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Alpha Avengers of Vietnam NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2001 A Company, 2/501st Infantry, 101st Airborne |
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Alpha Avengers of Vietnam NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2001 A Company, 2/501st Infantry, 101st Airborne |
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REUNION
2002
Thursday-Saturday, June 13-16, 2002.
Reunion Headquarters will be the Timber Lodge, 3627 West Colorado Avenue, Colorado Springs.
You can make reservations at 1-800-448-6762.
Please make your reservation ASAP. We need to fill the lodge to insure our use of all the facilities, including their pavilion. Be sure to tell the lodge owner that you are part of the Alpha Avengers Reunion.
Fellow Avengers:
As I work on this newsletter, I can’t help but think about the recent attack on the United States by another enemy unseen. Our hearts go out to all affected by these evil deeds and to the soldiers who will respond. God be with them all.
On July 15th, 2000, the Alpha Avengers Association met during our reunion at the Binion's Horseshoe Hotel in Las Vegas to make plans for our next reunion. At the meeting, several motions were made and passed.
One very significant and emotional motion was made by Bob Morris. He proposed that at each reunion we honor a fallen Alpha Avenger with the "Some Gave All" award. Bob has included a message regarding this event in this newsletter and I encourage everyone to consider proposing one of our fallen comrades for this award. At the Las Vegas reunion, Sgt. Victor Zaragoza received this honor. You can find Bob's tribute to Victor also in this newsletter and on the website.
Speaking of the website, that was another motion that was not only approved but a passed Alpha Avenger hat raised enough money to register the web site, www.alphaavengers.org, and fund it for the first two years. Besides providing a place where we can all keep up-to-date with what's going on in our association, it's also a place where people can find our history. Everyone is encouraged to donate copies of pictures, documents or any other historical material to this record of our history. Bring them to our next reunion where Tex and I can scan them, email them to alphaavengers@yahoo.com or snail-mail them to me at 159 Delaware Avenue, #145, Delmar, NY 12054. Thanks to everyone who has donated the material we have so far.
Two other motions that were agreed upon after much discussion were to move the reunion a little earlier in the year -- from July to June and to have our next reunion in the Colorado Springs area. Jim Kwiecien (Lt.) who lives in Colorado Springs has agreed to be our Local Arrangements Chair for the reunion. He has been working hard on our behalf, making phone calls, meeting with the Chamber of Commerce and scouting out places to stay and things to see and do. In this newsletter, you can find out more about the Colorado Springs area, our reunion headquarters (we should have the whole place to ourselves) and some exciting activities he's been working on (remember the movie War Games?).
And yes, there was one other motion passed -- which is why I am writing this newsletter. I was elected president of the association to replace outgoing president, GI Joe Ludwick (please see Joe's message in this newsletter). Bob Morris was elected vice president (please see Bob's message also in this newsletter). I appreciate all the support everyone has given me (which has really made this job a lot easier than I thought it was going to be). One supporter who has always been there is John Fair (Tex), our first president and founder. Thanks to everyone.
See you all in Colorado Springs. Please make your reservations today -- we don't want to share our reunion headquarters with the Golden Agers from Kalamazoo.
Ray
Houghton (Lt.), President
Alpha Avengers Association
cyberhaus@msn.com
MESSAGE FROM VICE PRESIDENT BOB MORRIS
Time is beginning to wind down on the planning stages of the next reunion with Ray and Jim doing a lot of the leg work. I hope everyone has already made reservations because this is going to be a great trip.
We need to get our selection for the next "SOME GAVE ALL AWARD" finalized. Any nominations should be sent to me as soon as possible. Anyone who was killed in action is eligible for this award. Just sent a short narration with name and rank and explain why this person deserves the award. We had also talked about trying to help with transportation expense for a family member to come to the reunion to accept the award.
As all of you know we are not getting any younger. As years go by there will be fewer of us able to come to our get-togethers. Call a buddy. Encourage him to come. Tell him what a good time we have, the lies we tell, and the great memories we relive. Adopt a buddy and get him to the reunion. Hope to see all of you in Colorado.
Bob Morris, Vice President
Alpha Avengers Association
pammorris@mindspring.com
MESSAGE FROM PAST PRESIDENT JOE LUDWICK
I would like to join Association President Ray Houghton & the Board of Directors in extending an invitation to each of you to attend the Reunion. Our Association was formed to preserve & foster the camaraderie we had over 30 years ago in Vietnam. Our reunions are an exciting experience of renewing old friendships & acquaintances from our past. There are very few days that go by that you don't think of someone from that era or an experience that we all had. Come & enjoy the fun times of our experience. I promise you won't go away disappointed.
If you are looking for a Vietnam book that tells the story of the good as well as the bad times in the 101st. please buy this book: (RIPCORD SCREAMING EAGLES UNDER SIEGE, VIETNAM 1970) The author Keith W. Nolan has written several Vietnam books http://members.aol.com/KWNolan/Viet.html. This has the story of the day I got shot and was retired from the Army with 100% disability. If you were in Vietnam around 1970 this book is mandatory reading.
