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| U.S.S. Allen M. Sumner DD-692 | |||||
| Letters home from the Captain | |||||
Captain Oller sent letters to the crew's next-of-kin to keep them updated on the Med/Persian Gulf deployment of 1959. Many thanks to Charles "Ed" Williams who let us borrow his copies
| The letter of May 15, 1959 | The letter of June 29, 1959 | ||
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Captain Porterfield kept the families up-to-date with five letters home from the Med/Persian Gulf cruise of 1960-61. Many thanks to Ernie Dauzat who made these available to us at the Reunion.
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The First letter of Summer 1960 let the families know what to expect during the cruise. |
The next letter was from Genoa in October | In November he let the families know we were headed for the Middle East | |||||||
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| In December Captain Porterfield filled the families in on the joys of Arabia. |
And the final letter letting everyone know we are "Headed Home". |
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Captain Porterfield also included a history of Sixth Fleet Operations and what a Med Cruise was all about. |
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Captain Flynn kept the crew's families up-to-date on the happenings and plans of the ship. These are two of the letters that he wrote which are presented here thanks to fellow shipmate John D. Smith.
| This first letter was written in July 1961 just after Captain Flynn had assumed command. He gives an introductory portrait of himself and describes his philosophy of command. | This second letter was written in February 1962 after Sumner had completed refresher training in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and was preparing for a deployment with the Sixth Fleet. | ||
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Paul Delasco also saved some of Captain Flynn's Family Grams from 1962 which are presented here.
| This third letter was written in May 1962 and describes Sumner's arrival with the 6th Fleet and her visitis to Greece and Malta. | The fourth letter was wriiten in July 1962 and discusses the grounding of the Sumner along with her visitis to Italy and France. | The fifth letter was written in September 1962 and lays out the plans for Sumner's return to Mayport and visits to Italy and France. | |
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The 1965 Med Cruise found Captain Baty keeping our friends and family involved. Thanks to Pete Hart who saved these pieces of of history and scanning them for us.
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Half way through the cruise, Captain Baty explains why we are there. |
Bits and pieces from the Plan of the Day giving a flavor of what being a Navy tourist is all about. | |
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1968 and 1969 brought the Sumner to GITMO for the Holidays and then on to the Med. Captain Meacham kept the families up-to-date on all the going's-on. Thanks to Mike Raatjes for the loan of his collection. Also, thanks to Jim Georgantas for his work in doing all the illustrations and passing them on to us.
| Sumner Visits GITMO for the Holidays | 
| GITMO done we get ready for the MED | |||
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| Naval Review,
Portsmouth, Rotterdam, Lisbon and Rota May 28, 1969 |
Naples, Venice,
Catania and Sousse June & July 1969 |
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| Valletta,
Palma and head HOME ! September 26, 1969 |
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On Sumner's last deployment Captain Laighton kept in touch with our families providing them with all the goings-on in Mayport and the Mediterranean. Thanks to Captain Laighton for letting me borrow his copies.
| The Captain introduces himself and details the scheduled Med Cruise. | Sumner gets an updated Galley and takes part in the Olympics! | President Nixon reviews the Sumner as we enjoy the "Med" | |||
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| Thanksgiving in stormy seas and plans for Christmas | Report on Christmas and New Years and the new Dependents program | We are heading home, 40,000 miles at sea! | |||
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| Captain Laighton also showed his
respect and caring for the crew's dependants as exemplified in this letter to Liz Hedenberg |
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