The HPRA Newsletter is published 4 times a year and sent to all "ACTIVE" and HONORARY" members of the organization. The costs for printing and sending are paid by your dues. Newsletters are available electronically by email or paper by USPS. It is requested you to use the email method as the cost of actual printing and mailing is costly. Also, the email version will have color when available. The typical schedule is Jan 15th, April, July and  October.

The email version is sent on the same day the paper version goes to the post office.

NOTE: For the 2018 year, there will be only 3 newsletters due to the timing of the reunion.

A directory of all known DD709 shipmates, enlisted and officers, is maintained by the HPRA. The directory contains ACTIVE and HONORARY members plus known DECEASED personnel, whether he is a member or not. It also contains a list showing those UNINTERESTED in the HPRA and a group of UNKNOWN's. If a person comes to our attention that is not in the directory, he will be added in one of the categories. This most often occurs when the person in question has passed away. The directory is updated at least monthly.

Two other categories are INACTIVE and MISSING. Inactive is for those that fall behind 2 years in their dues. MISSING is just that. They are Active members that we have lost contact with. Emails returned, postal items returned as undeliverable etc. The Missing are posted in the newsletters, so you can help out here.

The directory is available to all ACTIVE and HONORARY members and contains the name, address, phone number and email address if we have it.  A few elect to not be listed or not to have phone numbers or email listed. The electronic copy is available, in "PDF" format via a special web link available from the HPRA president or the HPRA webmaster. The contact link at the bottom of the page can be used for this.

One major addition to the directory was made in 2016. This contains all of the crew and officers on board at the time the ship was commissioned. Steve Singlar came up with the list. The original "Muster" list is on the website.

A paper copy can be provided if needed. This is quite costly to print up. The paper copy would only be updated once or twice a year. Please use the electronic version when possible.

There are several other documents that are proprietary to the HPRA. These include "Business Meeting Minutes", the "HPRA BY-LAWS" and the "HPRA Privacy Policy" (the policy link is on the home page hughpurvis.com). These, along with the newsletters and directories are considered private to the HPRA and should not be distributed to anyone who is not a "member in good standing." The are available via a special internet link provided by the HPRA president on request. The By-Laws were recently updated at the 2016 meeting in Memphis, TN.

These are also available from the president, the webmaster or the special link mentioned above. The link contains all Newsletters, the Directory and the above mentioned documents.

You can check your membership status by looking at the mailing label of your newsletter or in the email of any HPRA initiated email. To the right of your name on the mailing label is the last year you paid dues or if you are a "LIFETIME" or "HONORARY" member. For email, the status in in the Subject line and/or the salutation line of the message body.

Reunions locations are generally decided upon by the members attending the "Annual Business Meeting" that takes place on the next to last day of a reunion (usually Saturday prior to the dinner). This is spelled out in our By-Laws thus the decision is made by those actually attending the reunion. If you have an idea for a reunion, and wish to present the idea at the meeting, you need to do a bit or research about the location. Things to look for are..

• Location (obvious)
• Potential tour sites (one needed for each of two days)
• Anything dealing with veterans for the memorial service
• Local restaurants, hotels etcetera
• Local sites for non-tour days

Put your information together for presentation at the meeting. If you will not be there, send that information to the HPRA president for potential inclusion in the meeting. Reunions are usually held on Thursday to Sunday. An exception is the 2017 Harrisburg one which is June 20-22, Tuesday to Thursday.

Many navy ships have a plaque on display at the Navy Memorial in Washington D.C. When we were there in 2011, we wondered why the Hugh Purvis did not. The answer is, they are there because someone or some organization decided to sponsor one for their ship. One of our members, Howard Ferrell, decided to look in to how it can be accomplished. Howard presented it to the members attending the 2012 reunion in Newport. A proposal was made and approved. This has project been completed. The plaque is on display at the Navy Memorial in Washington D.C. If you are planning on a trip to "D. C." consider adding a stop at the "Navy Memorial" and have a look.

A formal dedication has yet to take place. This is still up in the air and we will add that here if and when it happens.

The HPRA is operated by a group called the board. This consists of the President, Vice President (AKA VP Reunions), secretary, treasurer and the chaplain. All but the chaplain are elected officers, each serving 2-year terms. The chaplain is appointed to the position. The President has a term limit of three successive terms, at which point he is replaced. All others may serve as long as they wish or until voted out of office.