The Battle for the Torpedo Boat
The
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, that
brought the United States into the Viet
Nam War, played a significant part in
shaping the destiny of my young life just
out of college. For the next seven years,
I spent the better part in and about Viet
Nam. Little did I know how much it would
effect my old age.
The
Gulf ofTonkin Resolution resulted from an
incident during an mission of two PCFs (Nasti
class PT boats) who were inserting some
Vietnamese rangers into North Viet Nam.
They got jumped by some North Vietnamese
gunboats and were chased out into the Gulf
of Tonkin (South China Sea) screaming, "Mayday!
Mayday," and hollering
for some protection from the two UW
destroyers USS Turner Joy and
USS Mattox. They fled in under the
guns of the destroyers and when the North
Vietnamese gun boats arrived, they fired
on the US destroyers and received
answering fire from the same destroyers
which, true to their name, ended the
assault by the gunboats.
Today, one of those very same torpedo
boats, PCF3, lays in sections about eighty
miles south of here in Deland, Florida,
being restored by a troop of Sea Scouts on
the premises of the Deland Naval Air
Museum. This is why I got thrown out of
an Irish Pub, Molly Malone's,
last night.
For
this past year the group that is
rebuilding the PCF3, and the Sea Scouts
has ben embroiled by a small handful of
cronies who staged a take over of the
museum board of directors last year with a
handful of trumped- up proxy votes when no
one was looking. Once they seized the
financial records and membership lists and
imposed a Stalin-like censorship, it was
tough to try to unseat them and eventually
a suit was filed and depositions
scheduled. Then, they tried to evict the
boat crews even though they had an
agreement with the city for five year
tenure to re-build the boat and had
received a $300,000.00 grant from the
federal historical folks to re build the
boat. I advised they retain counsel and
litigate. They did and eventually
depositions were scheduled.
At
the first scheduled deposition, they caved
and wanted to settle the issue of the
removal of the PCF-3. As part of the
agreement to let the boat remain as is,
a vote was scheduled for last night to
elect a new board of directors. I was
invited as I had helped orchestrate some
of our activity.
On
arrival, I found most of our folks, guys I
mostly knew by email, outside on the porch
in front of the pub. A pair of them
wanted to take us in and we got just as
far as the foyer when we were stopped by a
man in a white shirt demanding that we pay
sixty dollars and complete a form to join
the museum before we could enter. "This
is a members only dinner-meeting," they
said. The fellows with me, who had already
paid dues this year and had membership
cards, were being stopped by the man in
the shirt who demanded they re-apply,
complete new applications, and pay new
dues.
After soothing the emotions of my
companions, and after watching "white
shirt" throw out another fellow who was
quietly discussing the issue with another
of the "cronies, they next tried to bar my
associate, "Boats" Millholen, from
entrance, even after he completed the form
they wanted. "White shirt" complained he
could smell alcohol on Boat's breath.
Mind you we are standing in the foyer of
an Irish Pub where a dinner is being held
and beer, wine and liquor are being served
in abundance.
Suppose this should have tipped me off
that the fix was in, but I am an eternal
optimist. They also refused to admit most
all the former board members saying they
had been barred in 2006 because they
wanted to destroy the corporation. When I
timidly asked, "Destroy how?" I was told
by "white shirt" and one of his henchmen,
"Because they did not want to go along
with our policy." My God, if George
Orwell was still around he might need to
re-write Animal Farm.
Eventually, I got "white shirt" aside
and determined he really had no authority
to act as the gate keeper, but was self
appointed. Just then, my friend, "Boats"
Millholen, made his motion to appoint one
of the old board members as chairman
pro tem in order to conclude the 2007
meeting that had never been adjourned last
year, because every one had stormed out
following the coup. We were quickly told,
"The board of directors has decided no
motions were to be heard at the annual
meeting of the membership." What! What
kind of Orwellian farm are these animals
running? Who has ever heard of an annual
shareholders meeting of a corporation
where no motions could be made and the
shareholders (here: members) could not be
heard?
This
atrocity of corporate law finally made me
rise off my stool and suggest, "Shouldn't
we hear from the member ship if that is
the will of members of this corporation?
I moved we vote on whether we can have
motions heard." I got a second to my
motion and immediately called for the
question. As "white shirt" sputtered
saying, "You can't do that," I ask all in
favor to signifiy by saying, "Aye!"
This got a resounding, near unanimous,
roar of "Yeah!" I asked for "all
opposed?" and there was dead silence.
"White shirt" began screaming for the
rent-a-cop to throw several of us out
saying,"That's it! They're barred." By
now he had about half the membership had
been barred and were standing out on the
porch. As we left, we said to those still
in the pub, "Follow us over to the
American Legion Post if you want to
conclude this meeting in a legitimate
fashion," and we with that, we emptied
Molly Malone's. They all came over to
the Post Six legion hall. As some of you
might reflect that had a certain poignants
for me: a fitting tribute to good
procedure.
Once
there, we appointed a chair pro tem
and concluded the last years 2007
meeting after re-instating the original
board of directors who had been wrongfully
deposed. The new board opened up the new
2008 meeting for this year where by we
re-appointed our legitimate slate of
officers and then we began to plot, scheme
and talk a little treason. The new
secretary was instructed to open a new
post office box and put in a change of
address for all the museum mail to go to
us. The board adopted a resolution to
change bank accounts and directed the
treasurer to transfer all funds from the
old account (the one the usurpers think
they still control) into a new on with new
signature cards being in effect. Zounds
what cads we are to try to pull the rug
out from under them like that.
About that time I had to be getting home,
so I didn't stick until the bitter end,
but felt good about the amount of chaos I
generated for one evening. As Kenneth
Burke once said, "Never just leave
peacefully when you can contrive to be
thrown out!" What will I do tomorrow?
Warm
Regards,
Pete Webbster
United State Federal Judge, Retired
Jacksonville, Florida
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