*HAPPY ANNIVERSARY*

Greetings friends, I just wanted to remind you all that as of March 17th, 2015 the Geronimo-Vietnam website will have been on the internet non-stop for 14 straight years. It's been a fun ride for me and I want to thank everyone for your interest and support in keeping the website a popular place to visit for namvets and all others who care.

Gary Joyner

It's That Time Again

to remind everyone that the All Services Veterans Reunion hosted by the Howard County Vietnam Veterans Organization is on the near horizon. The 32nd annual reunion on the outskirts of Kokomo, Indiana is the oldest and largest event of it's kind in the country and will run from September 18th to the 21st. Originally for namvets the reunion has evolved over the years to include all veterans and all services from all years. I've been going since 1993 and can ramble on for days on how cool this reunion is but I'll cut everyone some slack and just post the link to the HCVVO website and you can see for yourself. Howard County Vietnam Veterans Organization

Speaking of websites I have recently updated the Namvet Links page at the geronimo-vietnam site. Corrections to outdated links have been made along with the addition of a few new links so take a look next time you visit.

Gary

Ervin "Tex" Isbell

I received some sad news this morning from fellow A 1/501 vet Barry Gregorich that I need to share with all A co vets.
Joynt

Ervin "Tex" Isbell, a brother of Co A, passed away on July 16th, 2014 from complications involving brain tumor treatments he had been receiving. Ervin served with Co A in 1971 and recently retired from the Galveston Police Department. Ervin is survived by his wife Jeana and his four children. It was a honor to have known Ervin and he will be greatly missed by all the brothers of Co A that he served with.
God Bless and Rest In Peace "Tex".
Brothers Forever,

Barry

Reunion 2015 update

Recently our reunion coordinator Barry Gregorich sent out emails and letters to those on the current reunion mailing list. Barry has created a document containing the 2015 Washington DC reunion plans and temporary itinerary updated as they stand today. I have uploaded that document to the geronimo-vietnam server so that all interested parties can find out what's going on. To download the document click on this link A 1/501's 2015 Washington DC reunion

Come join us!

Spring 2014 sit-rep

Wow! Time has really been flying by. I have to apologize for neglecting the blog for so long but I've had a lot on my plate in recent months. I have been mostly making changes and upgrades to the home website (www.geronimo-vietnam.com) and things are finally coming together as the website moves into it's fourteenth year on the internet. Recently I uploaded a great photo album along with two cool video's from last year's A 1/501 reunion at Branson Missouri so go to the website "Reunions" page and check it out. Speaking of reunions, word is already spreading about the next A 1/501 gathering being organized by Barry Gregorich and it will be the best one so far. Get yourself ready for "Washington D.C. in June 2015". Barry already has the primary plans set and all the details will be posted here at the blog in early april. Barry has added an extra day to the event this time and we will all get to see the fantastic sights in D.C. starting with "The Wall" of course. This is one reunion you don't want to miss so be sure to check the blog soon for the official announcement.
Gary

Thanksgiving

To all those that celebrate Thanksgiving day I hope you can turn it into a four day weekend full of good times with family and friends. For those that have to work keeping the country going and those serving around the world in the military, I hope you get some time to relax and have a good meal. What I'm most thankful for is those that serve and protect this country. Because of them I'll be watching football and enjoying a few beers throughout the day. Thanks to all that visit the blog.

About the jukebox player

I'm sure those that stop by the site often know I'm still playing around with the juke box settings. I'm going to disable the auto start function and let the visitors decide what they want to hear first instead. :) Please note that you can start the playlist in "Shuffle" mode by clicking the small shuffle icon upper right. When the icon is high-lighted in red "Shuffle" is on. When green shuffle is off. If you just want to hear the straight playlist click the green start button in the center. At any time during play you can click a title in the playlist box and it will start immediately. Whether in shuffle mode or straight play the juke box will auto-stop after all files have played. If you have any comments, suggestions or requests regarding the jukes you can leave an anonymous message here in the blog or send me an email.

Branson, MO.

Another successful A 1/501 reunion has come and gone. I personally haven't gotten any war stories or pics concerning what took place yet but I'm certain Barry Gregorich has put together a great event. Once I get some ammunition from Barry and others I will link it up at the website and also post links here in the blog. Don't forget you can also reply to my post here with a comment of your own re: Branson. I hope everyone gets back home safely where you can kick back and savor the goodtimes :)

Website Update

Those of you that regularly visit the Geronimo-Vietnam website will probably be glad to hear that I'm about finished with my cleanup and all pages are have been updated as of april 30th 2013. The primary issue was the corruption of my main website building exe file which made it impossible to upload any edits or changes to the individual pages. To fix the exe file I had to rebuild the entire website one page at a time and of course that took awhile. Most visitors were probably unaware anything was going on since the website was online except for an occasional page here and there briefly being down. Most of what I was doing took place in the background.
For you people wondering what happened to the Flashbacks forum and miss the music playlists please be patient. The music will be back in a new format with new playlists covering a broader range of music genre's. Lot's of new songs are being uploaded and I expect the Flashbacks page up and running in a week or two.
One last comment is about security on the web. In early april my webhosting service was one of many targets of a mass hacking attack. A coordinated attempt to crash all WordPress sites began with hundreds of login attempts per minute from possibly thousands of computers. During that mayhem somehow two different computers found their way into my file transfer protocol area. A quick change of my password put an end to that but some encrypted javascript malware/spam was inserted into quite a few places. I received a couple of messages from visitors reporting their Norton AV was giving warnings and I saw a few warnings as well. I'm quite sure all areas of the website are safe now but I depend on you visitors to let me know if anything seems wrong when you drop in.

