REASONER FF 1063

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

Knox Class Destroyer Escort Keel Laid January 6 1969 - Launched August 1 1970 USS REASONER DE-1063 Commissioned July 31 1971 USS REASONER FF-1063 Reclassified Frigate (FF) June 30 1975 Decommissioned August 28 1993 TCG KOCATEPE F-252 (Turkish Naval Service) Leased to Turkey August 28 1993 and renamed Struck from Naval Register January 11 1995 Lease to Turkey renewed August 29 1997 Sold to Turkey February 22 2002 Decommissioned by Turkey 2002 Sunk as target May 4 2005 in the Eastern Mediterranean

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

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1. Reasoner Covers Page 1    (1971-93)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Date From to Date To	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

 

Locy Type FDC 2(n)

1971-07-31

As DE-1063
First Day in Commission

 

Locy Type 2-1n (USN;USS omitted)

1993-06-30

As FF-1063
Cachet by Roger A. Wentworth

 

Locy Type LDC 2-1n

1993-08-28

As FF-1063
Official Ship's Cachet. Last Day of Commissioning

 

Locy Type LDC 9-1nu

1993-08-28

As FF-1063
Official Ship's Cachet. Last Day of Commissioning

 

Other Information

USS REASONER earned the Joint Meritorious Unit Award Ribbon, the Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon, Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation, the Navy Battle "E" Ribbon (2 awards), the Navy Expeditionary Medal, the National Defense Service Medal w/ 1 star, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal w/ 1 star, the Southwest Asia Service Medal w/ 1 star, the Humanitarian Service Ribbon w/ 1 star, the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and the Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait) during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Frank Stanley Reasoner USMC (September 16 1937 - July 12 1965)
Reasoner enlisted in the United States Marine Corps from Kellogg, Idaho in 1955, and reached the rank of Sergeant prior to entering the United States Military Academy in 1958. At West Point, he won four consecutive brigade boxing championships. Graduating in June 1962, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. In April 1965 he arrived in Vietnam as commanding officer of A Co., 3rd Recon Bn, 3rd Marine Division. 1st Lt. Frank Reasoner died in action near Danang, Vietnam, on July 12 1965. On that day he led a five-man reconnaissance patrol into enemy-controlled territory. Ambushed by a numerically superior enemy force, 1Lt. Reasoner boldly shouted encouragement to his men, and virtually isolated from the main body, he organized a base of fire for an assault on the enemy positions. The slashing fury of the Viet Cong machinegun and automatic weapons fire made it impossible for the main body to move forward. Repeatedly exposing himself to the devastating attack he skillfully provided covering fire, killing at least 2 Viet Cong and effectively silencing an automatic weapons position in a valiant attempt to effect evacuation of a wounded man. As casualties began to mount his radio operator was wounded, and 1LT Reasoner immediately moved to his side and tended his wounds. When the radio operator was hit a second time while attempting to reach a covered position, 1LT Reasoner, courageously running to his aid through the grazing machinegun fire, fell mortally wounded. For his bravery in battle and his concern for the wounded, Frank Reasoner was awarded the Medal of Honor.

 

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