USS Taylor 468 News

In October 2021 we were working on setting up a reunion in Norfolk, VA. To that end we lined up a hotel and scheduled a series of tours. In January, however, the planner received a discouraging medical diagnosis concerning a family member that has the potential to fully monopolize his time and derail the reunion.

After some evaluation we judged that the medical condition was manageable and, perhaps with some wishful thinking on our part, sent out the signup letters for participation in the reunion. Months later we now have received evaluations by specialist(s) and a preliminary diagnosis. Sadly the family member’s condition is more serious and is progressing faster than anticipated. The result is that dealing with this condition will monopolize the planner’s time for the foreseeable future. We deeply regret the confusion we may have caused and we will be issuing full refunds although we will honor shirt orders to date.

We will also look into joining Tin Can Sailors (TCS), as a group, for their annual reunions, although the option of attending that TCS reunions as an individual is always open to our members.

COVID 19 and Our Reunions
Coronavirus disease 2019 has played havoc with our attempts to hold a reunion. It has caused us to cancel our fully planned reunions in 2020 and then in 2021. It is difficult to predict what the COVID situation will be like in October of 2022. Hopefully, the COVID 19 pandemic will be in the rearview mirror in October of 2022 so we don’t have to worry about it as much. Nonetheless, we are particularly mindful of the current surge in COVID infections and will delay sending out reunion signup letters until the surge has passed. Doctors, who appear as talking heads on TV, have stated that they expect COVID 19 to shift from being “pandemic” to being “endemic”; e.g. It will, like malaria and the flu, always be around for the unvaccinated to catch but, because of vaccinations, not nearly as many people will become infected.

The Military Reunion Network in which we participate has published a list of best practices for current reunion planning. These include:
— Set, and maintain, a policy until it is safe to relax it.
— Communicate the policies AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE so attendees know to be prepared.
— Communicate your policies with your hotel partner.
— Be prepared to answer questions about reunion policy regarding masks and vaccinations.

Our main policy is that we expect all reunion attendees to be fully vaccinated and have the requisite booster shot(s). Assuming that we continue with planning, we will ask our members to state that explicitly on the sign-up form. That way we can unmask in the hospitality room with a finite level of confidence that we are not infecting each other. In the next NEWSLETTER we will more thoroughly discuss our COVID 19 precautions and policy.