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Steven Loomis (SaigonShipyard), IC3
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Holly, Daniel T., Jr. ("Ted"), CAPT USN(Ret).
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Home Town Born Ontario OR, raised in Adrian, OR
Last Address Adrian, Oregon
Date of Passing Mar 17, 2017
Location of Interment Peace Lutheran Cemetery - Baldwin, Wisconsin
Daniel John Rowe, age 67 of Baldwin, Wisconsin died peacefully Friday March 17, 2017 at his residence surrounded by his loving family. Dan was born to Clifford and Gertrude Rowe, in Lansing Michigan on July 31, 1949. He grew up in Eaton Rapids MI and moved to East Lansing MI where he graduated from high school in 1969.
He attended Western Michigan University majoring in Communications. He would later go on to work in radio for high school and at the University level and even some TV while in Tulsa OK. His radio career took him to Charlotte MI, Ionia MI, Rolla MO, Benton Harbor MI, Spartanburg SC, Tulsa OK, before ending up in NFL with work with MN Vikings. He would work 10 years with Vikings and 2 years with San Diego Chargers before retiring from the NFL broadcast work. The great love of his radio work would take him back while in retirement to work games with KDWB/Hastings MN and KLLB/Stillwater MN.
He loved to laugh, spend times with his family, golf and especially fish. Playing with his grandchildren would give him so much joy as well. The later months we had many discussions about if he could fish in heaven. His family thinks so. He was also a Christian with a deep faith. Many classified him as a prayer warrior as he used that spiritual gift to bless many people over his lifetime with prayers. It was not enough to merely say a quick prayer but those who were around him knew he would spend hours doing so. He also was active at Peace Lutheran Baldwin in Bible study, lecturing, serving on the Staff Support Committee and even helping to lead worship services when Pastor John was out of town.
His faith was important during his broadcasting years as well. He used your everyday average interview to bring out the person’s faith as well every chance he could get. During his months of struggles with ALS, he remained a positive person fighting as hard as he could to counteract the devastation of the horrible disease. He knew he was dying as the disease is always terminal. He shared only a few weeks ago that he wished that upon his death memorials would go to His Arms Kenya Orphan Project (see a href="http://www.hisarmskenya.org/">www.hisarmskenya.org) that he and his wife helped start in 2007. He cared deeply for the hurting in Western Kenya especially his “adopted” daughter Anastacia. Memorials can be given to Peace Lutheran for His Arms should you wish in lieu of flowers.
His family also plans to take part in the future fundraisers to help those dealing with ALS. The family found the help of HCMC ALS Clinic especially helpful and that of ALS/MN Chapter.
Survived by wife of 42 years, Nancy; Children Luke (Renee) of Prescott, WI, Rebecca Kovanda of Edina MN, and Matthew of Logan IA.; Grandchildren, Tyler Mueller; Kylie, Brenna, Delana, Tarick & Ava Rowe, Brayden and Colin Kovanda two great grandchildren; Brother James (Jean) Rowe of Palm Harbor, FL Sister, Louise Brown of San Antonio TX. ; siblings-in-law June & Gary Hansen of Lansing MI, Rich & Wendy Kessler of Montague MI, Diane Babcock of Montague MI and Claude Babcock of Montague MI; and “adopted” brother Brian Koon of Lansing Michigan. Many nieces, nephews and relatives also survive him as well his church family Peace Lutheran in Baldwin WI.
Funeral service for Dan Rowe will be 11AM Monday March 20th, at Peace Lutheran Church of Baldwin with Pastor John Hanson officiating. Visitation will be on Sunday from 5 to 7PM Sun, March 19, also at Peace Lutheran. Burial will be in the church cemetery with active casketbearers being Dave Kundy, Lee Hanson, Jim Hauschild, Paul Ramberg, Jeff Shulke, Rich Carlson, Rich Cronk, Ken Rimer, with honorary casketbearers being his grandchildren. Memorials preferred to His Arms Kenya Orphan Project c/o Peace Lutheran Church. Funeral service are entrusted to the O’Connell Family Funeral Home of Baldwin.
Other Comments:
Captain Daniel Theodore "Ted" Holly, Jr., U.S.N. (Ret.)
Ted attended Boise Junior College and the College of Idaho, graduating from the latter in 1953 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology. Commissioned as an Ensign, USNR, upon graduation from Officer Candidate School, Newport, Rhode Island in April 1954, Mr. Holly attended Naval CIC Officer School in Glenview, Illinois. Augmentation to USN upon completion of the General Line Course, U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California from August 1959 to May 1960.
