Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! No this is not Gomer Pyle doing the President' Message, it is still me. The surprise is that this issue of the Gazette and the next few will be coming to you from Pa. I'm hoping that by giving a brief vacation to our Gazette staff, (Dave and Jinger Martin) that they will be well rested and return to their duties in the near future.
Well we have another reunion under our belt. We are now starting to finalize our plans for the 2003 reunion in Dayton, OH. For those of you that do not know, Joseph "Doc" La Pointe was from Dayton and being asked by the family, we decided to have one of our reunions there. "Doc" was killed in action in 1969 and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
All regular members of the Association should have received a letter from us that contained a registration form for the 2003 reunion. We tried something new at the 2002 reunion. Not only did we include the cost of the dinner/meeting in the registration fee, but we asked that attendees pay for their guests prior to arriving at the reunion. This gives Randy Kunkleman somewhat of a break instead of trying to collect money from people during the reunion. It seemed to work well and there was little, if no confusion as to who paid and who didn't.
We accomplished a good bit of business during our yearly meeting this year and I will not go into it now. There will be separate articles in this gazette that will explain all of the important aspects that were discussed at the meeting.
For those of you that were not able to attend this year's dinner/meeting, there was an unscheduled surprise for everyone. I was not there. Saturday afternoon my wife and some of our family went sight seeing while I was putting the finishing touches on the dinner/meeting agenda. When my wife was in the Museum of Natural History something made her eyes water, burn and swell shut. I had to meet the tour-mobile and take her to the hospital. The doctors couldn't tell if it was an allergy reaction or caused by a foreign irritant, but she fully recovered with no damage to the eyes. I did not get a chance to talk to everyone that evening so now I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their concern and well wishes during my wife's medical emergency
.Finally, I want to take this opportunity to extend my best wishes for health and happiness for the up coming Holiday Season.
"Out Front"
Jim Matthews - President
The B Troop 2/17th Cavalry Association has officially notified officials at Texas Tech University that we are committed to raising $10, 000 over the next three years to make the "Doc" La Pointe Scholarship Endowment Fund more than just a dream.
Since $10,000 is a large amount of money, the Scholarship Committee and Association officers feel that we should put all of our resources and efforts together to reach this goal.
As of the last gazette issue, we had approximately $1,700.00 in donations and pledges, giving the fund a good start, but it is going to take a lot more work on everyone's part to reach our goal.
We would like to thank all those involved with donating items that were auctioned off at our 2002 reunion. We would also like to thank Tom Green who auctioned off the donated items to raise funds for the La Pointe Endowment Fund. Finally we would also like to thank Janet Green, Tom's wife, for outbidding everyone for most of the items. Without her, the auction would not have been such a great success.
The scholarship committee has also explored several other ways to raise money for the La Pointe Endowment Fund, such as personalized pre-paid calling cards and personalized special made watches, clocks, etc. You will be notified about other fund raising events and we hope everyone will participate.
.….DON'T FORGET…..
IF YOU OWN YOUR OWN BUSINESS OR YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A GOOD PERSONAL TAX DEDUCTION, ANY MONEY DONATED TO THE LA POINTE SCHOLARSHIP FUND IS TAX DEDUCTABLE.
We have been notified that on Thursday November 21, 2002 HB 527 was passed by the Ohio State House of Representatives and was forwarded to the Ohio State Senate. This bill will rename a portion of Ohio State Rte. 49 (Salem Ave.) to the Joseph Guy La Pointe Memorial Parkway. The Ohio State Senate should be commended with the speed that this bill was acted upon. On Wednesday December 4, 2002 the Senate unanimously voted to rename that section of Rte. 49. Now the bill awaits Governor Bob Taft's signature before becoming effective. (Hurry up Bob). We would like to thank Rep. Fred Strahorn D-Dayton for sponsoring the bill originally and all of his efforts to insure that the bill passed.
DUES and Reunion Registration (any monies)
Randy Kunkleman
2395 N. Conant Road
Elida, OH 45807
419-339-3984
kunkleman@hotmail.comt
ADDRESS CHANGES
Jim Matthews
6743 Madison Avenue
West Mifflin, PA 15122
412-466-3557
jhmatthews1@adelphia.net
BANSHEE GAZETTE
David Martin
170 Rabbit Shadow Trail
Whitney, Texas 76692
254-694-5529
david_m79424@yahoo.com
Santa says "If you are tired of getting gaudy ties, sox or underwear for Christmas, ask your wife, children or grand-children to give you a gift that is worthwhile. A one year membership in the B Troop 2/17th Cavalry Association is only $25.00. Ho-Ho-Ho"
When the Association was first organized and we first started publishing the Banshee Gazette it was our intentions to send the Gazette to anyone that served in the unit, whether they actually joined the Association or not, providing we had a good mailing address for them.
