A Christmas Memory

I have been thinking of what I should share this year.  Some memories came to mind about my first Christmas in Vietnam in 1968.  Of course I missed being home and all those things associated with being there.  But also that year, in late October, one of my favorite uncles died in Portland, Oregon, and reason I remember especially missing him that Christmas.   He was a captain and dentist in the Army during World War II.  Sometime in the late 1960’s he was diagnosed with cancer (I think it was lung cancer because he was a smoker) and he succumbed to it in October 1968.  Russ was an outdoor man, a bird hunter and fisherman with a big pickup and a boat; he was just fun to be with.  Well, I missed him that Christmas (and I still do).  He and his wife are buried at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland.

As we celebrate with our families and friends, please remember to pray for and think about our many service men and women who are away from their families and friends this year, doing the job we did so many years ago.

Have a wonderful holiday this year!

(PS: This photo, of which I took the original over Vietnam sometime in late 1969, was modified by my son Tim especially for the holidays.)

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

With the delightful aromas of roast turkey and pumpkin pie wafting from the kitchen and, in some places around our great nation, the first or second blast of winter air and snow arriving, it must be the Thanksgiving and holiday season once again.

I remember the first Thanksgiving I spent in Phu Hiep (this was a first holiday I was not at home) I was impressed by the little things that actually caught me by surprise.  The Army had printed menus of our Thanksgiving dinner that were placed in our Mess Hall.  A nice touch, I thought.  That didn’t completely take away the sting of not being with family, but as the years have gone by (can you believe it’s been nearly half a century?) I realize now that I really was with family, even though we were all dressed in green!

Our friend George Drago sent me a short clip of another trooper who was in our war, and many others, as he brought some light to our sometimes very dark circumstances.  Please click on this link and enjoy some of Bob Hope’s wonderful times with our brothers and sisters over the years.

And HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!

DC Reunion 2016

A good time was had by all in Washington, DC at the 27^th annual OV-1 Mohawk Association Reunion in September!  There were 29 former members of the 225^th Surveillance Airplane Company there (see the end of this article for a list), not to mention all the other guys and their families who served in our sister units in Vietnam, Korea and Germany so many years ago.  It was fun to meet some who were at Phu Hiep and Tuy Hoa after I left the unit in June 1970.  And it was especially fun to see friends face to face who I hadn’t seen in more than 46 years!  I was having breakfast with someone (I don’t remember who!) when these two guys walked up and asked me if I knew who they were...I didn’t have a clue.  But they were Miguel Anza and Luis Pontón from Puerto Rico!  We had a great time sight-seeing and talking and just getting to know each other again over those few days!

I arrived in DC a day early so I could do some sight seeing on my own.  I visited downtown and took pictures of Ford's Theater, Freedom Plaza, Pennsylvania Avenue, statues of Revolutionary War hero General Casimir Pulaski and General John “Black Jack” Pershing, Treasury Building, White House, Washington Monument, 1^st Division Memorial, Supreme Court, Capitol Building, and the House and Senate.  I had never seen these in person since I this was my first time to visit DC.  Our hotel was at Pentagon City, VA, and I had a great view of the Pentagon from my room.

That evening I had a wonderful dinner with the Frank Griswolds, Steve Easley and the Ed Bryans and then visited the Capital Grille on Pennsylvania Avenue so Steve could tell friends that he had a drink there.

One afternoon George Drago, Miguel (Mike) Anza, Luis Pontón and I visited Arlington Cemetery and watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  If you have never seen this in person, it is a “must see” if you are in DC.; it is an amazing ceremony.  I also went on a tour to see World War II and Korean War memorials, the Lincoln Memorial and, of course, the Wall.

Friday evening several of us (Bill Page, Tony Chapa, Ernie Serna, Kevin Phillips, Joe Floyd, Miguel Anza, Luis Pontón and me (I hope I didn’t leave anyone out!)) got together for a couple of hours to share stories and lies.  Several others from other units also joined us as they were able to wander in and out.  We hope that this will be a new tradition beginning this year and continuing next year in Colorado Springs at our 28^th Reunion.

On Saturday afternoon we visited the Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport which is the newest part of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.  This is where the Space Shuttle Discovery is now housed plus a great many other famous aircraft like the Enola Gay and the Boeing 367-80 (also known as the Dash 80) which was the prototype of the 707.  As I was going up a staircase I met a WW2 F4U Corsair pilot and his son standing on the landing next to a Corsair that was hanging from the ceiling.  It was an honor to talk with this gentleman!

Of course, the Reunion’s finale was the banquet with our main speaker Colonel Bill Reeder.  He shared his inspiring account of his capture by the North Vietnamese after being shot down in his AH-1 Cobra in his second tour in Vietnam.  Bill had been a Mohawk driver during his first tour, during which he was also shot down but evaded capture.  He recounts his experience in his book Through the Valley: My Capture in Vietnam which I reviewed in September in the 225^th Observer.

I am glad I took the time to go to the “other Washington” to see the sights and to reunite with brothers and friends from many years ago (notice I didn’t say “old friends)!

225^th Washington Roster....  Miguel Anza, Joe Beckham, Don Bernstein, John Britten, Tony Chapa, Tom Cote, Gordy Darragh, George Drago, Joe Floyd, Ron Gronitz, Steve Hammons, Felipe Hilburn, George Katalenas, Dave Kimmel, Arlan Lando, Bobbie Luthi, Gilberto Mendoza, Dave Nelson, Kendall Norman, Bill Page, Kevin Phillips, Ron Pitcock, Luis Pontón, Bob Riha, Steve Sachs, Ernie Serna, Alan Summers, Gary Todd and Art Winslow.