|
Vol. 8, Issue 1 |
May, 2001 |
A few words from the Editor
Welcome to the G 2/5 first edition newsletter of 2001! I had hopes of trying to issue four newsletters a year, one each quarter, but as you can see, I haven t met my goal. That's partly because all of life's other priorities seemed to take priority. It's also because there hasn t been much that s been newsworthy for the newsletter.
The major news event that has occurred since the beginning of 2001 was the USS Hue City Memorial at the end of January. Several of our G 2/5 vets attended and report it was again a very moving and emotional experience for all. Barney & Mona Barnes attended and Barney has again kindly written an account of the Memorial. He's attended most, if not all, the Hue City Memorials over the years and has earned the title of official Hue City Memorial correspondent for G 2/5. Barney's article follows in the newsletter thank you brother Barney! Also, Lester & Cheryl Tully attended and Les has earned the title of official Hue City Memorial photographer. Les has been kind enough to e-mail me several photos of the reunion that I ve included in the newsletter thank you brother Les!
Speaking about the Hue City memorial, I know that many of our vets have a difficult time every February on the anniversary of the Hue City battle. As a Hue City vet myself, I know that so many feelings and emotions are triggered each year at this time and it occurs like an ambush without warning. Of course there are always other triggers that occur without warning throughout the year that bring the Nam back into my conscious thoughts but not nearly with the intensity that February and the anniversary of Hue City does. It's now May and I ve recovered, pretty much, from my yearly bout of Hue City feelings and emotions I hope all you Marines have come through it as well.
Also, I have a new e-mail address as listed with the names of the officers of the organization so please contact me at my new address.
Larry S. Ortiz, The editor
A Word from the Sec./Treas.
Gentlemen:
I would like to thank all of you who have sent in your dues. It is greatly appreciated and for the rest, please send them in as soon as you can. As I'm sure you know it costs money to do newsletters and the like.
We still have copies of the Hue City painting that is on the Boat! So if you would like one, send me the money and I'll send you as many as you want. Do your Christmas shopping early, it's the perfect gift for the man who has everything. They are incredible framed.
For all you still cold back east, too bad, the desert is getting very warm and I have worn nothing but shorts for a month, so shovel that snow, men! (Lance sent in these comments in the dead of winter-the editor).
Again, thanks to all those who have paid the 2001 Dues.
Semper Fi, Lance
For Sale:
Full color Lithographic copies of the Battle of Hue City Painting, 12" x 24", signed by the artist Austin Deuel (see below). $8.00 each, $3.00 shipping for up to 3 prints. Send orders to Lance Machamer, 8550 E. Turney Ave., Scottsdale, AZ 85251.
Battle of Hue City
by Austin Deuel
USS HUE CITY Memorial
Fellow Marines, Barney & Lester here, reporting on the 9TH Memorial Service aboard our ship, held in Mayport Naval Station outside of Jacksonville, Fl on Jan.26 - 28, 2001. This is or was the 33RD Anniversary of the Battle of Hue City. (I have a calendar from 1968, and Jan. 31st was on a Wednesday, for those of you wonderin'...) After last years browbeatin' by my Brother LT, (LOVE Ya' Bro!!) for not bringing our wives, we did in fact improve on those numbers this year. Those in attendance with their wives or significant other were, Dennis & Terry Studenny, Lester & Cheryl Tully, Joe & Kathy Snead, Buck & Sheila Dyer, Tony & Mary Cartlidge, Barney & Mona Barnes, Doug Blayney & his three very gracious and lovely daughters, Erin Bridgette, Meghan, and Grandaughter Kate. (By the way, it was really great seeing Doug this year, it has been a while since the last time down in Mississippi.) Jack Fields brought his son, his sister and his brother in law. Richard Durrum also brought his good friend from Kentucky, Dale Jones, who was in the 101st. Jim Kelly, the Skipper, and Scott Garland rounded out our contingent of Golf folks. THOSE who were supposed to be there but never made it were RICHARD MACK, and DON HAUPT. Next time, ok guys, we need you at these things!!
The weekend started as usual on Friday night at Boggy's, where the new skipper of our ship, Captain Hoffman, made a short speech welcoming all Hue City Vets and letting us know just how much these Memorial Weekends and our presence there mean to his crew and their families. He then proceeded to tell us that because of them having to go on duty the following week that he would not be able to take us out on the ship as previously planned. This was the only setback of the weekend, (Our wives were really looking forward to that.) Captain Hoffman had only been the ship s Skipper for a week when we showed up, so we understood.
