The AE/AOE Sailors Association grew out of the USS Wrangell Association that was established in the mid 80’s.
The first expansion started with sailors from AE-15 asking to attend the reunions. They were followed by shipmates from AE-3, AE-25, AE-19, AE-14, and AE-18.
By the late 1990’s the AE Sailors Association was born. (1999 to be precise). Our membership is slowly growing and ranges around 400 members from most of the AE’s and AOE’s.
Five ship organizations have joined as a group, including the USS Mt. Baker Association, the USS Mauna Loa Association, the USS Diamond Head Association, USS Mt. Katmai and the USS Paricutin Association. Other ships like the USS Pyro have developed their own Associations along with web sites and Facebook groups and they recruit members.
Our members live across the United States. Currently 25% live in the Northeast, 21% in the Southeast, 21% in the Great Lakes, 17% in the Central states, and 16% in the West.
In the 1980s and 90s many of our members were WW2 veterans. Most of them have since passed. Today Korea veterans make up the elder vets and Vietnam and cold war sailors make up the majority. We currently have one surviving WW2 veteran.
The AE/AOE Sailors Association is a non-profit group recognized by the IRS and incorporated in Pennsylvania as a non-profit veteran’s group. Your dues including lifetime dues are recognized by the IRS as charitable donation.
The AE/AOE Association publishes a quarterly newsletter “OVER THE WAVES”. The newsletter covers current events, past sea stories along with Reunion information and a Veterans Service Officer assistance with the VA.
The newsletter is sent to all current members.
The AE/AOE Sailors Association plans, negotiates, and conducts an annual reunion s in different cities around the USA. Notable cities are Washington DC, San Diego, Portland Maine, and Seattle to name a few. The 2023 reunion will be in Cleveland, Ohio. It is our twenty fourth reunion.
In the past few years, the AE/AOE Sailors Association has become more involved with veterans’ issues such as Agent Orange, Blue Water Sailors, Asbestos and VA services.
The Association was instrumental in getting the AE/AOE ships Deck Logs accessible online. This helped with the ships being listed on the Blue Water Sailors list for agent Orange exposure.
We don’t claim to be experts, but we try to help any sailor when possible.
Smooth sailing and calm seas to all