UPDATE 07/01/2011 - picture 6-34 supplied by Keke Judge for her Father Floyd Franzen

These are excerpts from emails I received on 12/15/02 From Dick Osborn.  

I went to your web site and was very impressed with it. I noticed that the Mellette was not listed in the group, she was at both, Okay. and Iwo. How do we of the Mellette get on your Amphibious web site. I am the secretary of the Mellette reunion group and have compiled a history of our ship. I also have pictures of the ship of WW2 and the Korean era.

Dick Osborn

I have three pictures, one from ww2 that shows a lot of bad paint and anchored out. The other two are from the Korean era, one is a full side view, (starboard) under way and the other one is coming into Williemstad, Curacao.
I also have some other pictures of LCVP's landing troops in Japan at the end of the war. Another one showing a wounded Marine being helped aboard a LCVP by some of the Mellette crew I believe that one was at Iwo, most of that crew comes to our reunions. Let me know what you want and I'll send it to you.

I asked him if he knew Glen Flenniken,  who was one of the first visitors to this site in February 2002.

Dick's reply:

Yes, I know Glenn very well in fact he is in one of the pictures that I am going to send to you, also another one that was on your list was on the ship also, that was Jimmy Reece . I have five pictures to send, two of the ship a 1945 shot and a 1952 shot, two delivering Marines to Yokosuka Naval base in 1945, and the one with Glenn and other crewmen helping a wounded Marine aboard a LVCP.

I just received a five page article, from Jim Reardon another WW2 crewman, called The Miracle of Iwo Jima, by Lt. Jim Lucas, of the Mellette crew, I'll send a copy of that too. I should get these out tommorrow. Dick Osborn

On 12/20 I received these pictures, scanned them, edited them, and got them ready to go back to Dick.

The document included will need to be retyped, and that takes more time, but I will get to it when I can.

Enjoy,

Russ