I have a website with more information about our times in Vietnam, and what fun I am having these days. The address for my website is: http://members.home.net/gijoeludwick/12thhole.html .
I am looking forward to seeing you and yours in Colorado Springs. In Brotherhood,
Joe Ludwick Ret. Army SSG
GijoeLudwick@home.com
I want to extend an invitation for each of you to attend the reunion. Our organization was instituted to preserve & extend our camaraderie past our times in Viet Nam. The reunions are a wonderful way of renewing old friendships & enjoying the brotherhood that will never leave our minds or hearts. There are very few days that have gone past without thinking of someone or an event that happened 30 some odd years ago. Come enjoy a fun Filled weekend with your comrades.
JOHN
FAIR
ALPHA AVENGERS PRES. 1989-1994
REUNION
HEADQUARTERS
JUNE 13-16, 2002
I met with the motel owner again yesterday, per the schedule he and I set up when I first talked to him in May. We now officially (vs the unofficial arrangement I had with him before) have the entire motel blocked off for the reunion.
He asks that when people call to make reservations, they identify themselves as being with the Alpha Avengers Reunion. This will eliminate confusion on his part.
People can call and give him a credit card number. It is a "mom and pop" motel, so if, for example, you called tomorrow and asked that he not charge your card until 10/31 for the deposit, he'd take your card number and then ask that you call back on 10/31 to tell him to go ahead and process the charge for the deposit.
He has:
The variations are in the number of rooms, number of beds that each unit has.
Prices will probably increase by 10% next year. All the places I talked to said this. It is due to rising utility costs.
If you want to take a look at the place, go to http://www.pikes-peak.com/timberlodge/
Jim Kwiecien, Local Arrangements
jimkw@rmi.net
(Email Messages received 5/19-6/21/2001)
TENTATIVE REUNION ACTIVITIES
Tour of Cheyenne Mountain Friday AM or PM.
Drive to the top of Pike's Peak (not recommended for people with heart or respiratory problems).
Golfers, Saturday would be the time I could try to set something up for. I would need an estimate of how many players also.
BBQ's/wiennie roasts for dinner -- the Timber Lodge pavilion.
A more formal dinner, banquet one night -- working on that one.
Other things to do in the area:
Jim Kwiecien, Local Arrangements
jimkw@rmi.net
(Email Messages received 5/19-6/21/2001)
Cheyenne
Mountain
OK, I've been talking to the Air Force Folks at Cheyenne Mountain and I think it will be favorable. I'm going to propose that we set up the tour for the afternoon of the fourteenth (June 14, 2002). Unless I hear otherwise real quickly, my official letter to back up the conversations I've had will be in the mail tomorrow. They will only let about fifty people in for security and control reasons. (Please send in your registration for the reunion that appears at the end of this newsletter and register for the Cheyenne Mountain Tour -- we will accept the first fifty registrations in the order in which they are received).
This IS a big deal. They no longer give public tours, but when they did in the past, the waiting list was about a year long. It is a very impressive operation from what I've heard. If you saw the movie "War Games," you know what I'm talking about. During the Cold War (whoops, I guess for us, some of the Cold War was pretty hot), it was -- and probably still is -- the Russian's number one target. I saw an interview with some Russian general on TV and judging by what he said, and my rough calculations, they were going to throw teratons of nukes at it.
Jim Kwiecien, Local Arrangements
jimkw@rmi.net
(Email Message received 6/21/2001)
"SOME
GAVE ALL" AWARD
JULY 15, 2000
We are going to recognize a man who grew up in southern California. As a child he played army whenever he could and dreamed one day of being a real soldier. One day after reaching legal age, while his mother was out of town, he slipped away and joined the army. He ended up in third platoon A 2/501st. As an E5, he served as a squad leader but he went beyond what is expected of squad leaders. As all of you know, it didn’t take long for us to find out whom we could depend on when it counted most. The man we are honoring tonight is one of those individuals. Our honoree volunteered for point man, arguably the most dangerous job in NAM. He said it was the only placed he felt comfortable. For that he was awarded the Permanent Point Man Award. Among other awards, he received 2 Bronze Stars with V Device for Valor, Combat Infantryman’s Badge, 2 Air Medals, one for 25 combat assaults and one for going into a hot landing zone, Viet Nam Service and Campaign Ribbons and the Purple Heart. On February 20th, 1970 Victor Zaragoza gave his life for his country and for that we honor him.
Gentlemen,
if you will, I’m going to ask you to do something most of us haven’t done in
a long time, please stand and
salute Vic Zaragoza and the 52000
plus who were killed in OUR WAR.
-- Bob Morris
Click here and REGISTER FOR REUNION 2002 ONLINE.
