Jammin on the USS Valley Forge


Scotty, Bobby Clifton and Durwood Ramsey on board the USS Valley Forge in 1950
Photo © courtesy R. Sowell

Hello Scotty!  I just visited an uncle, Durwood Ramsey.  This picture of Scotty on the left and Durwood Ramsey on the right was taken on the aircraft carrier USS Valley Forge in 1950.  Durwood wishes you a "Happy Birthday and a Happy New Year!" He saw you in a TV special in November of this year. Durwood wants you to know he has been thinking about you and is proud of your achievements in music!  Durwood played guitar with you for about 10 months on the aircraft carrier and has two pictures of you and him playing the guitar in the year 1950.  One of the pictures is both of you playing one guitar at the same time! Very unique!   Also, there is a third guitarist in the picture; maybe you know his name?  


USS Valley Forge at San Diego, CA circa 1952
photo # NH 96942 courtesy US Naval Historical Ctr*

Durwood, who is retired and living with his wife and two sons in Charlotte Court House, Virginia, continues to play guitar and performs old country music a couple of times a week locally. Durwood comes from a musical family and is a cousin and close friend of Ray Pillow who is well-known in the Nashville area.  

I am a high school teacher and a musician myself. I play keyboard (piano and organ) and was in some local bands in the Lynchburg, VA area in the mid and late sixties. I still play keyboard on the side, but not professionally.

Rayford Sowell 
Lynchburg, VA
December 25, 2002


Durwood Ramsey in 2003

After connecting through the guestbook Durwood and Scotty have been in contact with each other several times and Durwood recently sent Scotty this picture.  They met up again in October of 2003.

*For more information, photos and history of the USS Valley Forge, click here to visit the site of the Naval Historical Center.
 

 

All photos on this site (that we didn't borrow) unless otherwise indicated are the property of either Scotty Moore or James V. Roy and unauthorized use or reproduction is prohibited.
 
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