Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Happy Holidays to all and I hope to see you in 2008 at either the 2nd Brigade reunion in June or the Kokomo Reunion in September.

Joynt

P.S. I forgot to mention that I had uploaded the pics of the 70's reunion held last June at Clarksville, TN/Ft. Campbell. I still have some finishing touches I want to add but you can check out the pics at this link The 70's Reunion

Congrats to all involved in this excellently planned reunion especially Barry Gregorich and Bob Hess who were the main movers and shakers of this effort.
Nicely done guys!

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Ronnie LeBlanc


There was a comment posted in the Meatball thread below concerning the passing of Ronnie LeBlanc on thursday Aug 23rd. He was with a bunch of you guys at the Clarksville reunion in June and I wanted to make sure as many of you as possible were aware of the sad news.

Here's the comment from a friend.

Bobby said...
Desperately need to hear from ANY of the guys at the reunion in Clarksville, TN on June 15, 2007. Our brother in arms, Ronnie LeBlanc, died on Thursday moring, August 23rd, 2007.
contact: electric.deacon@gmail.com

August 25, 2007

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Equal time for B co. 2nd Bn. 501st Inf.

It's hard to believe it's been fifteen years since my first contact with a fellow namvet I served with. In the summer of '92 I got a phone call from 3rd platoon buddy Mark Orr and a few weeks later a letter in my mailbox from Dave Reiheimer. Those two guys finding me literally changed my life but I won't bore you with all that now.

Dave and I went thru basic and AIT together and flew to Vietnam together. He was assigned to B 2/501 and I of course went to A 1/501. We met face to face again at the annual Kokomo reunion in sept 92. Dave was armed with all kinds of valuable info on tracking down old Nam buddies. He has been a major player in locating members of his own unit and B 2/501 has had many successful reunions. Dave recently sent me a couple links concerning thier most recent gathering in Oregon.

Check them out. B 2/501 Reunion News Artical and
The B 2/501 website's 2007 reunion page

There is no way to put a value on good friends like Mark and Dave. I wish all of you the best of luck in finding your old buddies.

Drive on, Joynt

Saturday, August 11, 2007

2nd Platoon, B 1/501

Some grunts from B company gathered together this past July for the first time since serving in Vietnam during 1971. By all accounts it was a very successful reunion and they even got some coverage from the local news station.

Click this link to see the B 1/501 Reunion News Clips

A big "thumbs up" for a job well done to the 2nd plt B 1/501 and thanks to thier former medic Guy Lamunyon for giving me the heads up on this reunion. Doc also sent me this link to thier reunion photo album. Check it out.



(fyi-shameless plug) I've been getting those Geronimo T's being worn by the 2nd plt vets printed since 1997. They are still being offered at the Geronimo-Vietnam website's 501st PX.

Monday, August 06, 2007

Buddies

Old friends Barry Gregorich and Bob Hess got together again recently in Pennsylvania to visit the Westmoreland County Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Barry and Bob were ringleaders of the big A 1/501 reunion in Clarksville TN this past June.
Getting buddies back in touch is the primary goal of this website and we've been having a lot of success lately. Click on the pics for a larger view.



Saturday, July 21, 2007

Gootch Sighting

Lt. Larry Gottschalk joined A co in December '68 as 3rd platoon leader. I was the primary RTO of the third herd then and had the pleasure of showing "Gootch" the ropes LOL! In the fall of '69 Gootch became CO of Alpha co.
I had a hell of a time tracking him down in the 90's but finally struck paydirt. Larry has been to reunions at both Ft. Campbell and Kokomo. A few years ago he decided to leave Michigan and set up camp in Florida. I haven't seen him in person since then but we've stayed in touch on the phone. Well I just found out Gootch got kind of homesick, pulled up his Florida stakes and is now back here in the midwest. He told me he definately plans to attend the Kokomo Reunion in September so if you want to touch base with ol' Gootch then get your ass to Kokomo.

Here's a shot of me and Gootch at Kokomo '03.

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Meatball

I haven't gotten much feedback on the recent A co reunion in Clarksville TN a couple weeks ago but one thing that did come my way was this pic of Lt Ron "Meatball" Pilozzi posing with the A company guide-on back in the day.



The pic came from the collection of Jerry "Thumper" Linker and was forwarded to me by Bob "Sugar Bear" Hess.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

A 1/501 REUNION

This won't be the first A 1/501 reunion in recent years but it's a first for those " crazy 70's guys" as I like to call them. It will also be the largest A co reunion so far as the organizers have done an excellent job putting this together. About 40 vets and 70+ guests are expected at the Holiday Inn at Clarksville, TN (exit 4, I-24)
on June 14th for a weekend they'll never forget. The registration deadline for the dinner and tour has past but you procrastinators can still try to get a room at the Holiday Inn or one of the many other nearby motels.
I just received a final update from Barry Gregorich head honcho on this project. Click on the images for a larger view and hit your BACK BUTTON to return to the blog.



A co vets have stayed at this Holiday Inn before and the hospitality and service was excellent. Congratulations to all involved and have a great weekend. I'm creating a page at the website for this reunion so be sure to send me some pics.

Thanks, Joynt



details provided by reunion organizer Barry Gregorich

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Blue Moon


Once in a Blue Moon
Fact and Fiction Behind May’s Second Full Moon

Thursday, May 31, 2007
By Ethan Stewart

Fog permitting, get yourself outside tonight and check out the full moon rising over Santa Babylon. Though it won’t necessarily appear different in color, the moon, for the first time since the summer of 2004, will be casting the age-old mystical glow of an ever rare blue moon along the shores of the Pacific. No doubt parties will rage to celebrate the occasion and countless others will have “weird” nights as the combined powers of two full moons in one calendar month work upon their brains, but before you go off the pagan ritual deep end, a little history is required—especially in this instance as our May moon experience is a phenomenon of hugely odd and certainly confusing circumstances.

