By: Dwayne Heitzman

In 1991 James Martin contacted “Tin Can Sailors”, requesting names of those who served on the DD821 from their database. With this listing he contacted “Military Locator and Reunion Services” (MLRS).

They contacted the people on the list, and the first reunion was in 1992. MLRS did all of the planning and looked for additional crewmembers. They also sent out a newsletter now and then.

The first reunion attendees elected James Martin, President. A.F. Brown as Treasurer. I am unsure of V.P. and Secretary.

My 1st reunion was in 1996 in Baltimore, ’97 in Virginia Beach, ’98 in Las Vegas. At that reunion I volunteered to serve as President. The ’99 reunion was in Branson.

A set of By-Laws was presented to the reunion attendees and after floor discussion was adopted by a majority vote. Thus “The Association” was born.

The reunion for 2000 was held in Charleston and 2001 in San Antonio.

We do have Association dues; they are $10.00 per year, January thru December. However they are not a requirement to be listed on the official roster. Dues paying members receive all correspondence generated by the Elected Officers. Non-dues paying personnel will be contacted by the Elected Officers with pertinent information.

The annual Reunions are held in late April. At this time we have the country divided into time zones; Eastern, Central and everything that left. We alternate zones. The 2003 Reunion will be in the Eastern zone, and the place to be voted on by this year’s reunion attendees.

Business meeting are held annually at the reunion. All other official business through out the year is conducted by USPS (snail mail).