Recent Events and Reunions

Air Group 4 has held several reunions since WWII. Normally, the Air Group is encouraged to join with the ship´s company for USS Ranger reunions. Torpedo Four has met independently for the past several years. In 1998, many members of VT-4 went on a cruise. A few airmen from AG-4 attended the 1999 Tailhook Convention in Reno, Nevada. All AG-4 personnel are encouraged to keep contact with the reunion schedules of the USS Ranger, the USS Essex, and the USS Bunker Hill.

The 2005 Air Group 4 Reunion was held March 20 - 24 in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Las Vegas Club Hotel and Casino.

The 2002 Torpedo Four/AG-4 Reunion was held in Las Cruces, NM on October 15-19. Among the 35-40 who attended were pilots, crew members, wives, widows, and some younger generation relatives and friends.

On October 16 White Sands Missile Range hosted the group with excellent Command briefings by General William Engel and staff, visits to missile launch sites, orientation at the USS Desert Ship and tours of the Museum. Lunch at the base was highlighted by comments from Admiral Paul Arthur. Back in Las Cruces at 4 pm a ceremony was held at New Mexico State University to unveil a plaque at Gerald Thomas Hall. The day was concluded with a banquet featuring General Jerry Laws, former Commander of WSMR.

Top Row: Lloyd "Cozy" Cole, Gerald Thomas, Will Souza, John Aldrich, Walter Hopkins, Brad Hovey, G. M. "Joe" Bell, Cliff White, WSMR Personnel. Bottom Row: WSMR Personnel, Gene Ganley, George Gilbert, G. M. "Buck" Barnett, WSMR Personnel, Dave Huston, Bob Ruth, WSMR Personnel.

A bus trip on October 17 took us to the War Eagles Museum at Santa Terresa with the opportunity to struggle into the turret and cockpit of a TBM Avenger. The other WWII vintage planes also brought back memories. Lunch at the Sunland Park Casino and back to Old Mesilla for another banquet with Cozy Cole as MC.

A memorial breakfast on October 18 to remember fallen comrades was conducted by Cozy Cole for Torpedo 4 and Cliff White for Fighting 4. Most of the reunion group stayed for the bus trip on October 18 to White Sands National Monument and the International Space Hall of Fame at Alamogordo. Another group dinner at La Posta in Old Mesilla concluded a very successful reunion.

The "Top Hatters," formerly VB-4 and now Fighting Squadron Fourteen, celebrated their 80th Anniversary on November 16, 1999 at the Naval Air Station, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Claiming to be "the oldest and the boldest," former members can contact the Commanding Officer, Fighting Squadron Fourteen, Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia Beach, VA 23460 for information on the next reunion.

Ted Foresberg has donated to the World War II Memorial for Torpedo Squadron Four in memory of his uncle, Lt(jg) William H. Canty, a TBM pilot killed in the Pacific during World War II. More information on the memorial is available here.