The Story Behind the Effort

“This is a project that is directly in line with the USSVI Creed
which states what we are all about.”

Bob Miller
WRD6 Commander

In December 2008 Bonefish & Trieste Bases met at the Naval Submarine Base San Diego picnic area for a joint Christmas party cookout.  A joint business meeting was held at the Roncador (SS-301) Memorial.  As everyone explored the memorial we noticed that the builders plaque was very small, about 4″ x 6″, and it was attached to the monument in an inconspicuous location.  Individuals had to physically kneel down to read the inscription.  It’s hardly an adequate recognition plaque for such a grand monument and we all thought it deserved better.

USSVI NJVC T. Michael Bircumshaw recommended that someone take point to see what it would take to put together a new recognition plaque for the SVWWII Chapter that assisted in the building of the Roncador Memorial.  Bonefish Base Commander Michael Williamson accepted that challenge.

During the early months of 2009 Commander Williamson proceeded to take bids and obtained proposals from two companies.  They were:  Innovative located in Florida and Quiel Bros. located locally her in SoCal.  A decision was made by the base to go with Quiel Bros. for their lower bid of $2,965.00.

In June 2009 Commander Williamson contacted WRD6 Commander Bob Miller and requested that he contact all other WRD6 Base Commanders to pursue district fund raising for the project.  Subsequently, each WRD6 base was requested to donate $370 to the project.

After some research into the USSVI Memorial Fund we found that we could possibly obtain up to $1,000 in funding from the USSVI Memorial Fund.  The only stipulation being that we had to have a plan. We did.  This would reduce the district funding objective to $1,965.00.

Mounting at the Roncador Memorial was handled by NJVC Michael Bircumshaw.

The dedication ceremony was held on October 22, 2009.

Thanks to all the Donors! This was made possible by them