USS Sellers DDG-11 Reunion

Port Call San Antonio, Texas

USS Sellers held its 2014 reunion in San Antonio, Texas. Attendees gathered at the hotel Thursday afternoon for a reception where sea stories were plentiful. Almost all attendees had arrived, so the room was full of chatter about today’s and yesterday’s Navy. Shipmates from commissioning to decommissioning (1961 to 1989) were in attendance.

On Friday we toured the historic Museum of the Pacific in honor of Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz in Fredericksburg, Texas. The museum is filled to the brim with relics and artifacts of WWII and the Pacific Campaign. Our reunion attendees were surprised to see such a great naval museum so far from the ocean. After dinner back in San Antonio, we watched a slideshow about USS Sellers and her crew and family members over the years.

On Saturday we toured the Alamo and San Antonio Riverwalk area, shopped and had lunch. Following our business meeting on Saturday evening we enjoyed our banquet, speaker and gift exchange. We ask attendees to bring a gift from the area where they live to exchange. Before dinner we played “People Bingo,” where you try to answer questions on your bingo cards by asking other reunion attendees. The game was a huge success and got attendees interacting. Forty people attended the reunion, seven of them first-timers.

Sunday we had breakfast and a memorial service. This year we honored not only shipmates who have passed since the last reunion, but all shipmates who have gotten orders to the ultimate duty station.

Our 2016 reunion will be held in either Savannah, Georgia, or Jacksonville, Florida. Many attendees said this was a great reunion even if it wasn’t near the ocean. First-timers said they already plan on attending the 2016 reunion. Our goal is to keep the Sellers legacy alive by getting more and more former shipmates involved and attending the reunions. Visit www.usssellers.org.

Reported by Delta Hinson, Virginia Beach, Virginia, Past President, USS Sellers Association