USS Clarion River - LSMR 409
More pictures and stories from the Vietnam Era
Photos: Courtesy Richard Carlsen
Battleflag was the idea of the Signalmen aboard the ship. Lt. Carlsen
said a BIG one was ordered, so large that it nearly covered the aft 40MM mount. The
Clarion River proudly flew the huge flag while firing with other ships around.
Ltjg Bob Pullen, Ltjg Dave King and Ltjg. Richard Carlsen improvise when
the motor whale boat was not working. The three talked the Skipper into swimming about 1/3
of a mile to shore, infiltrate a village and take a boat. The mission was accomplished but
Richard Carlsen admits it was a dangerous thing to do!
The Clarion River under full power. The photo on the right is a photo of
the CNO visit aboard the USS Clarion River.
Plotting another mission L-R Exec. Officer Lt. Dowdy
& Radarman Third Class Tony Barraza
mailto:BarrazaUK@aol.com
Ltjg.Bob Pullen and how he earned the name "Mad Dog"
Left is RMC Rhodes, Center is Lt Phil Anderson AKA "Scrappy"
and Right are Ltjg's Skryja, Carlsen and King.
I'll be darned, there is a screw missing!
A special thanks to Richard Carlsen for the photo's
above on this page!
Thank you for saving them all these years.
My name is Larry Blackman. I arrived on board in 1967.
I was on the ship for a little over a month before I went to the 2nd Division.
I was happy to find this web site because I have often wondered what has become of
all the friends I had back then on that little ship. I have heard from
Albright and Lindsey and would like to hear from more. If you would like to write to
me my e-mail is larryblackman@yahoo.com
My name is Craig Isakson. Right from boot camp San Diego, I served aboard
the 409 from July 1966 to Jan. 1968. During that time frame I was in
the 1st Division and made BM3 which resulted in me leaving the ship in
1968. Finding this web page was a gift as I have been trying to find
information about the Clarion River for sometime as most of my mementos are missing.
Thanks for the memories. Over time I have told stories about the mighty ship and the hard
working crew, in and out of port. Craig Isakson e-mail MIsakson@msn.com
Hello! My name is Rod Harris & I served on board the
clarion river from Dec '66 to Dec '67, most of the time as a gunersmate in the
armory. My wonderful daughter-in-law got me cranked up & excited on
searching when she said she had talked to some of my shipmates who I
served with, on the internet, consequently, here I am. I have been having many
flash backs & in fact have already corresponded with some of the guys.
Looking forward to more talks. As far as I am concerned, the Clarion, &
her sister ships were indeed the-little-ships-that-could & believe the
past history will prove that. Anxious to here from others.
rodq9@aol.com
Rod Harris 6219 CR 2508 Quinlan, TX
75474
Hello, My name is Leo Kelley and I served on the
Clarion River from June 1965 to December 1969. I am a present member of LSM/LSMR
Association. LSMR409 has a reunion Sep 29,30 & 1 Oct. San Diego,Ca..
Hope to see everyone there. Looking forward to seeing or hearing
from my old shipmates. Please note that Leo has re-located to
California and his current address appears below:
Leo H. Kelley Sr
(518)232-7015 CELL
6533 Van Maren Lane
Citrus Heights, CA 95621
It is great to find this site. I am
Don Barnes I was on the 409 from 65 -68 I was a deck hand turned
engineman. I knew all the great sailors who fought hard on the ship and have
been in contact with a lot of them. I hope to see more in the future.
tsheets@pahrump.com
The ships web site brings back so many memories. I served aboard the
Clarion River from September 1965-October 1967.
I joined the ship in dry dock at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard where my
wife and I resided in the Quonset huts.
The radio shack consisted of RMC Rhodes who left soon
thereafter, RM2 John Cooper, myself, RM3 Marchant, and SA
Paul, to be joined by Cory Patton and Kavalaris and others as
time went along.