This practice was followed for over six years and wasn't too expensive when we only mailed 29 Gazettes or 100 Gazettes, but to our dismay, we have to discontinue this practice due to in increase in postage and reproduction costs, plus the time involved with preparing over 700 Gazettes for mailing three times a year.
We did not require former members of the unit to join our Association, but for every Gazette issue mailing we would receive 10-20 Gazettes returned because the person moved, etc. and the person would not have the courtesy to inform us. This was a waste of the Association's money.
Beginning now, we will only mail copies of the Banshee Gazette to Regular, Honorary and Associate Members of the Association and special mailings such as to the active unit, TTU Archives, etc. Copies will be sent via e-mail when possible and sent by US Postal Service when no other means are available. The Banshee Gazette will also be available on our website.
Non-members will be notified of the changes in the Gazette distribution and if they still want to receive the newsletter we will send it via e-mail if possible or US Mail if they would consider a contribution to defray the costs.
UNIT ROSTERS
Up until December 31, 2001 all of the reproductions of the unit rosters were done by Jim Matthews at his place of employment. There was no cost to the Association for the reproductions. Since midnight on 12/31/2001 Jim retired and the Association is looking at an expense that we never had before. There are nearly 200 members of the Association. Each member was sent an updated roster yearly, when he or she renewed their membership. As you can see approximately 17 pages x double sided x approximately 200 rosters per year runs into quite an expense. All people renewing their memberships for 2003 will be sent membership packages minus the rosters until we come up with an equitable way of reproducing and distributing them.
BY-LAW CHANGES
At the yearly dinner/business meeting in Washington D.C. the membership voted to change the Association's B-Laws. The Articles to be changed are:
ARTICLE IV SECTION 1 - OFFICER POSITIONS
The Association will consist of the following officers:
President, Vice President,
Secretary/Treasurer and
Chaplain.
The above officers shall be elected by the membership on a yearly basis. If there is no opposition to the person holding an elected office, the current officer will maintain that position for another year.
ARTICLE IV SECTION 2 - OFFICE LIMITATIONS
The office of President and Vice President shall have a limit of two consecutive years, but they may run for another office upon completion of his final term.
The offices of chaplain and secretary/treasurer will have no time limits.
ARTICLE VII - NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS
A. Nominations will be accepted during the regular business meeting for an election to be held the following year, or in writing, at least two months prior to the next regular business meeting when the election is to take place, to give the nominee the opportunity to accept or decline the said nomination.
You will receive an insert in your membership packet to add to your original by-laws.
Our B Troop 2/17 Cavalry Association Web Site has moved on the Internet to our new Hosts, at Texas Tech University. Please update Your, "Favorites", bookmark for the Banshee Home Page to point to: www.vietnamproject.ttu.edu/banshee.
Our Association Web Site has grown from a one-page list of troopers generated by the efforts of Jim Matthews and Dave Martin back in 1997, along with the prior efforts of Larry Allen, to locate former Banshees. Jim called me and left me a message asking if I was the same Dan Schave, who served with him in Vietnam. He explained that he, Dave and a few others were putting together a newsletter, The Banshee Gazette, and hoped to get a few of us together for a reunion. I called Jim back, as I'm sure so many others have, happy to say hello and reminisce about those days so long ago. Jim asked if I had any copies of my old orders, that included other names of people that served with us. He said he would try to contact them also.
At that time I was most interested in the relatively new World Wide Web, and building a personal web site as a hobby. I have used personal computers since my first system, a TRS-80 Model I, purchased in 1977. I then suggested to Jim that I publish his list, including names from my orders on the Internet. From that first one page, "The Banshee Roster" has grown into a web site made up of 169 individual pages, 245 photographs and 80 image files making up about 13 million bites of information.
Our Web Site was built at no cost to the Association. I offered my services to act as Web Master and build the site using stories, photos and material supplied from Military Archives and many of our members and friends. Space became my main concern as more photos became available. It was my wish to maintain our Web Site at no costs by using free web hosting services. I realized that at some point we would probably have to pay for more web space to support our material.
