News from the board – Nov 2022
Discover new projects, news, histories and memories in our Autumn newsletter! Click on the sign with 4 arrows on the upper right of the window below for a full screen then scroll down. Enjoy!
Our Life in France – by Kimball Medders
In 1965, my dad finished up his Masters degree in Educational Administration at San Jose State and reapplied for a principal position with the military dependent school system in Europe. Dad had been offered some remote place in Turkey, but his long time friend, Roy Kilkenny, asked him to take a school of which [...]
Free audioguide!
Visit the quay and the streets of the Old Town of Villefranche-sur-Mer in the footsteps of the U.S. Sixth Fleet sailors thanks to our free audioguide. Download the free application IZITRAVEL on your smartphone or pad then search Villefranche-sur-Mer or scan the qr_code Choose your language then click on listen to the audio. During the whole [...]
Gliding to the sound of a Boston Waltz – by Jean-Pierre Kolodziejski
My mother in 1935 My mother was Marie Bentaccordi. She met Tom Bradley at a dance, he was a sailor onboard the USS Omaha I believe; it could have been the USS Raleigh, I'm not sure. She was 23 years old. I've known of my mother's first boyfriend Tom in bits and pieces over [...]
The Poops Lady – by Alice Grainger Gasser
My father was Lt. Cdr. Inslee E. Grainger. Our family lived in Villefranche in 1959-61 when he served aboard the USS Des Moines and the USS Springfield. I was only two when we arrived, so while I have a lot of memories of Villefranche, they are from a toddler’s perspective. The USS Des Moines [...]
Conners family in Villefranche-sur-Mer 1952-1954
Memoirs of Michelle Conners, daughter of Thomas G. Conners, US Navy veteran Version française March 12, 2016 My father is Thomas Gerard Conners. He was a 2nd and lst Class Yeoman and served as the Officer Personnel Yeoman on the staff of the Sixth Fleet from October 5, 1952 until March 10, 1954. He served on [...]
A moving story from the daughter of Daniel T. Mochen USS Salem sailor
Photos credit : Daniel T. Mochen Daniel Thomas Mochen My father was Daniel Thomas Mochen, and he was born in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1920. His parents were from a small Tyrolean village called Dimaro in the part of Italy that was once a part of Austria (before WWI). His father (my grandfather) had [...]
Les Américains et la 6ème Flotte à Villefranche-sur-mer
J’ai l’immense joie de vous annoncer la création de l’association LES AMÉRICAINS ET LA 6e FLOTTE À VILLEFRANCHE-SUR-MER. Mon frère Thierry Blouin ainsi que mes cousins américains Gérard, Marilyn, Christine, Kathleen et Thomas Kelley se joignent à moi pour rendre hommage à notre grand-mère Germaine, « Mom » comme l’appelaient affectueusement ses boys, qui fut nommée [...]