* Remembering Melvin Sepulvado

* Roy Alexander Passed Away (See Email below from John Alexander)

* USS Idaho Association Newsletter (2007) from Mrs. Dave Graham

Melvin Murray Sepulvado
March 31, 1921 - May 17, 2007

Melvin Murray Sepulvado went home to be with his Lord May 17, 2007. He was born March 31, 1921, in Noble, Louisiana, to Ed and Pearl Sepulvado. He is survived by his wife of nearly 53 years, Wanda; two daughters, Kathryn Gambino and husband, Billy, Janet Nicholas and husband, Scott; sister, Eloise Putsch; as well as eight grandchildren; and 4 great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his parents and sister, Hazel Norwood.

He was a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor and served his country by working for the Civil Service to repair the U.S. Navy’s warships. He later enlisted in the U.S. Army.

* May 19, 2007

Our very dear friend, Melvin Sepulvado passed away on May 17, 2007. Melvin loved his family and loved God. He was very proud to have served his country being stationed in Pearl Harbor during the time of the attack by the Japanese in 1941. (Read his story)

Our condolences and prayers go out to the Supulvado family.

* May 19, 2007

Hello Dave:

I ran across your USS Idaho website on the Internet. My great-uncle Joseph
G. Popek served on the USS Idaho in World War II. I have a copy of his
service record.

Joseph enlisted in the Navy on September 30, 1942. His ranks/ratings were
(in order): AS (Able Seaman), S2c (Dec. 16, 1942), F3c (August 1, 1943),
F2c (Sept.1, 1943), F1c, MM3c (Machinist's Mate), final rank of MM2c (June
30, 1944). He joined the USS Idaho on December 9, 1942. Joseph had
authorized leave from October 22, 1944 to November 17, 1944. He left the
USS Idaho for good on August 23, 1945. Joseph was honorably discharged
from the Navy on December 14, 1945. Joseph was originally from New Jersey
and lived there many years. He died September 21, 1980 in South Carolina.

Mr. John ("Jack") Spafford, another original crew member, was kind enough
to send me some information about the "Big Spud" a few years ago.

Thanks for maintaining your website on the USS Idaho.

Regards,

Daniel Popek

* April 26, 2007

Dave,

Roy Alexander, an Idaho shipmate and my father, passed away this past Friday at the age of 80. He was so proud of his WWII service aboard the USS Idaho and his humble war stories inspired me to also serve in the Navy. I was honored with the opportunity of taking Dad to the WWII Memorial in Washington DC a couple of years ago and to the final Idaho reunion in Nashville this past summer. He was still talking about the reunion and his beloved Idaho until his final days.

He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

John Alexander
Captain, USN (Ret)

(Footnote)
Our fathers were good friends on the Idaho. Dad fondly recalled playing guitar while your Dad sang country songs. Dad also greatly admired your father's strong moral and Christian values. It's an interesting note that they both became ministers. Unfortunately there aren't enough of these caliber of men these days.

John

* April 14, 2007

Dear Dave,

It is with huge sorrow that I am writing to you. My father Henry Koziatek
who served on the "Big Spud" with honor and pride 1942-46 passed away last
Thursday. This was a shock as his heath was very good. He suffered a heart
attack.

A color guard played taps at his funeral and my mom was given the flag. My
dad was so so proud of his time on the USS Idaho, but always told me that he
wished the "fellas" that never made it back could have had the chance to
live the full and rewarding life he had.

Please add my name as a contact. And please let me know if there is anything
else I can do to honor my father and his time at sea.

Best Regards,
Karen Koziatek

* April 11, 2007

~ Happy Birthday to Don Seger ~

I spoke with with Don and Betty Seger today (04.03.07)and it was great to hear their voices. Don turns 86 on the 11th of this month. We want to wish Don & Betty the best ... The Segers continue to be inspiring to everyone the come in contact with and we appreciate all they have contributed to this website and cherish their friendship.

* April 4, 2007

My father served on the USS Idaho (BB42) from 1918 (reporting aboard before
commissioning) to 1922. His name was Charles Gordon Parisen, and he served
in the black gang as a 1st Class Machinist Mate (MM1). He was born in New
York City in 1900, and passed away in 1974. After discharge from the Navy in
1922, he returned to New York City, got his Marine Engineer's License, and
worked for over forty years as an engineer on tugboats in New York harbor.His first crossing of the equator enroute to South America was July 5, 1919.

I have the framed Neptune certificate from his second crossing on January
24, 1921, off the west coast of Equador at Lat. 81-00 West. As a youngster,
I was fascinated by his stories of Rio, Hawaii and Alaska in that era.His father was a captain aboard commercial sail and powered vessels, as was his grandfather.

I also served in the Navy, but as a pilot (including two Viet Nam tours in 1969-71), and have my own Neptune Certificate hanging next to his.Thanks for the work on the website. I look forward to seeing Dad's name posted there also.

Best regards,
Rich Parisen

* April 1, 2007

My dad was on the Idaho in the 43-44’ time frame. I have an old picture I can scan (and repair) of his group. He was a boatswain’s mate, there are several sailors in the picture and may be of interest to someone.

My dad served on BB-42 in the 43-44’ time frame. He was a boatswain’s mate, though I don’t remember his rate. I have a picture of, I’m guessing, the boat crew. There are a lot of guys in the photo and in the front row they are wearing the lanyards for their whistle or pipe.

Near the end of 44’ he was transferred to APA 123, Kittson, and was in charge of 13 landing craft for the push towards Okinawa.

On the Idaho we was manning the captains gig and was shoving off when the captain reproached him, “don’t shove off till I say shove off, … shove off”

On going to the Aleutians he said he made a vow to God that if he every got back to warm weather he would never complain about the heat again. He died of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s February 1998 and to my knowledge he kept his vow. He also said he spent a lot of time in the brig and learned most of his knots from an “old salt”.

Please add Bert Lewis “Bird-Dog” Swift to your crew list and let me know if you would like to post the photo. The photo isn’t in the best shape but is about 8x10” so in the digital world you can really zoom in and see faces even in the back of the group, sitting on the 14” guns.

Regards,
Mike Swift

Crewmen on the USS Idaho BB-42 in 1943-1944

* Feb. 01, 2007 - From Bonnie Hamilton:

Hi, Here are some photos of the USS Idaho, Domain of Neptunas Rex, dated Jan. 24th, 1921. I found this at a thrift store in Livermore Ca, and thought it really interesting, so I bought it. It is in the original frame, with the old rope hanger from the 20's. It measures 22x18 in. It is for Adkins Flynt, and had the Gold Seal of the Dept of Navy, USS Idaho. It has anoth signiture on the bottom, which is rather hard to read, but I think it says, C.L. Hussey. I took the photos, which show some glare because of the glass on it, but I did not want to remove from the frame. In the first photo, you can see clearly fingerprints left on the document, I wonder if they belong to Adkins? Anyway, I thought you may like to have this for the Idaho web photos, hope you can use them, Bonnie Hamilton

* Jan. 16, 2007

Thanks to Ben Holt (son of ACMM Ben Holt, 38-47) for sending in his father's copy of the Idaho Yarn, Vol 3, No. 6, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - March 24, 1939 (20th Anniversary) and the USS Idaho Deck Log for April 12, 1945.

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