In 1999 we held a reunion in Las Vegas where Dr. Ronald Frankum, Jr. from the Vietnam Center at TTU was our guest speaker. His presentation showed us the great effort his institution was going through to preserve the Vietnam experience. During our business meeting it was voted that the Vietnam Center would become the official repository for the Association's documents. In Las Vegas, I asked Dave Martin to see if TTU would consider providing us with computer resources to support our Web Site. There was a possibility but the resources were not available at that time. On June 27, 2002, Dr. Frankum notified me that …"the Vietnam Archive is now ready to start hosting our Association's Web Site." Working with Justin Saffell, Systems/Web Administrator, I was able to convert, move and test our entire Web Site to the TTU computers within 10 days and on July 8, 2002 we had our grand opening.
Having TTU host our Web Site gives us about 10 times more space. I hope to use this extra space for more photos and to improve the looks of our web pages. Other advantages include:
Comparable web hosting services can cost form $5.00 per moth for minimum storage space, with extra charges for more space or additional services and can become very expensive.
So, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Frankum, his staff and the Vietnam Project at TTU for hosting our Web Site.
In return, I would like to ask all of you to support the TTU's Vietnam Veterans Project. You may wish to visit the Vietnam Archives on the Internet or contribute to the Oral History Project as many of our members already have. You can use the link on our Web Site "Virtual Vietnam Archive/B Troop" to view what members have contributed so far.
Thanks again Double T Red Raiders,
Dan Schave
Banshee Webmaster
THE TTU BOARD OF REGENTS CREATED THE VIETNAM CENTER AND THE VIETNAM ARCHIVES IN 1989. THE MISSIONS OF THE VIETNAM CENTER INCLUDE PROMOTING THE STUDY OF THE WARS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND SUPPORTING THE COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION ACTIVITIES OF THE VIETNAM ARCHIVES.
Postmaster General John E. Potter announced that a new postage stamp, honoring the veterans awarded the "Purple Heart" will be issued in 2003.
We are pleased to announce that in the very near future there will be an addition to our Web Site. Currently Jim Matthews is working on putting together a pictorial history of B Troop 2/17 Cavalry Regiment and B Troop 17th Cavalry Regiment from it's creation in 1916 to present day. Anyone wishing to contribute information or copies of photographs, please contact Jim at 412-466-3557 or at jhmatthews1@adelphia.net.
We are in need of information and photos from 1968 era, DS/DS, Kosovo and anytime in between.
Remember how lonely it was being away from home during the holiday season?
Please send an email to say hello, thank you or just Happy Holidays to someone on active duty that will not be going home for the holidays.
Visit the following site: http://www.defendamerica.mil
David Martin was recently elected as Vice Flotilla Commander for the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 5-15 at Lake Whitney, Texas.
The training received by the USCG Auxiliary is the same as the regulars get down at the coast. Members wanting to get into on the water patrols and search must complete this training. We are here for the boating public and must maintain our qualifications as boat crewmembers or vessel coxswains to be able to patrol and assist the public and other agencies on the lake.
Training starts with boat crew training where the persons receive instruction on first aid, boat handling, navigation, federal and state regulations, weather, boat towing, night operations and search and rescue techniques. Once this is completed they may advance to the qualifications for Coxswain.
The Coxswain's qualifications are much harder to obtain with both academic testing and practical tests given by a Qualification xaminer. Auxiliary members utilize their own personal boats that are outfitted with the required equipment to perform the tasks necessary.
When on patrol these boats become government vessels as the Coast Guard issues orders to the members.
Dave spends a lot of time on the water in Whitney Texas and was really proud of the photograph of a large stringer of bass he was passing around at the reunion. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it sure looked "fishy". It wasn't until Bob Bohler mentioned something about most of the fish were the same size and they looked like those novelty rubber fish that are mounted on a plaque and sing when you push the button. Naw, Dave wouldn't do something like that. Would he?
There were two messages posted in the guestbook on our Internet Web Site. The messages were from a Phil Ehrhorn and a Danny Russell that were rescued by Banshee aircraft on 22 Apr 70 when their EC-47 call sign CAP 53 crash landed in the A Shau Valley. Here are both of their stories:
From Danny Russell
I just received information from Randy White. He advised me that your organization pulled me out of A Shau Valley on April 22, 1970...Our EC-47, with call sign CAP53, had crash landed.
Thank you - thank you - thank you.
My memory of that day is both vivid and vague, sometimes conscious, sometimes not. Thanks guys....I've kept in contact another member of the crew and the family of Michael R. Conner, who perished that day. I just visited his first grandson in Knoxville, TN two months ago.