Vietnam Service included:
Executive Officer USS Preston DD-795, 1965-1966;
Commanding Officer of the USS Savage DE-386, Jan. 1967 to Sept. 1968; and
USS Gurke DD-783 May 1971 to November 1972.
NEC 111X-Unrestricted Line Officer - Surface Warfare
Base, Station or City Not Specified
State/Country Not Specified
Patch
USS Gurke (DD-783) Details
USS GURKE (DD-783)
CLASS - GEARING As Built.
Displacement 3460 Tons (Full), Dimensions, 390' 6"(oa) x 40' 10" x 14' 4" (Max)
Armament 6 x 5"/38AA (3x2), 12 x 40mm AA, 11 x 20mm AA, 10 x 21" tt.(2x5).
Machinery, 60,000 SHP; General Electric Geared Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 36.8 Knots, Range 4500 NM@ 20 Knots, Crew 336. Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Todd Shipyards, Seattle. July 1 1944.
Launched February 15 1945 and commissioned May 12 1945.
Completed FRAM upgrade May 1964.
Stricken January 30 1976.
To Greece March 17 1977, renamed Tombazis.
Decommissioned (?).
Stricken January 12 1997. Fate Laid up in Souda Bay Crete as of January 1998.
Named for;
Henry Gurke was born 6 November 1922 at Neche, North Dakota. Enlisting in the Marine Corps 15 April 1942, he participated in the invasion and occupation of Pavuvu, Russell Islands. Private Gurke was killed during the battle for Bougainville 9 November 1943. He and another Marine were sharing a foxhole to defend a vital road when a Japanese grenade dropped directly in on them. Knowing that his companion manned an automatic weapon with greater fire power than his own and could thereby provide more effective resistance, Gurke thrust the other Marine aside and threw himself over the grenade to smother the explosion. For his gallantry above and beyond the call of duty, Private Gurke was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
From the 1971 Records it is Documented that the USS Gurke was awarded The White "Battle Efficiency "E"" for her exploits during the 1970 Calendar Year, the second year in a row The Gurke earned this Award for Desron 15. The Award was made in May of 1971. Go Gurke, DD783 10-15-1970 The USS Gurke Completes it's 1970 West Pac Cruise.
On 20 October 1971, GURKE departed San Diego for her new homeport of Yokosuka, Japan, her 19th deployment to the Western Pacific since commissioning. While in Yokosuka she participated in virtually every major operation of the Seventh Fleet, fulfilling a variety of missions testing every facet of her multiple mission capabilities. After a brief period of special operations in the Sea of Japan in November 1971, she joined Task Force 71 units for continguency operations in the Indian Ocean during the Indian-Pakistani war.
During the first half of 1972, she was deeply involved in combat operations in support of the United States commitment in Vietnam, participating in Linebacker and Freedom Train gunfire strikes against North Vietnam, Naval Gunfire Support missions from the gunline in South Vietnam, and serving as an ASW and gunnery escort for picket units and carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin. For her efforts during this period she was awarded the Meritorious Unit Citations by both the United States and Vietnamese Navies.
1971-1972 In support of Vietnam by George Cooper gtcoop@home.com The GURKE was an exceptional ship and there are a lot of memories from the 1971-1972 period. One very interesting aspect of the period was the introduction of major changes to everyday Navy life brought on by the infamous Z-Grams. All of the sudden, haircut regulations were a bit obscure and lower ranking sailors could store civilian clothes aboard ship and wear them ashore. Some of the senior persons perceived that the traditional Navy chain of command had been abandoned. Everyone had a different impression on the impact of Z-Grams. Also during this period, the Navy became very aware that the drug problems of civilian life were also a major issue aboard ships, and that the problems had to be addressed. The Navy was also pressed into addressing a variety of race relation issues that had unfortunately been ignored up to that time. I recollect the GURKE tropical hour inport work routine which contributed to very efficient, effective and relatively enjoyable San Diego inport periods. It took a very dedicated crew to be able to maintain the tropical hour inport work protocol. Other ships were sincerely envious of the GURKE early liberty calls that were announced each day in port on the 1MC.
The period 1971-1972 was very busy operational period for GURKE. During the summer of 1971, GURKE participated in a Midshipman Training Cruise to Hawaii. In late 1971, GURKE changed homeports from San Diego to Yokosuka as a part the forward deployment of Destroyer Squadron 15 to Japan. The five DESRON 15 destroyers involved in the homeport shift were USS GURKE (DD783), USS ROWAN (DD782), USS BAUSELL (DD845), USS RICHARD B. ANDERSON (DD786), and USS PARSONS (DDG33). The homeport change may seem insignificant; however, there was only a 2-month advance warning for the quick-reaction DESRON 15 deployment, and the Navy requirement was for all crew members to be "volunteers" for the Japan duty. About 40 percent of the crew did not volunteer for the forward deployment, mostly because of the requirement to relocate dependents to Japan, or consequences thereto. So, the crew underwent a 40 percent turnover in a very short period and a large group of new GURKE sailors boarded just prior to departure from San Diego for Japan. The consequent requirement was to re-train the crew which would be required to participate in Vietnam War operations, almost immediately upon arrival in WESTPAC. The entire GURKE crew responded with great energy and the ship was fully ready for combat operations when called on to do so a month or after deployment.
