Nov. 1999 [Updated Mar. 2011]

Hi! My name is Sandra F. Thompson-Eskew-[aka Sandy] and I live in Grove, OK. I am the oldest daughter of veteran Hoyt W. Thompson, S1c, (1924-1988) who served in the U.S. Navy during WWII on the USS SALT LAKE CITY HEAVY CRUISER, CA-25 from 1943-1945.

My mother, Alma M. Thompson, was a "Rosie" at the Richmond Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, CA. during some of the time my father was on the SLC in WWII.

I have an older brother, Ric and a younger sister, Peggy. I am married to Clyde Eskew & we have 5 sons. Four from his first marriage and we have one. And grandchildren arriving all the time. ;)

Clyde was in the Construction business for over 50 years. Building news homes and businesses for years and then mainly doing remodel work. I have had many different jobs...such as working as a nurses aid in hospitals, home health care. I also worked at a Oil Refinery in Cushing, OK. for 5 years as the receptionist and PBX operator. A job I dearly loved. When the oil business bit the dust, the refinery closed down after being in business for over 50 years.

We moved from Cushing, OK. to Grove, OK. in 1987 to be managers of a resort on Grand Lake. That lasted about a year... which was enough. That's when I went back to the nursing field to do home health and Clyde continued his construction business plus opened a real estate business. In 1991, I was injured in a car wreck that ended my career in home health. After three years of getting through that, Clyde bought me my first computer and I was HOOKED!

After teaching myself how to "use" this computer, I spent 2 years working on Family Genealogy...loving every minute of it. I made several books for the family members. After finishing that project, I decided it was time to "step-up" in the world and "get ON-LINE". So, I signed up with a brand new local InterNet company and my "learning experience" began.

After a year or so on the InterNet, I started a genealogy site and researched my "Family Tree". It grew into a huge site called "Digging UP Roots".

I became very curious about my dad's Navy days and wondered...just where is this SLC...and who else served on her. So...I posted a message on my Genealogy site looking for anyone that might know anything about the Salt Lake City. After about a year, I received an e-mail message from Louise Denney, widow of SLC Veteran, James Denney. She was also into Genealogy and ran across my Website, saw the SLC posting and wrote to me. We visited several times and then she mailed me several articles about the SLC.

I went to visit my mom to see what she "might have" on the SLC. She allowed me to go digging through all her things looking for pictures, records, etc....anything that would tell me about my dad's days in the Navy. He never talked about them to us kids...which is a shame. We missed out on "his story".

I found very little in my mother's keepsakes...one picture of the SLC being sunk, his discharge papers, a couple of "love letters" and a few snapshots of him with a few shipmates...just first names.

All this inspired me to go digging for more and that's when I came across the names of Pat Monteleone and Myron Varland on the InterNet. As you will see by the size of this Website...the rest is history.

In 1999, I made the first little "webpage" for the USS Salt Lake City CA25. It all "started out" to be a simple search for a few crew members that served on the SLC. BUT!! I have been very fortunate!! I have heard from "many" wonderful & helpful Veterans &/or Family Members.

Everyone has been very generous with information & pictures that the site is now over 4,000 pages of pictures, history and stories. It's amazing how fast it has grown.

Because of all the wonderful contributions, I am "forever adding to & re-organizing" the Website. Sooo...if you have "anything" you would like to see posted here, please feel free to send it to me & I will gladly add it & you to the ever growing list.

I hope you enjoy this site as much as I enjoy putting it together. It has been & still is a very emotional "trip" for me since my father is not here to enjoy all of this with me. Even though he never talked about the time he spent in the Navy during WWII, I think he would be proud to know that there are those that have kept the "Memory" of the USS SALT LAKE CITY alive...and maybe he would be a little proud of his oldest daughter for what she is doing for his shipmates. I hope so anyway. The SALT LAKE CITY CA25 has a great big family that I'm proud to be a part of.

There is a lot of information on this Website, so sit back & enjoy your walk through the past. I've learned more than I ever expected to about the SLC and I want to know more about "HER" & "YOU".

If you have any questions just email me or call me at (918) 786-9638

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