Thanks again....can't say it enough.
philriddell@attbi.com
From Phil Ehrhorn
I have been told you guys saved my BACON I was shot down in an EC-47 in the morning about 9:30 in the A-Shau valley.
8 on board, 2 kia.
You guys did an excellent job of coordinating and executing the rescue. SPADS-COBRAs an OV1- F-4's ,SANDYS and I don't know what else, At least 12-14 aircraft just blew the place to bits. made me realize how much company we must have had around us. After sanitizing the area, rescue started and the halted for a little more cleaning up!!!!
One chopper came in and lifted 2 out the second came in and one got on and you lifted out again because of ground fire. 3 out, 3 still alive on the ground - 2 KIA still on the ground.
I laid on my back and looked up and instead of seeing aircraft, I visualized you as angels protecting me. After another round of awesome firepower an OH-6A came in and I jumped on, we had just lifted up and down we came again, small arms fire is what I heard got us.
IS THAT THE WAY YOU TREAT ALL YOUR PASSENGERS????
Only joshing- - - Your gunner set up and fired away-that is when I really started to worry, he had just been up there and knew what the situation was. I had been in the elephant grass and had no idea the troop concentration. We finally got out and went to Hue-Phu-Bai.
I am really anxious to talk to any of you who were involved e-mail or phone 800-333-5633 ext 128 Danny ((Thanks again))),
derussell@metlife.com
If anyone participated or remembers this incident please make an attempt to contact these fellow vets.
We heard that the CEO of a Texas oil firm was confused about choosing a merit raise he earned or taking stock options instead of the raise, so he decided to ask the young lady who was the head of the bookkeeping department for some mathematical help.
He called her into his office and said, "You graduated from TTU and probably can help me with this----- If I were to give you $20,000, minus 14%, how much would you take off?"
The secretary thought a moment, then replied, "EVERYTHING BUT MY EARRINGS."
In Washington, we asked Dr. Frankum if this could be true or just a malicious rumor about TTU's graduates and he assured us that the young ladies of TTU are taught not wear earrings while working.
Dear Ma and Pa:
Am well. Hope you are. Tell brother Walt and brother Elmer the Army beats working for old man Minch by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before maybe all the places are filled.
I was restless at first because you got to stay in bed till nearly 5 a.m., but am getting so I like to sleep late.
Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is smooth your cot and shine some things -- no hogs to slop, feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to split, fire to lay. Practically nothing. Men got to shave, but it ain't bad, they git warm water.
Breakfast is strong on trimmings like fruit juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, etc., but kinda weak on chops, potatoes, beef, ham, steak, fried eggplant, pie, and regular food. But tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit between two city boys that live on coffee. Their food plus yours holds you till noon, when you get fed again.
It aint no wonder these city boys can't walk much. We go on "route marches," which, the Sgt. says, are long walks to harden us. If he thinks so, it is not my place to tell him different. A "route march" is about as far as to our mailbox at home. Then the city guys all get sore feet and we ride back in trucks.
The country is nice, but awful flat. The Sgt. is like a schoolteacher. He nags some. The Capt. is like the school board. Colonels and Generals just ride around and frown. They don't bother none.
This next will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing. I keep gettin medals for shootin. I don't know why. The bull's-eye is near as big as a chipmunk and don't move. And it ain't shooting back, like the Higgett boys at home. All you got to do is lay there all comfortable and hit it. You don't even load your own cartridges. They come in boxes.
Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join up before other fellows get onto this setup and come stampeding in.
Yore lovin' daughter,
Gail
P.S. Speakin of shootin, enclosed is $200 for barn roof and ma's teeth. The city boys don't shoot craps too good.
The reunion for 2003 will be held in Dayton, Ohio at the request of Cynthia La Pointe and family.
The reunion will officially be from September 11th thru September 14, 2003 and we are trying to plan a list of activities too numerous to mention here.
The reunion TOC will be at the Best Western Executive Hotel at I-75 and Needmore Road, in Dayton
.The hotel gave us a group rate of $58.00 per room with up to 4 persons per room.
Reservations can be made by calling 1-888-492-7141. Be sure to tell them that it is for the B/2/17 reunion to get the group rate. All reservations must be made by August 11, 2003 to receive the group discount. Any room cancellations must be made by 4:00 PM the date you were scheduled to arrive for no charges to be added.
More information about the hotel by going on the Internet to: http://www.bestwestern.com/prop-36125.