RM1
Ault in Clarion River Radio Shack
L-R
RM2 Marchant, RM2 Cooper and ETSN Lawrence
Who can forget things such as the cracking seams on the forward bulkhead
of the radio shack each time the 5"/30 was fired. The problem was
solved by having the yards build an inner bulkhead with shocks.
I'll never forget drinking beer in the small boat hanging over the side
since it was illegal to drink aboard ship or swimming in the South
China Sea, Nor will heading to Subic Bay after unloading all magazines
on the Viet Cong but, not sending a message to the Commodore and
COMPHIBGRU telling them "Unless otherwise directed in route
Subic for resupply and repairs" until 12-24 hours after leaving
the line. That was ended when the PHIBGRU Commander ordered us not to
leave the line until directed. Of course that became a mute point when
they moved our rocket stockpile to Cam Rahn Bay.
It was a tight crew and we had some great times together. Who can forget
the canned hamburgers and dehydrated food after having kicked the
last of the fresh provisions over the side as they lay spoiling on
the fan tail. The bread spread made of lard, sugar and food color. Oh
yeah!
We worked very hard but the camaraderie was super, there was nothing as
exhilarating as an all hands working party to load stores and ammunition.
I served under skippers Meinig and Rogers. The communications
officers were Carlson and Skryja, two of the best.
What a thrill it was to find the ships emblem which I designed not
only on this web site but several others as well. The design was
actually a composition of two I had submitted.
For winning the design competition I won 50 bucks (which I
donated to the rec fund), a 72 hours pass plus the dubious pleasure of
painting it on the superstructure, only to have to remove and replace
it with the Commodore's emblem upon joining up with him in Hawaii. If
that wasn't enough I then had to replace it with
COMPHIBGRUONE"s emblem upon arrival in Yokosuka.
Captain Meinig was so proud of the emblem that he could not wait to get
the plaques made and distributed to the Commodore etc. Since we were not
in a place to have them mass produced I had to paint the first ones by
hand.
I'll be happy to exchange remembrances with anyone.
RMCS Ray Ault, USN Retired.
I am John Sheets and I served aboard the CLARION
RIVER from May 65 until transfer mid May 1968. I have many photo's and slides
of the ship and life aboard.
Personal history: I was a SK3 and the only
Store-Keeper when I reported aboard. I left the ship a SK1. I had a
wonderful Naval career and retired as SKCM. I guess that I didn't have
enough of the Navy and continued with the Navy as a civilian and retired with
a total of 38 combined years on 1 March 1999.
John R Sheets tsheets@pahrump.com
My name
is Kenneth B. Coleman. I served aboard the U.S.S. Clarion River
(LSMR-409) from March 1967 to January 1969. I came aboard at Subic Bay,
P.I. and left the ship at Yokosuka, Japan. The first port we stopped at
was Hong Kong. What a great time we had at the ship's party. My shipmates
included Robert C. Lindsay, Guy Paikai, and Julius O. Brooks. Do you
have any information on these guys? I really appreciate this website and all
the information you have on it. I can be reached at Kbc092346@aol.com.
Hello, I am Chuck Evrist, I came on board
Clarion River January 10, 1968 in Cam-Rahn Bay and departed Sept 7, 1968
from Cam-Rahn Bay. I was a GMG3 and worked on MT41 and the 50cal's. I
remember a lot of good times and a few bad ones like no pay in
Kaohsiung because our pay records didn't show up but we still had fun.
I retired May 1, 2005 from the Naval Reserve
as a GMC. Would love to hear from some old shipmates thechief@rea-alp.com
Hi, I was with the ship from the time we took her out of moth
balls till I got released from active duty in 1967. I got some great memories,
like the bus trip to Manila and the train trip to Tokyo along with some bad
ones I washed away with the years. I've lost just about all the pictures but
found this one. Would love to hear from some of from some of you all.
Charlie
Charles Dee Climer 708 North Cumberland Court Russellville,AR 72801
(479)968-8539 charlesdclimer@yahoo.com
Updated: June 8, 2008
Webmaster: Fred Pfeiffer RM3 E-Mail Me: our409@.att.net
Visits since April 9, 2002
