Turnabout is fair play and the committee brought two former Captains to Crew's Mast. Former skipper Donby Mathieu was awarded the Juan Valdez Award for contriving a reason to take the ship to Colombia subjecting the crew to almost continuous liberty. Former Half Moon C.O. Emmett McCarthy was Fortune Cookied for his role in taking the ship to virtually every exotic port in the Orient on the ship's far-east cruise and again granting extensive liberty.

On a more serious note, former exec Ed Daniels (who retired as a Rear Admiral) read The Crossing of the Bar and the names of our our former shipmates who have crossed the bar. We then adjourned to the messdeckfor lunch and looked forward to the afternoon session.

Emmett McCarthy addressed the group with his memories of preparation for and the carrying out of the Half Moon's far-east deployment. Russ Worthington and Dick Brooks were our guides through 1967 with its Lobster Wars and the action off the coast of Viet Nam. Chic Attig led us through Half Moon's return to Atlantic weather ship duties in 1968, the ship's last full year in commission.

Our next guest speaker was Captain Dale Goodreau, C.O. of Group Cape May. He gave the group a very enlightening presentation on the current activities of the Coast Guard and how it is different from when we served. Ron Youngman, the ship's last exec, then wrapped up the session with a review of 1969 leading up to the ship's decommissioning in July. John LeClair's video of Half Moon's last cruise was a great finale.

That evening everyone got dressed up for cocktails, dinner (featuring a choice of prime rib or grilled salmon) and dancing to 60's music. Midway through the dancing someone suggested that we briefly stop and take some group pictures of all the atttendees. Every camera in the place was busy capturing the crew together on film. The dancing resumed and continued until the stroke of midnight. Most of the revelers moved into the bar for a final night cap before turning in.

The next morning opened with a breakfast buffet and then featured Show and Tell where those who brought memorabilia showed what they had and told its history. Two of the biggest hits were an oil painting of the Half Moon painted by Don Churchill and Ron Freshley's non-regulation dress blues modeled by his very lovely wife. (See the picture on page 1.)

The closing session featured some humorous awards for both the attendees and the Reunion Committee. Ed Daniels made a very moving impromptu speech that summed up almost everyone's feelings about the weekend. Observing tradition, department heads made their reports and Captain McCarthy gave the word to make preparations for entering port. BMOW Chic Attig supervised the mooring and the shifting of colors. The OOD secured permission from Captain Mathieu to grant liberty to all hands and the reunion came to a close.

This reunion was an experience we're sure no one who attended will ever forget. It is impossible to find words that describe the warmth and camaraderie that were in those rooms. As Dick Brooks put it so well, The Half Moon was nothing more than cold, life-less metal. It was her crews that gave her life and those crews were the best!