2014 Reunion Highlights
from Janet Veit, 2014 President of the U.S.S. SLC CA25 Association

This year our reunion was held in the historic and beautiful city of Charleston, South Carolina. Talk about southern hospitality; the people we encountered were warm and welcoming at every turn and the delicious local cuisine was not to be missed.

We started our reunion, as usual, with a reception in the hospitality suite. It’s always exciting to see the familiar faces of our SLC family members. Many hugs and greetings later, we spent the evening enjoying good food, conversation, and just catching up.

The next day our tour bus picked us up for a drive in the country to the beautiful Magnolia Gardens Plantation. We split up into two groups; one taking the Nature Train for a tour of the plantation grounds, with its many varieties of floral and animal species and the other, touring the centuries old plantation house with its rich history. In the afternoon, our bus toured old Historic Charleston which included a visit to Rainbow Row, with its brightly colored houses, and the Old City Market, where we had lunch and did some shopping.

Tuesday we were off to Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum. As the bus pulled up we saw an amazing sight; the might aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, with the USS Laffey and USS Clamagore by her side. As we boarded, we were awestruck by the sheer size of this vessel, not to mention all of the numerous exhibits available to visit. Among the many attractions were numerous vintage Military aircraft from WWII to present day. One of the most memorable displays was the tribute to the various classes of WWII cruisers and yes, prominently displayed was a USS Salt Lake City, CA25 plaque with recognition of her Navy Unit Commendation. Very emotional! Our visit was concluded with an exceptional lunch served in the CPO Mess. This would be a day we would not soon forget.

The business meeting the last day went smoothly, and the minutes are posted on the SLC website. Next year’s reunion will be held in the naval town of San Diego and the shipmates of the USS Chester and USS Pensacola (CruDiv5) will be invited to join us.

With a free afternoon available, some members visited the sites. Among them being the Citadel, the military college founded in 1842 and Fort Sumter, where the first shot of the Civil War was fired.

Our annual banquet, decorated in red, white and blue, closed the reunion. Each year since the 70th anniversary of the beginning of WWII (Dec 2011), the history of the ship has been recounted with special emphasis on the events of that specific year. This year the focus was the fall of 1943 to the summer of 1944. Next, was the Two Bell Ceremony naming every SLC veteran that had passed during the last year, followed by the ringing of the ship’s bell. The ceremony ended with Taps. Medals were presented to all veterans present and any family member representing a veteran that had passed. Afterwards, we were entertained by music from various decades, and dancing went on until the D.J. closed shop. A very enjoyable evening indeed!

Thursday most members departed, taking with them fond memories of the past few days in Charleston and an anticipation of next year’s reunion in San Diego.