USS GOLDSBOROUGH DDG-20 1963-1993

Click here for the 2010 reunion photos.

Dear Shipmates,

The 2010 USS Goldsborough Association reunion in Branson, which was just completed on August 20th, was indeed one of, if the not the best, reunion ever. Roy and Betty Hoffman did an outstanding job in planning and the host hotel, the Clarion, surpassed our every expectation. The hotel and their staff were beyond belief in how hard they worked to fulfill all our wishes. Of the fifty plus attendees, everyone was thrilled with the reunion and the hotel.

If you ever go to Branson, I strongly suggest the Clarion. Mention you are with the Goldsborough, especially to Joe Cuna the Banquet and Beverage Manager, and then step back and let him do his thing for you. He is an ex-Marine, if there is anyone you can call an ex-Marine, and we made him cry when shipmate Larry Nelson suggested that we give him a picture of the flag raising on Iwo Jima which was auctioned off.

By the way, we took in over $3,000 during the auction and the scholarship fund continues to grow. We presented our first $1,000 scholarship to Brian Biller this year. Please remember, any and all direct descendants of the Goldsborough crew are eligible to apply for a scholarship and details are on the web site.

Branson of course is known for it's stage shows and there were over fifty to choose from. The variety of shows we attended covered the complete gambit from country to classic. Truly was a fun time and a great reunion.

Roy Hoffman was elected President as my term limits expired as did Vice President Chip Chapin's. Bob Franklin was chosen to fill the VP position. Betty Hoffman will complete Roy's secretary term. Good luck to all of them and I am confident they will do a great job.

There were five cities offered as potential sites for the next reunion and the 2011 reunion will be held in the Greater Cincinnati area. The search is on right now for the host hotel and that decison will be made within the next two weeks. Tentative tours are the Air Force Museum with lunch at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base officers club and a memorial at their chapel. A lunch cruise on a riverboat and of course a short drive to the casinos just across the line in Indiana. There will be other venues and attractions added as plans are finalized.

We are also hoping again to have a pre-reunion activity on Saturday night as we did with the Grand Old Oprie and the Naval Academy Football game in Annapolis. Dates as of now are September 11 to the 15th but again, nothing is presently etched in stone. We hope to have that finalized by mid-September.

Many shipmates invite non-shipmates to the reunion and those people, over the years, have been welcomed with open arms. So feel free to invite your family and friends as the reunions are really a good time for all.

We also voted this year to hold the 2012 reunion in Bremerton, Washington and Shipmate Larry Nelson will coordinate. Larry has been a loyal and generous supporter of the Goldsborough Association for many years and he has volunteered to put on what has to be a great reunion as Larry would not settle for anything less. Larry epitomizes the true character and love for this Associaiton we all should have. God bless you Larry. No one will ever have a truer friend.

It has been my extreme pleasure and an honor to have served as an officer in this Association for nine years. It was indeed a labor of love and one I will miss, but know we are in capable hands to carry on.

I hope many of you will decide to join us in Cincinnati. Please remember, you can come for the entire reunion or a day or two. Whatever your schedule permits, as we are flexible. Some shipmates arrive beginning on Friday and some hang around through the following weekend, so feel free to stop by anytime. The hospitality suite is open to all shipmates and their guests along with all veterans.

Those who attend, be they shipmates, wives, children, parents or just friends, find a group of people who not only have a ship in common but have developed, over the eleven reunions we have hosted, friendships and fellowships with those we served with decades ago. When contacting shipmates, we find some who are not sure they want to bring back that time in their lives. However, those who have had reservations, once on board at a reunion, all trepidation passes and you are immediately surrounded by true friends who cherish the time they get to spend with you. Come to Cincinnati, or any future reunion and see what honor, tradition and loyalty mean so many years after the fact.

God's speed to all,

Pat Taylor, Immediate Past President
USS Goldsborough Association

(View in photo gallery for large sizes...)

ORIGINAL EMAIL FROM BILL CATELL:

Dear Mr. Taylor,

As you are aware, the USS Goldsborough was sold to the Royal Australian Navy as a "spares hulk." As well as being stripped for parts, the ship provided the RAN with a number of working electronic systems which were installed at a new shore facility called the Combat Systems Maintenance School (CSMS) which is a school for navy technicians at Garden Island Dockyard, Sydney. These installations occurred in the 1994-95 period.

Many parts of the USS Goldsborough are preserved at CSMS, and it may surprise you to learn that a couple of her systems are still working units.

I would like to send you a series of photographs which include some of the last taken of the ship as she was stripped, the movement of some of her major systems to the shore facility, and some of her items as they appear today. The theme of these photographs concentrates on her electronic and radar equipment, and may be of interest to some technical sailors who served aboard her over the years, particularly in the 1980s and '90s.

A couple of us who have worked at the Combat Systems Maintenance School for many years, and who have worked and taught extensively using USS Goldsborough's equipment, feel a definite affinity with the ship, as we are ex-sailors ourselves. This may seem especially strange as I, myself, never saw her whole. Nevertheless, there is an unusual fondness for a ship which has provided me with a significant and enjoyable part of my working life.

Because of size restrictions on our email system, I will send the pictures in multiple messages. I hope they are in some way satisfactory to you and other members of the USS Goldsborough Association.

Thank you for the USS Goldsborough Association website and for the opportunity of sharing these pictures. Also, it is with a certain amount of privilege and satisfaction that I feel I have been able to share, in some strange way, in the career of USS Goldsborough.

Kind regards,
Bill Cattell

2010 U.S.S. GOLDSBOROUGH DDG-20 ASSOCIATION SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

Purpose: The USSGA scholarship program provides financial support to individuals who served in Goldsborough and their direct descendents for their pursuit of educational training as a means of career and personal advancement.

Eligibility: Applicant must:

• have served in Goldsborough or have direct next-of-kin who served in Goldsborough
• have completed two semesters (or equivalent e.g. quarters/classes or sessions) of academic work in the last 18 months. Grades for these classes must be available to the Scholarship Committee by interview time or by arrangement with co-chairs.
• not have received more than two USSGA scholarships toward the same degree, and
• be a current member of the USS GOLDSBOROUGH ASSOCIATION (form for USSGA membership can be filed with the scholarship application).

Note: This award is offered in addition to any other educational support. 

The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) has provided the following website for veterans to gain access to their DD-214s online: http://vetrecs.archives.gov/

This may be particularly helpful when a veteran needs a copy of his DD-214 for employment purposes. NPRC is working to make it easier for veterans with computers and Internet access to obtain copies of documents from their military files.

Military veterans and the next of kin of deceased former military members may now use a new online military personnel records system to request documents.

As some of you know, our friend Zelt Dunbar passed away recently. His funeral was attended by Jack and Dee Maguire, Roy and Betty Hoffman, Judy Artis and Morgan Taylor-Quinn. He was layed to rest in Erin, Tennessee. Zelt retired as an E-9 and the final rendering of honor to him was provided by 11 members of the Navy led by a full Commander. Jack and Roy, representing the Goldsborough Association, performed the "Bell Ceremony". The highest praise that I can give to Zelt is to say "he was a true shipmate" He will be missed by us all.

John R.(Jack) Maguire