Our purpose is to bring into being an organization that will unite shipmates of two of three great sister ships and all the squadrons that served aboard these two ships. Presently, there is no reunion association for the U.S.S. Midway for the entire ship, only one division. These two ships were the first aircraft carriers commissioned after World War II, within 7 weeks of each other, thus, enjoining them for all future history. The U.S.S. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first ship ever named after a President of the United States although it was not planned that way in the beginning. She was originally named the U.S.S. Coral Sea, the same as many other carriers were named for famous battles.
The plan for this organization is to give a home to the squadron members who served in squadrons that were assigned to these two ships. Presently, reunion associations of aircraft carriers require their membership to have served aboard the ship of the association, thus, splitting up squadron members who do not qualify. We believe this thinking is backwards; after all, the aircraft carriers were servicing the squadrons. Squadrons were then forced to have their own reunions but for some, the membership was too small to make it feasible. Sadly, some squadrons do not know what their future will hold. Members of squadrons could always attend the Tailhook Association but that has become very expensive. Presently, the annual dues for the Tailhook Association are $45.00. The registration fee for the annual convention is now $65.00 and for non-members it is $85.00. Lifetime membership in the Tailhook Association is now $795.00. That is over 17 times the annual dues. The location of the annual convention is always the same, Reno, Nevada and the time is always the same, the Wednesday after Labor Day. How many different squadrons do you need to enjoy yourself? We have 124 presently known qualifying squadrons, do you need more?
We plan to offer a different reunion location each year and will not return to the same location unless the membership votes to return. We will also encourage spouses, family members and friends to attend. We encourage direct descendants, as well as widows or widowers, of qualified members to become auxiliary members. If you have been searching The Internet for associations of these two ships to join based on your military service or based on your parents service to our country, you need not look any further. If you or your parents were ever associated with these two ships or with squadrons that were ever assigned to these two ships, we invite you to explore this web site further and would welcome your membership in Squadrons and Shipmates of the FDR-Midway, Inc.
Presently, most reunions are only thinking of the present and not looking into the future. As mentioned before, this is going to be a unique organization and one with a vision far into the future. The best way to explain our vision is to suppose we were all descendants of civil war veterans. Can you imagine the camaraderie there would be even though we were not veterans? This may also encourage children and grandchildren to join the Navy or Marines so they, too, will have something to look forward to.
Descendants of deceased qualified personnel will have one vote per generation. That would normally be the eldest living son or daughter but family members may agree on another family member who may not be the eldest. In all fairness each member only has one vote and this should not change in the case where the member is represented by another family member. It is our hope to preserve the voting membership to carry the organization into the future.
So our purpose is different from most reunion associations and we hope you will join our organization if you are eligible.
Our purpose is to bring into being an organization that will unite shipmates of two of three great sister ships and all the squadrons that served aboard these two ships. Presently, there is no reunion association for the U.S.S. Midway for the entire ship, only one division. These two ships were the first aircraft carriers commissioned after World War II, within 7 weeks of each other, thus, enjoining them for all future history. The U.S.S. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first ship ever named after a President of the United States although it was not planned that way in the beginning. She was originally named the U.S.S. Coral Sea, the same as many other carriers were named for famous battles.