G 2/5er s at the Hue City Memorial:
L to R: Scott Garland, Col. Meadows, Rich Durrum, Joe Snead, Tony Cartlidge, Dennis Studenny, Barney Barnes, Lester Tully, Jack Field, and Doug Blayney
After the Happy Hour, we returned to the Hotel's bar and continued our socializing. This year there were no pool tables so I didn't have to worry about Lester beating my brains out! I know that a few of our guys closed down the bar, with the help of the local men in blue who had to come inside the bar and request that they best be leaving...
Saturday was just absolutely gorgeous. This was the best weather that I have seen at these weekends. The chow at the picnic was outstanding as usual. The only thing that I know of that wasn't "Good To Go," were the tours of the ship. This year left a lot to be desired in my opinion. They were short, extremely short. We never got to see the whole ship, as in past years. And I was very disappointed in that, especially for those in attendance who had never been aboard our ship. Yep, didn't even get the chance to see that historic flag of Hotel Co. While our group was disembarking the ship, we were met by General Harry Tranh and a tour group made up of all Vietnamese folks.
As usual on Saturday night, we went out to eat. Lester & Cheryl, Joe & Kathy, and Mona and I decided that we would go to the beach at Jacksonville and eat at "Joe's Crab Shack." Well after being told that it would be 2 hours before we could get in, we ended up back at the place we have gone to for years on Saturday nights, Singletons. This year there is a brand new restaurant right next door to it and it was tried out by Dennis & Terry and Tony & Mary and got good reviews, so now we have a couple of places to choose from. I also noticed there was a new Best Western, I do believe going up a half a block away from the Quality Inn so that is a possibility as well for next year. Sunday was again very beautiful. We were joined on board the Hue City for the Memorial Service by Jason Riggs, the former Chaplain of our ship and just a great all around person.
In his opening dialogue this year, the current chaplain, Chaplain Orren said..."There is no greater honor than to put yourself in harms way for your fellow countryman and your country. So again, it was a privilege and an honor to pay our respects to our brothers in arms, all which made the supreme sacrifice for their country, only to always remain "FOREVER YOUNG", in our hearts and our minds.
L to R: Cpl. Field and Cpl. Field s Proud Father, Jack Field
General Ray Smith was the guest speaker; 33 years ago, he was a young 2nd Lt. in Alpha 1/1. He thanked us profusely for our help in that great, fierce battle. He was followed by General Harry Tranh who made a short speech and presented a wreath to be cast over the side of our ship as an honor and a tribute to those who lost their lives in the battle.
Captain Richard Hoffman and his Executive Officer, Stephen Evans, like I said earlier, had only been aboard the ship for a week. But they still assured us that they will continue to press on and uphold the glory, the honor, the courage, the efficiency, and the integrity, of the men, us veterans, that fought that battle and gave the ship it's name. He again apologized for not being able to be underway for the Service, but as he said... "We are working hard at getting another "E" up on the ship to go with the many other ones already there." As LT says, "Business before pleasure!!"
A good time was had by all that attended. It is my wish and my hope, that if you have not yet made it to one of these Memorial Weekends or one of our Reunions that you will do so soon.
I, like all of you, I'm quite sure, have a wish list of our Brothers that I would love to see once again at one of these outings. Mine include, RICHARD MACK, ELMER " ALE' " ALE'ANDER, LEE ROY RILEY, FRED CALDWELL, JIM NEWBOLES, SGT. ZACHARY, MIKE ERVIN, etc etc etc.
I will close with a couple of solicitations, if you may. One, I ordered one of those prints from our own DANNY CHOLEWA (at www.blessings-catalog.com) called, "THE DOC" ...O U S T A N D I N G!! Drop him a line. Two, I have now got one of those CD Recorders and I will be more than glad to make custom CD's for any of you guys. With over 3500 Albums and close to 2000 CD's most of which are from 60's & 70's, I have a great choice of music from that era. So if there is something out there that you have not heard in a while, or you want to hear all those great songs from our times in the "BUSH" please just let me know.
Hope everyone has a wonderful Summer. Take care, much love and respect and as always... "SEMPER FI!!"
Barney
PS: Thanks LT for the story, but most of all THANKS for taking me under your wing some 30 odd years ago and teaching me the things I needed to know to survive in that Hell-Hole, we know as NAM.
Next G 2/5 Reunion Summer 2002!
We are still looking for suggestions from the membership for a location for the next reunion. Send in your suggestions to any of the officers of the organization.