The phrase “blue moon” has been with us for well over 400 years thanks to an arcane piece of poetry found in a 1528 pamphlet titled Rede Me and Be Not Wrothe. But it wasn’t until the Maine Farmers’ Almanac started, in the 1800s, using the phrase to describe the rare occasion when four full moons would occur within a quarter of the year. Specifically, the term was used to describe the third moon of the four moon string and it was special because quarters of the year typically see only three moons. And while the standard three moons would have mythological names associated with them — like the Harvest Moon and the Hunter’s Moon — the random extra moon had no such name and thus “Blue Moon” was adopted to describe this seldom experienced sight.

Furthermore, it was also during this time that all sorts of cool legends — like the blue moon’s ability to talk to you and tell you your future or infect you with love — started popping up. Unfortunately, as time marched on and the Almanac writers passed away, the meaning of a Blue Moon was lost and a newer, much more widely understood definition began to emerge. For some reason, a Blue Moon became the second full moon in any given Gregorian calendar month — an occurrence that is far from commonplace but, thanks to the various lengths of said months, is guaranteed to happen 41 times over the course of a century. That being said, when our moon goes blue tonight, you better enjoy it because it isn’t happening again until December 2009. (That is, unless of course you consider yourself an old school type of person and go by the Farmer’s original definition, in which case the next Blue Moon will occur coincidentally in May of next year.)

Confused yet? Well, it gets worse.

Because of our wonderfully mind-blowing construct of time-zones, much of the world is walking around right now thinking that June is the actual month for the Blue Moon. For most of them, they are right. Because they live life varying amounts of hours ahead of us here in the Pacific time zone, they get the actual full moon on June 1 and then another later in June, thus making June their Blue Moon event. Alas, for us living under the tick and tock of Pacific Standard Time, the moon reaches its ripest point before the clock strikers midnight, giving us the dubious distinction of having a blue moon before the rest of the world.

**Just scroll down a little and look to your left to see a real time display of the moon. - Joynt

Friday, May 25, 2007

Memorial Day

This isn't my favorite holiday of the year but I do want to wish all of you an enjoyable and safe 3 day weekend.
Just a little while ago it dawned on me that it was May 25th. On that day in 1969 I lost a couple of good friends, Ralph Vitch and Mario Lamelza, during Operation Lamar Plain. Just a few weeks before I had been thier squad leader in the third platoon but in early May I was given the job of company commo chief.
At the time it was easy for me to beat myself down with thoughts of "if only I was still there with them they might not have died". Well that's a crock of shit of course and if I had been with them maybe I'd be dead too. Memorial day will always remind me of that point in time though and I will hoist a few cool ones this evening in memory of Ralph and Cool Breeze.

I'm ready to get into grilling this weekend with some salmon fillets, some Johnsonville brats as well as some chicken breasts and a couple pounds of ground beef. We got NASCAR on saturday night and the Indy 500 on sunday and I got plenty of Miller Lite in the fridge. On monday evening I'll finish things off with what has become a tradition of mine. I mix a stiff Tangueray martini, go out on the patio and while thinking about it all I get a little too drunk and have a good cry.

God bless all the vets!

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Week Of The Eagles

Screaming Eagle namvets have been gathering at Ft Campbell's Week Of The Eagles a couple decades now. Traditionally held every two years on the even numbers this event is now being held every year. The Division is back from Iraq and WOTE will commence next week.

Here's the schedule from Jim Hallums forwarded to me by Dave Reinheimer:

Tuesday, May 15

Welcome Center Operations

Division Run

Brigade Open House Activities


Wednesday, May 16

0630 – 0900 Division Review Rehearsal

0800 – 1830 Welcome Center Operations

0900 – 1600 Brigade Open House Activities


Thursday, May 17

0330 – 1800 Toughest Air Assault Soldier Competition

0600 – 1830 Welcome Center Operations

0700 – 0900 10K Fun Run Race

0900 – 1600 Brigade Open House Activities

0900 – 1600 Combatives

0900 – 1600 Power lifting


Friday, May 18

0800 – 1700 Welcome Center Operations

1000 – 1200 Division Review

1330 – 1530 Combatives Finals


Saturday, May 19

0700 – 2100 Welcome Center Operations

0800 – 0900 Memorial Ceremony

1100 – 1700 Air Show

1900 – 2200 MWR & VFW Present the WOE Concert on the Budweiser Stage


Sunday, May 20

0700 – 2000 Welcome Center Operations

0800 – 1700 Legacy Golf Tournament

Although this does not provide exact details, it is the public information we have received. You might also try the link www.campbell.army.mil to see if there are any more details.


edit by joynt: The 101st Vietnam Veterans Org and our 101st 2nd Brigade Namvets Org have been attending WOTE on the even number years in the past. While it may be a little slim on Namvets this year the Week Of The Eagles is definately worth checking out. The Airshow on Super Saturday with Airborne, Air Assault and static displays alone is worth the trip. Check it out if you have the chance and circle your calendar same time next year for probable Namvet participation commemorating the 40th anniversary highwater mark of the 101st in Nam, 1968.

Joynt

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Testing...1 2 3

Greeetings fellow Namvets and friends.

I've decided to give the blog another run as the sit-rep page. A lot has changed since I last used it and I had to switch to the "new" blogger version. It has a lot of nice features but I'm bound to screw this up for awhile until I get the hang of it again.
I will attempt to post timely messages of interest to A 1/501 namvets specifically as well as to the Vietnam Veteran community in general. Please note that there is a "comments" function should any of you care to add more info or just want to put your two cents in.

Thanks, Joynt