November 2019 Meeting Recap and Don Ulmer Memorial Service

We started off the November meeting with Tolling the Boats lost in November, followed by birthday wishes for our members, introductions, and then the officer reports.

We also presented USSVI 10-year membership pins to Doug and Andrea.

Andrea (left) and Doug (right) get their 10-year membership pins from Base commander Ric (center)

Old and New Business
Holiday Luncheon – Our annual Holiday Luncheon will be Saturday, December 14 at the Nile Shrine Center. We are asking you to send your registration forms to Base Secretary Steve by the November. The registration form (linked here) has been updated with Steve information.

Seattle Base Elections – We will have our base elections at the January meeting. At a minimum, we will need to elect a new Base Commander. Many of our member have done multiple terms as officers and we need fresh faces to step up too. We hope everyone will consider becoming an officer or committee chairman. If you are wondering what you can do to help or what the duties of certain officers are - please talk with one of the current or former officers.

USSVI National and Seattle Base Dues – Reminder that annual membership dues for USSVI National and Seattle Base need to be paid before the end of January.

Float Storage and Work – With the parade season over, the float and associated gear is going into winter storage. We will be looking for a work part to do some renovation on the float early next year.

Cabela’s Meet & Greets – We were not able to do any meet & greets at Cabela’s in 2019 due to some changes with their corporate polices after they were acquired by Bass Pro Shops. We are talking with them, with support from the team at Cabela’s Tulalip store, and we think we have covered all their concerns. We hope to plan a couple meet & greets in 2020.

November Program – This month we continued to show interview recordings Base Commander Ric did with Ervin Schmidt. The November recordings covered Ervin joining the submarine force, his time on USS Saury (SS-189), and assignment to new construction on USS Torsk (SS-423).

Don Ulmer’s Memorial Service
The memorial service for Don Ulmer was held on November 22. Seattle Base members participated in the service, with Dick G providing a remembrance of Don and Seattle Base members acting as pallbearers. It was a good service for a unique individual that will be missed.

Don's photo at the service

Dick providing a remembrance of Don

Seattle Base pallbearers

One last salute for Don

November 2019 Meeting Reminder

The next Seattle Base meeting is this coming Wednesday, November 20, 2019. We will meet at VFW Post #2995 (4330 148th Ave N.E., Redmond WA 98052). Social hour starts at 6PM with business meeting at 7PM.

This will be the last business meeting for 2019. We will recap the Veterans Day events and talk about the upcoming Holiday luncheon.

The Nile Shrine Center

The luncheon will be on Saturday December 14 from 11 - 2 at the Nile Shrine Center in Mountlake Terrance. The registration form was in the last issue of our newsletter. You can also find a copy of the luncheon registration form by clicking this link. Note: The form is stored on Dropbox, but you do not need to sign up for Dropbox account to view and download the form; you can just close the window asking you to create or sign in to your account.

Additionally, we will talk about Base elections and nominations for Base Officers. We will have our elections in January. Please consider stepping up to help out as a base officer or committee leader, Seattle Base only works when members are willing to help out.

We hope to see you  at the meeting!

Don Ulmer Memorial Service

The Memorial Service for Don Ulmer will be held on Friday, November 22nd at 11:00 at St. Louise Parish, located at 141 156th Ave. SE, Bellevue, WA.

Flintoff Funeral Home has taken care of the arrangements. The US Navy will serve as Honor Guard and Seattle Base Subvets will act as pallbearers. Uniform of the day is white shirt, tie, and Subvet Vests.

2019 Auburn Veterans Day Parade Photos

It was a cloudy-drizzly day for the 54th annual Auburn Veterans Day Parade.

CPO Davis and WWII Vet Ralph carried the flags for the Submarine Veteran groups

Members from Seattle USSVI Base, Bremerton USSVI Base, and Silent Service Motorcycle Club all showed up. Before things got started, we got a few group photos.

Bremerton USSVI Base

Seattle USSVI Base and Silent Service Motorcycle Club

Turnout was a little lighter than normal, but it was a good time and great to see all the veterans out for the parade.Here are some more photos from the parade.

After our group photos, there were last-minute preparations for the parade and some time to chat.

Getting the banner ready

Sharing a few tales, while waiting for the parade to start

SSMC members chatting

Then we had a flyover by the King County Sheriff helicopters and it was time to start the parade.

Helicopters come in low with the low clouds

Ric and Larry on the Seattle Base float

The Bonefish float pulling out into the parade

Seattle float and SSMC pulling into the route

The parade crowd was enthusiastic as ever and everyone seemed to enjoy the parade.

Passing some of the other parade entrants

A photo from inside the parade

We had a good time with the parade and hope to see everyone again next year!

Seattle Base members, SSMC member, and float

Eternal Patrol: Don Ulmer

Holland Club and Seattle Base member, Don Ulmer departed on eternal patrol on November 3, 2019 at Overlake Hospital Medical Center, where he was a Volunteer Chaplin for 20 years. He was surrounded by his four children, Karen, Jennifer, Monica, and Matthew.

Don joined the Navy in 1948 and qualified on USS Clamagore (SS-343) in 1949. He then went to the Naval Academy Prep School and on to the US Naval Academy, graduating in 1954. Don went on to serve on USS Halfbeak (SS-352), USS Barracuda (SSK-1/SS-550), USS Patrick Henry (SSBN-599), USS Corporal (SS-346), and then returned to USS Clamagore as Commanding Officer. Don retired from the Navy in 1979.

There will be a memorial service at a future date; we will keep you informed.

Please keep Don’s family in your thoughts and prayers.

Sailor, Rest Your Oar

November - December 2019 Dolphin Brotherhood Posted

The November - December 2019 issue of the Dolphin Brotherhood has been posted and is ready to view and download.

SubVets at a previous Auburn Parade

This issue has information about the upcoming Auburn Veterans Day Parade, the registration form for the Seattle Base December Holiday Luncheon, and the usual submarine related articles. You can also find a copy of the luncheon registration form by clicking this link.

The newsletter and registration form are stored on Dropbox, but you do not need to sign up for Dropbox account to view and download the newsletter (you can just close the window asking you to create or sign in to your account).

Hardcopies will be mailed out soon. I hope you all enjoy the newsletter.

As always, remember to check back here for base updates and other articles of interest.

Dave Schueler
Seattle USSVI Base Newsletter Editor