One city that has been discussed a little as a possible reunion site, is San Antonio, Texas. Our joint reunion with the First Marine Division was held there in August 1997. We had a pretty good turnout and San Antonio has the beautiful River Walk area with many wonderful restaurants and lots of shopping for those into that kind of thing.
I d also like to throw out Albuquerque as a possibility. Aside from it being only 60 miles from Santa Fe where I grew up, it s a fairly large city with a lot of things to do, is sort of centrally located and has a good airport. If any of the membership is in favor of Albuquerque as a location, or have other cities that would like to be considered, please let us know.
Lest We Forget. . .!
Cpl. Leroy Brantley KIA 3/28/69
Cpl. Robert G. Fante KIA 8/6/68
PFC John W. Rowden KIA 2/10/68
Sit Reps
Vet Newsbriefs:
While on a recent visit to the G 2/5 website in the last few months, I came across the name of Michael Salas who was a Corpsman for Golf Co. in 1968 before being wounded on Operation Maui Peak. I took Doc Salas. address off the website and scanned a couple of photos I had of him and sent them to him. He called me a few days after receiving my letter and photos and we talked for awhile about the Nam and our lives since returning to the world. He lives in Oceanside, CA which most of us are familiar with if you spent any time at Camp Pendleton. He s doing well and is very interested in attending our next reunion hope to see you there Doc.
Joey Scoccola writes that he made a trip to the states at the end of December for a couple of weeks and visited with Jim Lewis in Jupiter, FL. While he was there, he also had a chance to see Bill Rogers who was down in FLA for New Year s. Joey was on a scouting mission to see if the states still agree with him and what job opportunities there may be for him if he were to return to the states from Italy where he s been living for several years. Hope it works out Joey, we d love to have you closer although it would be nice to have you as a tour guide in Italy whenever I do make it over there.
George Haught has been the Commander of the Monaca, PA VFW Post 4653 for almost a year and a half now. The Post was about to be placed under trusteeship before George took over as Commander due to financial mismanagement and other hanky panky. In the brief time that George has been the Commander their membership has grown to where Post 4653 has become not only number one in membership in their district but number one in the state. The Monaca Post, and Commander Haught, were recognized at the State VFW convention at the end of March and Post 4653 took top honors in their district and George was named Commander of the Year. The state awards are coming up in early June and Post 4653 looks like a shoe-in for top honors in the state as well! Congratulations Marine for a job well done!
George also encourages our G 2/5 vets to get involved with their local VFW's so if any of the guys in the association is looking to join the VFW and give it a try I'm the guy to get a hold of. The card is good any place in the world where there is a VFW, but there home of record would be my post.
George also sent the following comments relative to my wife s (Melba Ortiz) article in the December 2000 newsletter: I would like to thank Melba Ortiz for her fine piece in our last newsletter dealing with the issues that affect our wives and family. Sometimes I think that we really lose sight of how special our wives and/or girlfriends really are. It takes a very special woman to live with us and our excess baggage and still keep on loving and understanding us, even though we shut them out and don't share with them the things that bother us the most. I know that it is difficult to talk to someone about our experiences that didn't share them, but there are different ways of sharing that also. So if your wife looks at you with that look of "what can I do for you" that we all get let her know that she is doing it by being there and loving you. You don't have to give graphic descriptions to let her know that what is bothering you has to do with Viet Nam and not anything that she has said or done. So guys next time things get a little bad and you get one of those anniversary triggers know that you have someone next to you that loves you and understands more than we give credit for. I know that God has blessed me with two of them in my life, and he has you also. Thank you George, Melba really appreciates your comments the editor.
Ed Russ Jones sent in the below photo from the 2000 Marine Corps Birthday Ball he and a group of other Marines attended at the Hilton in Parsippany NJ. Russ points out that SgtMaj. Ed Neas (far right) was the only other Vietnam Vet in the group. SgtMaj. Neas was with Alpha 1/1 in Hue City that many of us recall helping out on 31 Jan. 68. A good time was had by all the Marines in attendance without too much collateral damage to the surroundings.
L to R: Unknown, SSgt Andy Kaminski, Unknown, Unknown, GySgt John Carucci, Major Brian O'Leary, CWO3 Bob Weiss, Sgt Kevin O'Hora, 1st Sgt John Campbell, GySgt Andy Esposito, GySgt Russ Jones, Major Jim Robbins, SgtMaj Ed Neas
In Our Thoughts and In Our Prayers:
Many of you, as I do, fondly remember Fernando Pache Camarillo, my A-gunner, who was KIA at Hai Van Pass in May, 1968. His family is from San Antonio, Texas and at our 1997 reunion there, many of us had the pleasure of meeting his mother and three sisters. Since then I have kept in touch with his sister Mickey Paredes and have recently heard from Mickey that her mother passed away a few weeks ago. On behalf of the G 2/5 Association I want to express our most sincere sympathies to Mickey and the rest of her family at the loss of their mother.