Thank you, Gary

Spring Cleaning

Yes, it's that time again and my focus is currently on the Geronimo-Vietnam website. The site is now entering it's 12th year on the web and there are many files that are way out of date and need to be removed from the server or updated to free up space. Those who visit the site often know that changes are made quite frequently on many pages. During this cleanup phase I would like to caution visitors about viruses and spam. I will frequently have to drop my shields during some of my chores so please be sure your virus protection is up to date before you pay a visit. If you experience any virus alerts or multiple "404 Not Found" messages please email me at joynt101@yahoo.com and I will attend to those problems asap. There are literally hundreds of files that need attention so please be patient. I apologise in advance for any inconvenience my cleanup might cause you and will post another message in the blog when I'm done and all is well.

Thanks, Gary

Another year has passed

and I'm still kicking. Since I am no longer punching a clock everyday I hope to get more action going here at the blog and finish up improvements I have planned for the Geronimo-Vietnam website. I want to remind everyone that this blog is interactive and anyone can make replies and comments to anything that is posted here. Feel free to jump in at any time.
As a courtesy to all visitors here and at the home website I want to make it clear that I am an affiliate of the Google Adsense Program. That means all advertisement boxes and banners seen here and at the website have been been added by me personally. I'm not trying to clutter up everything with ads but you should be aware that I do get compensated monetarily for clicks on ads and I also get a small percentage of any profit Google makes when someone follows through and actually makes a purchase of some kind. It's not a get rich quick scheme but it does help support Geronimo-Vietnam and keep it on the internet. If you see an ad that catches your eye and click it you will not only help Google but me and the website as well.
Ok, the big news is another A 1/501 reunion hosted by Barry Gregorich and his group from 1971 being held in Branson Misourri June 5-8 2013. Val Zapert's Asskicking Alpha Ratpack from 1969-70 will also be joining in on this one. For detailed info on reservations etc click the links on the Geronimo-Vietnam homepage. I'll be posting more on this event soon and I hope to see you all there in June.

Vietnam Service List

Recently Barry and I were able to add three more names to the verification list taking the total up to 755 vets.
Barry located John Podlaski and Bill Gaerke from the 71 era and Bobby Bagley sent me a copy of his Purple Heart award while serving with A co in the fall of 69. Bobby returned to duty with 1/501 HHC.
Just a reminder: The A 1/501 Vietnam Service List does include attached personnel such as Medics, FO's, Scout Dogs etc. If your name isn't on this list but should be then send me an email (joynt101@yahoo.com). We are going to require some solid proof before your name will be added. Service List

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

and here I am again renewing the geronimo-vietnam.com domain for another year. Obviously the blog has been neglected somewhat but after my last post I had other stuff to attend to. As the old saying goes "sh*t happens".
I'm looking for volunteers :) to be contributors to this blog and pull slack for me and Barry. I also need some help testing out a new php forum I hope to add to the mix. If interested email me. joynt101@yahoo.com

Remembering Lt. Holton

Last year I bought a 101st Airborne Division flag and an official Alpha Company guidon to display at the annual namvets reunion in Kokomo Indiana. Recently I got to thinking about how I could put those items to good use more than once a year. I don't really know how the idea came to me but I decided I would display the flag and guidon for twentyfour hours on the dates that Alpha Company vets gave thier all in Vietnam. In trying to keep with flag etiquette for this sort of thing I attached a black ribbon to the top of the pole. My personal tribute starts today, July 7th 2011 by honoring 1st. Lt. John Thomas Holton Jr. KIA July 7th 1968 in Thua Thien province.
After all these years Lt. Holton has become the focal point of a book written by Jean Neidert that was inspired by the journals, letters and poems of Phil Woodall who was Holton's RTO in the summer of '68. The book is titled "RESURGAM" - Standing On The Ground Of Remembrance. If you would like to learn more about the book please visit  http://www.groundofremembrance.com/

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Recently I got an email reminding me of a memorable event.

Dear Gary,

Your "geronimo-vietnam.com" domain name has been successfully renewed!
The new expiration date for this domain is now 3/17/2012.
As a reminder, you can review the status of your domain name
at any time by logging into DomainCentral.
We wish you continued success. If you have any questions or
concerns about your domain name or your hosting account,
please let us know:

Sincerely,

The BlueDomino Team
http://www.bluedomino.com/


For the record http://www.geronimo-vietnam.com/ was born on March 17th, 2001 and has now been on the internet non-stop for a full decade. As you see in the above email I intend to keep the streak going another year. A sincere thank you to everyone that has visited 'The Online Home Of Alpha Company".

Gary

Welcome to 2011

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and wonderful winter weather in the south and east especially. I had the pleasure of being in Atlanta for the first 'white christmas' in 100 years and it made me homesick for Chicago.
To get things rolling for this year here is some info regarding the annual HCVVO Reunion in Kokomo Indiana. First I want to remind all members of HCVVO who are holding the five campsites we occupied last year that after FEB 1st you can send in your reservations to keep those same sites. Please include payment for at least three (3) nights of camping (thurs, fri, sat). Once those sites are secured we can start planning the party. Non members can apply for remaining campsites after June 1st.
I've uploaded a copy of the HCVVO January Newsletter which has current news as well as news on this years upcoming events. It is in windows document format and I assure you it is safe to download. Click Run or Save and when you open it I suggest using the view option of 'Web Layout'. http://geronimo-vietnam.com/1A/Survivor-2011-January.doc See you in September!

Merry Pennsylvania Christmas

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Pumkin Pie

TO ALL VETERANS

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!

Today is your day. I hope you have an enjoyable one.

Gary