself (Todd Slater) and Andy Sabol. Note that this isn't the whole division but we did all serve under Andy, who was aboard from 1985-90.

We all met up at an Outback Steakhouse in the Virginia Beach area. Mind you, this was after Matt and Scott had road-tripped all the way from Southwest Texas! Tom came down from Indiana to my house (which is about 24 miles east of Knoxville, TN.), and we all met the next day (Friday). We then drove over to Hillsborough, NC. to pick up Rick, before making the final leg up to Virginia Beach. Despite the foul weather (it rained most of the way there), we made good time. We all met up Saturday afternoon for an early supper and to rehash old stories. It was a great experience and the first time I'd been to any sort of a reunion (I've never even been to a high school reunion so, for me, this was a "golden moment" in time). I'd like to thank Matt for making this possible but...I'd also like to thank Andy's wife, Robin, for getting him to the restaurant and to AJ for added support  and picture-taking. The fact that any of us were able to keep this under our caps was, in itself, a minor miracle, heh, heh. Thanks you guys and hope to see ya'll next year!

Author's note: I told Matt that I write poetry and am working on three books. Some of the poetry I write is based on the Japanese "Tanka" style of poetry. Below is a nine verse Tanka I wrote over the course our trip. This poem is dedicated to everyone who participated along the way and sums up just about everything we did. Only those that were there will get all the references.

ROADTRIP REUNION:

 AND SO IT BEGINS
 AGING VETS ON A MISSION
 A LOST LEADER SOUGHT
 FIVE BUBBLEHEADS TRACK HIM DOWN
 AND REUNITE THROUGH LOST YEARS

 AN EPIC VOYAGE
 SPANNING THOUSANDS OF MILES
 EACH OF US IN TURN
 ADDING TO THE CARAVAN
 AS WE TRY TO STAY ON COURSE

 A PORT OF CALL WAITS
 AS WE BATTLE THE WEATHER
 DESTINATION REACHED
 EXHAUSTED WE DISEMBARK
 OUR VOYAGE NEAR AN END

 TALES BOTH SHORT AND TALL
 RELIVING OLD MEMORIES
 ONLY WE CAN TELL
 JOGGING ONE ANOTHER’S MINDS
 AS THOUGH IT WERE YESTERDAY

 SLEEP COMES TO US LATE
 WE UNWIND FROM THE VOYAGE
 FOOD AND DRINK CONSUMED
 RE-IGNITING OUR BOND
 THAT KING NEPTUNE CANNOT BREAK

 AWAKENING LATE
 THE RAIN FINALLY LETS UP
 CLEANSING A NEW DAY
 BUT IT REMAINS OVER-CAST
 AS THE F-18s FLY BY

 DRIVING AROUND TOWN
 KILLIN’ TIME BEFORE WE MEET
 AS THE RAIN RETURNS
 WE GO BACK TO FRESHEN UP
 AS THE MEETING TIME LOOMS NEAR

 GETTIN’ TO OUTBACK
 WE WAIT FOR OUR LEADER
 HIS SON ARRIVES FIRST
 THE ANTICIPATION GROWS
 ANDY FINALLY ENTERS

 THE LOOK ON HIS FACE
 SEEING US ALL SITTING THERE
 SPOKE UNTOLD VOLUMES
 OF RETURNING MEMORIES
 OUR MISSION ACCOMPLISHED


Todd Slater (TM3/SS)~TANKA #772-780 13-14 April, 2019