You will or should have received a registration form or can download one from our website. Registration fee is $75.00 per attendee and must be sent in with your registration form. You will be assessed a $50.00 fee for each adult guest you bring, but this can be paid at a later date, but prior to the reunion.
Your registration fee will also include your reunion gift and pay for your Saturday night dinner/meeting.
I know there are many of you that live in Ohio and some of the surrounding states that have not been able to attend any of our prior reunions. This is a good opportunity for all of you to attend a reunion that isn't too far away. Whether you knew "Doc" La Pointe or not we would like to have a large showing of B Troopers attend our reunion in his hometown.
The following article was reported in the www.busines2.com news-letter December 2002 iss.
"IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM, PANDER TO 'EM."
Five thing McDonald"s would not like you to know.
During the last decade the "Golden Arches" in foreign lands have been the target of political protests in more than 50 counties. Alas, preventing Ronald McDonald from taking bullets intended for Uncle Sam often means using marketing ticks that you wouldn't see in the U.S.
FRANCE 1999 - 2002
Crowds cheered in 1999 as a McDonald's was vandalized by a French farmer protesting against American cultural Imperialism.
Franchises in France launched ads featuring cowboys that boasted that McDonald's France refuses to import American beef … "to guarantee maximum hygienic conditions..." Ronald had to take a back seat to Asterix, a cartoon defender of French Independence.
YUGOSLAVIA - 1998
When McDonald's franchises in Yugoslavia became the target of protest after the U.S began bombing under NATO authority, McDonald's Yugoslavia began handing out free burgers at rallies and added a Serbian nationalist cap to the Golden Arches under a slogan "McDonald's is yours."
INDONESIA - 2002
Protests in the world's most populous Muslim nation were triggered over the American military campaign in Afghanistan. The McDonald's outlets in Indonesia began a new ad campaign. They installed large photos of the Indonesian franchise owner making the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. The outlet's staff wore religious-inspired clothing on Fridays and new TV commercials emphasized local ownership of stores.
EGYPT - 2001
Anti-American boycott of McDonald's Egypt franchises are sparked by U.S. support for Israel. To try to entice public support, local McDonald's introduced the McFalafel, with an advertisement jingle sung by Shabaan Abdel Rahim, best known for his chart-topping hit "I hate Israel."
SAUDI ARABIA - 2002
The intense Arab anger over Israel's forceful response to the Palestinian uprising triggers a boycott of American products. This cause the local McDonald's franchises to promote a Ramadan promotion which sent 30 cents for every Big Mac sold, to the Red Crescent Society and Nassar Hospital in Gaza, for the treatment of Palestinian casualties.
Editor's note: We will leave any judgment of McDonald's actions up to you. We just report what we feel is noteworthy.
"The willingness which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation." - George Washington
There are several articles that have been sent to us, that are directly related to the quote above. If they all can't be addressed in this Gazette issue these articles will continue into the next issue.
Recently there has been a flurry of articles, both pro and con, about the subject of "Double-dipping."
If you are not familiar with the subject, it refers to the practice of retired military personnel collecting a military pension and disability compensation awarded to them by the Veteran's Administration, for a disability they received while in the service of their county. This practice is considered "double-dipping" and is not legal according to federal regulations.
The amount of money that could be saved by enforcing the no "double-dipping" rule could run into millions and millions of dollars. Some of the last arguments for the enforcement, used situations like: due to the lack of funds, active duty personal are forced to work in leaking hangers. The money saved could go toward insuring that enough spare parts were available for front line equipment, should we be in a combat situation and the list goes on and on and on about what we can do with the money saved.
Is the retired military person a second class citizen? We know quite a few people that have retired from other occupations and they are also collecting some type of compensation from the Veterans Administration. We also know quite a few people that are working in other professions that will soon be eligible to collect a pension from their employer and they also are compensated for a disability or disfigurement, from the V/A. What makes the retired military person any different from the person retiring from a railroad, a power company, a police department or any other occupation. The only time we could possibly see this happening is if the person was rated 100% DISABLED - UNEMPLOYABLE, and then it would be questionable.
As to some of the excuses used to support this argument, does anyone really believe that the money saved by the non- payment of this type of compensation, would be re-budgeted for the V/A to use or even repair a leaking hanger. If you believe this, you probably still believe in the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny. We will leave the decision on how to support this argument up to you.
Editor's Note: You will notice we left Santa Clause out of our example. That is because we still believe in Santa Clause.
(Continued Next Issue)
The Banshee Gazette is the OFFICIAL PUBLICATION for B Troop 2nd 17th Cavalry Association.