Missing In Action
We have lost touch with the following G 2/5 vets. Their last know city of residence is also provided below. If anyone knows their current address, please forward that information to me the editor.
… Baker, Ferrall L. Laguna Niguel, CA
… Dillenburg, Clyde St. Joseph, MN
… Dima, G. E. Spokane, WA
… Graham, James M. Gibsonia, PA
… Gruner, John M. Ft. Collins, CO
… Heitz, Jack A. Freeport, IL
… McColloch, James H. Charleston, SC
… Moore, Dave H. Herndon, VA
… Moore, John H. Payson, AZ
… Tant, William Tuscaloosa, AL
… Zachary, Reid B. Sultan, WA
I ve also had a newsletter that was sent to Wayne Hammons of Memphis, Tennessee returned to me marked Deceased. I'm sure all G 2/5 vets join me in expressing our deepest sympathy to the family of Wayne Hammons for their loss.
WHICH BRANCH OF THE MILITARY IS BEST?
A Soldier, a Sailor, an Airman, and a Marine got into an argument about which service was "the best". The arguing became so heated the four servicemen failed to see an oncoming truck. They were run over by the truck and killed instantly. Soon the four servicemen found themselves at the Pearly Gates of Heaven. There, they met Saint Peter and decided that only he could be the ultimate source of truth and honesty. So, the four servicemen asked him, "Saint Peter, which branch of the United States Armed Forces is the best?" Saint Peter replied, "I can't answer that. However, I will ask God what He thinks the next time I see Him. Meanwhile, thank you for your service on Earth and welcome to Heaven."
Sometime later the four servicemen see Saint Peter and remind him of the question they had asked when first entering Heaven. The four servicemen asked Saint Peter if he was able to find the answer. Suddenly, a sparkling white dove lands on Saint Peter's shoulder. In the dove's beak is a note glistening with gold dust. Saint Peter says to the four Servicemen, Your answer from the Boss. Let's see what He says. Saint Peter opens the note, trumpets blare, gold dust drifts into the air, harps play crescendos, and Saint Peter begins to read the note aloud to the four Servicemen.
MEMORANDUM FROM THE DESK OF THE ALMIGHTY ONE
TO: Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines
SUBJECT: WHICH MILITARY SERVICE IS BEST
Gentlemen, all branches of the United States Armed Forces are honorable and noble. Each serves America well and with distinction. Being a serviceman in the United States Military represents a special calling warranting special respect, tribute and dedication. Be proud of that.
Sincerely,
GOD, USMC (Ret.)
Sign on at http://www.golfco.2ndbn5thmarines.com
Association Officers:
President
Tom Hohmann
P.O. Box 3007
Riverside, CA 92519-3007
H (909)683-7251
E-Mail: Tomh47@aol.com
Jack Field
490 Foster Road
Tewksbury, MA 01876
H ( )
Lance K. Machamer
8550 E. Turney Ave.
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
H (480)947-7883
E-Mail: FQBandG@aol.com
Mike Averill
420 Greenbrier Ave.
Celebration, FL 34747-4645
H (407)352-1119
E-Mail: dana.averill@celebration.fl.us
Larry S. Ortiz
7064 Scripps Crescent
Goleta, CA 93117
H (805)685-4221
E-Mail: lso.vngrunt@verizon.net
Golf 2/5 ers at the San Diego Reunion in August 2000
A big thanks to Rich Durrum for sending in the above photo too bad we couldn t print it in color it s really terrific! the editor.
Golf 2/5 Association Membership Form: (New Members Only)
Address________________________________________________________________________________________________
City_____________________________________________________State_______________________Zip________________
Home Phone( )_____________Work Phone( )______________E-Mail Address________________________________
Years-Served_____________________Platoon/Squad___________________________MOS___________________________
Optional: Wounded / Date_____________________________________Location____________________________________
Dues: $25.00 first year; $10.00 per year thereafter. If you are on 50% or more disability, just send $10.00 first year and $10.00 per year thereafter. If these amounts are a financial hardship, contact Lance. We want everyone to be a part of the Association
Mail New Membership Forms to: G 2/5 Association, c/o Lance K. Machamer, 8550 E. Turney Ave., Scottsdale, AZ 85251