While forward deployed to Japan, GURKE participated in a special Sea of Japan maritime patrol operation with USS WORDEN off Korea. GURKE was later tasked to cut short a Christmas stand-down period and make a quick-reaction deployment to support a naval build-up in the Indian Ocean because of an India/Pakistan incident. More important, GURKE was subsequently involved in the significantly increased Vietnam War operating tempo in the SOUTH CHINA SEA, particularly in 1972 when the United States made a concerted effort to press North Vietnam for a conclusion to the Vietnam War. The overall operating tempo of GURKE in WESTPAC exceeded 75%. During the April-May 1972 Easter Offensive, GURKE was involved in an unending cycle of scheduled or on-call naval gunfire missions, refueling, rearming, and replenishing. The most trying of GURKE's tasks were naval gunfire support operations off the coasts of South Vietnam and North Vietnam while particularly in Operation FREEDOM TRAIN and Operation LINEBACKER. The principal naval gunfire targets in North Vietnam were railroad yards, coastal highways, surface-to-air Missile sites, early warning radar sites, loading docks, warehouses, troop barracks, storage depots and other logistical areas used to sustain the North Vietnamese offensive in South Vietnam. The gunfire support operations often involved attacking targets as far north as Haiphong Harbor. The daily GURKE schedule usually included participating in a night-time gunfire strike missions with 2-3 other destroyers or cruisers against specific North Vietnam targets. Thereafter, the ship would have to locate and rendezvous with the replenishment group and re-arm the 200-400 5"/38 rounds expended during the naval gunfire strikes, refueling (because of the constant requirement to conduct high-speed destroyer operations), and replenishing stores. The rest of the day was generally used for repositioning GURKE for a follow-on night-time gunfire mission, a harassing/interdiction mission, or conducting a "shotgun ship" support task for the YANKEE STATION aircraft carriers, or the Search and Rescue (SAR) Station ship positioned near YANKEE STATION. GURKE was the target of intense hostile fire during many of her naval gunfire missions in close proximity to the North Vietnam coast. During some of the missions, GURKE received numerous hits from shrapnel, and fortunately, no crew member was wounded. When not at GENERAL QUARTERS for gunfire strike missions the crew stood continuous CONDITION 3 watches in the South China Sea. These intense naval gunfire missions and replenishment operations required the crew to use a lot of ingenuity in getting a little rest each day in order to be ready for the next assigned task.
During this period, GURKE successfully participated in more than 100 naval gunfire support and gun-ship support missions and met every single assigned commitment. During one night-time mission, a strike group consisting of the USS OKLAHOMA CITY, USS GURKE and USS ANDERSON, was involved in a gunfire mission where it was assessed that several North Vietnam torpedo boats operating near the task group were neutralized. During another period, GURKE was ordered to report off-shore South Vietnam to provide naval gunfire support to troops ashore that were involved in a major North Vietnamese offensive against the Citadel at Hue City. Upon arrival, GURKE joined an armada of about 30 destroyers and cruisers that were lined up offshore at 1000 yard intervals and pounding targets as directed by ashore spotters. The sights and sounds of this many warships in this single engagement was unforgettable . During one quick turn-around trip to Yokosuka from the South China Sea for repairs, GURKE was fitted with a SHRIKE Anti-Radiation Missile Launch system atop the ASROC launcher which was intended to be used against North Vietnamese SAM sites. Additionally, GURKE was fitted with a SIDEWINDER heat-seeking missile launcher system on the helicopter flight deck. So, at least for a short period, GURKE was a DDG!. Every single GURKE crew member performed superbly during this period of intense combat operations and GURKE consequently received many commendatory messages as a top performer from CINCPACFLT, COMSEVENTHFLT, COMMANDER TASK FORCE 75, and various other TG/TF Commanders. At least two of GURKE's officers were later selected for the flag rank of admiral; they are LT Bill Center (Engineering Officer) and ENS Tony Lengerich (Communications Officer).
Participating in the 1971-1972 period aboard GURKE genuinely represented what it means to be dedicated to DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY.