Greetings all! I must say the site for this year's reunion was an outstanding selection. The hospitality of Charleston and the great history of that location made it an ideal place to get together. And of course many thanks to Mother and Toni for doing the ground work and planning the agenda. While we didn't have the restaurant meals typical of past reunions, they "organized" carry out meals that were quite good. And thanks to all those who helped out with the work of putting the meals out … [Read more...]

Bob Turay emailed this and I wanted to post it here as well. Thanks for reminding me, Bob.11 May 1969 – U.S. and South Vietnamese forces battle North Vietnamese troops for Ap Bia Mountain (Hill 937), one mile east of the Laotian border. The battle was part of Operation Apache Snow, a 2,800-man Allied sweep of the A Shau Valley. The purpose of the operation was to cut off North Vietnamese infiltration from Laos and enemy threats to Hue and Da Nang. U.S. paratroopers pushing northeast found the … [Read more...]

  “Standin’ on a corner in…” O rang, Cambodia. This has got to be the ultimate war souvenir/photograph.  Damn,  I shoulda had Cossey take my photo with this! That honor goes to Bruce Hammonds of Bessemer, Alabama displaying the  Cambodian National Flag in the traditional blue and red with the temple at Angor Wat. Recon walked into O rang early in May, 1970. There was a hospital, school, army base and an airstrip there. That would be a grass and dirt airstrip, of course. Not too … [Read more...]

Things are not going well in South Viet Nam By 1961, the Kennedy administration became alarmed that the 4 year insurgency by the National Liberation Front was taking control of many rural areas in South Viet Nam.  The Diem administration had eliminated many of the civil positions and replaced them with officials loyal to Diem and his family.  These officials and their military counter parts were frequently moved to different positions due to Diem's fear that they would organize and turn against … [Read more...]

"The fighting is going on in four fronts:  the government versus the generals, the Buddhists versus the government, the generals versus the ambassador, and, I hope, the generals versus the VC". General Maxwell Taylor speaking to American correspondents in Saigon, 1965   Taylor had retired from the army and was serving as Ambassador to South Vietnam from 1964 to 1965. Bird-out   … [Read more...]

On my way out of Taipei following my R & R, I was walking through the customs free area in the airport and spotted a bottle of Kessler whiskey. Hell, that's Martin's preferred drink! I immediately purchased a bottle and stowed it in my bag. After arriving back at FSB Nancy, I unpacked and placed that bottle on a shelf in the bunker that Cossey and I shared with Dob and Mike Beldy. The next morning we were informed the Colonel would be inspecting the men's quarters. When the hell did the … [Read more...]