Founder

Deceased In 1984, Hal Gross had a dream; he wanted to rediscover long-lost friends that served with him aboard the USS John W. Weeks, during World War II. He put together a plan, then for over two years he searched for his shipmates. After locating many of his former World War II shipmates, he organized the first Weeks reunion, which was held in September 1986 at Downingtown, Pennsylvania. This reunion was so successful he and the members decided to hold another; and the rest is history. At the second reunion in Downingtown, a shipmate drove by the Downingtown Inn and saw a sign advertising the Weeks reunion. He ran into the hotel, found Hal and explained that he served aboard the Weeks in the sixties. He asked about the reunion, and was told that it was open to World War II vets that served on the Weeks. This event gave Hal an idea, he went back to the Archives in Washington, DC and the Bureau of Ships; he found that the Weeks was in service for twenty-seven years and over four thousand sailors served on her. He also realized that if the association was to survive, it had to enlist new members from the later years. He went back to searching and found shipmates from Korea and Vietnam. In1988, the Association opened its doors to Post World War II shipmates. I might add that a lot of searching was done using his monies. Today our association has members that span from when the Weeks were first commissioned till up to just before she was sunk in 1970. Hal served as president of the Association from 1986 through 2003. Hal passed away on January 10, 2009 at the age of 85. He served aboard the Weeks 1944 - 1946 with this he also left a memory to share.