Whiskey Battery Newsletter for 1999-2000
March 2000
This newsletter is late by more than a few months. Xin Loi. If you are planning to come to the reunion this year, read it fast and start making reservations now.
Condolences
June 19,1999 was a joyous occasion for the Heuman family. Bob and Helen Heuman’s grandson Gage was born to their daughter and son-in-law, Stephanie and Preston Lechner. But their joy turned to sadness when after a short six weeks in their lives, Gage passed away on August 2nd. Please keep the Heuman family in your prayers.
Sgt. McDavid’s father passed away in early October, after a 22 month battle with complications from mouth cancer surgery. He was 83 yrs. old. Our deepest sympathy to the McDavid family.
Sick call
Ted "Doc Andy" Anderson gave us a scare about six weeks ago. He underwent surgery to relieve swelling in the brain. Last report is he is doing fine.
Philadelphia Reunion
Actually I should call it the East Coast Reunion as we did not spend much time in Philly. Judy and I arrived at the airport and after retrieving our luggage, waited for McDavid’s flight to arrive. After Pat found his bags, which I think took longer than his flight, we grabbed a cab to the hotels. When we arrived at our hotel we were informed of the "open bar happy hour" in the lobby. We checked into our room and went down to the lobby for drinks and snacks. McDavid and Steve Joyce met us there and we discussed our plans for dinner while anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Taylors and Langes. Unbeknownst to us their arrival was delayed due to airline snafu. We waited as long as our appetites would allow and finally went to dinner at T.G.I.Friday’s in the hotel. Don’t ever,ever order a "Veggie Burger", at least not at T.G.I.Friday’s. I’d rather eat C-Rats. The Taylors and Langes finally arrived and we spent the remainder of the evening catching up and making plans for the next day. We decided to drive to Atlantic City in the morning so we turned in early.
Steve met us at our hotel Friday morning bright and early with the Sport utility vehicle he had rented and after breakfast he and I went to pick up his car. We picked up everyone else and headed out to Atlantic City. It was a beautiful day and we spent the afternoon touring the Boardwalk and shopping for gifts. After spending some time in a casino we headed back to Philly.
Dinner was served at Bookbinders Restaurant where we were greeted at the door by Rich Holmes, one of our newfound members who lives close by. Rich was unable to be with us for the whole reunion but set aside some time to have dinner with us. Thanks for stopping by Rich. We enjoyed seeing you and hope you will join us at our future reunions.
After dinner we drove back to the hotel and walked down to the corner. There was a small bar with a beer garden and a Marine Corp flag flying. This bar looked as if it could have been Tun Tavern. No, it wasn’t. More on Tun Tavern later. Well, we ordered a couple of pitchers and sat in the beer garden enjoying the warm Summer evening. Once again we turned in early as we were off to Washington D.C. in the morning.
Saturday morning found us assembled in front of the hotel awaiting our limo. Yes, I said limo, as in limousine. We elected to take a limo to D.C. It was less expensive than the train and less hassle than driving. Steve met us and brought coolers, ice, beer, soda and water. I’ll briefly describe the scene as the white stretch limo pulled into the driveway of the hotel. Eight people in tank tops, t-shirts and shorts sitting on coolers looking like they were going on a picnic and a flurry of activity as hotel employees rushed to the limo to open the door and greet the guests. The driver gets out of the limo., walks over to us and says "Semper Fi. Devil Dogs". I knew it was going to be a truly unforgettable day. Our Chauffeur, Mark Eason of Ashley-Checker Limousine Service (yes, that’s a plug) had been in the Marines.
He loaded our gear as we piled into the limo. And as he was about to close the door he leaned inside and said " Just one thing. If there’s a problem, there is no problem. I’ll handle it".... and he did.
Mark shared stories with us during the ride but each time a request was made, he responded with "Yes sir, no problem sir" Our two hour trip to D.C. took quite a bit longer due to " emergency head calls" along the way. We used the facilities in four states and D.C..
First stop in D.C. was "emergency head call" at the Lincoln Monument, followed by a tour of the monument. From there, we walked across the street to "The Wall", where we located the name of our brother, Ricardo Martinez, and obtained "rubbings" of his name. Emotions were high and his name was on the bottom line, so it took several tries to get it right. On a personal note I’d like to add that I have visited "The Wall" several times prior, but this time was special, having other members of "Whiskey" there with me. Thanks to all who were with me.
Our next stops at the Mall were the "Three Fighting Men" statue, the Korean Memorial and the Women’s Memorial. We then crossed the Potomac to the Arlington side and my wife, Judy, took a picture of the 101st Airborne memorial. Judy’s brother was a 101st Nam vet who was killed in a car accident seven years ago. Our last stop in the D.C area was the Marine Corps Memorial.
On the road again we cruised through Baltimore’s inner harbor area and made a spectacular head call. Mark pulled the limo into the driveway of a luxury hotel. We all piled out and route stepped to the respective restrooms. While we were inside, taking care of business, Mark was approached by the Bell Captain and was asked what he was doing there. Mark replied, "Waiting for my clients. Step away from the vehicle." As we returned to the limo one by one, he stood by the open door and said in a voice loud enough to be heard by everyone nearby, " I’m sorry sir\ maam, I should have checked to see if there were rooms available before bringing you here. I’ll try the Sheraton down the street."
We were ready for chow by the time we arrived back in Philadelphia so we had Mark bring us to the Italian Market area in South Philly. We ate at "Pat’s", where the Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich was born. After a great meal of Philly Cheese Steak and fries we returned to the hotel, bid farewell to Mark, briefly visited the corner pub and returned to our rooms for the night.
Sunday morning brought the usual, breakfast, reluctant good-byes and the ride to the airport for our return home. Another outstanding reunion came to an end.
Thanks
On behalf of all those present at the Philadelphia reunion I would like to thank Steve Joyce for the excellent job he did as our host and tour guide.
Also, thanks to Mark Eason for the great ride. Semper Fi.
Judy and I thank the Langes, the Taylors and anyone else involved in picking up the tab for our airfare to and from Philly.
San Diego Reunion - 2000
Enclosed you will find all of the reunion info. If you have any questions contact me at 773-774-5235 or by e-mail at bbries19@earthlink.net
At the reunion we will be looking into having our reunions separate from 1st Mar. Div. Assn. Some of the reasons for this are cost, weather, location and time of year. If you have any suggestions, comments or criticism, please contact me by phone, e-mail or snail mail. Please, no mental telepathy. I’m not too good at that yet. To modify an auto salesman line, "What’s it gonna take to get you to a reunion?"
Return to Vietnam
Some of the members have expressed an interest in taking a trip back to Nam. I, for one, am all for it. There are several agencies run by Veterans, that specialize in Vietnam tours. They will even customize a tour to our areas of operation, e.g. An Hoa, Camp Carroll, Cua Viet, etc.We will be discussing this at the reunion, so if you are interested in making a trip back with us in a few years, and can’t make the reunion, contact me within the next few months. This is not a sign-up. We just want to know how many people are interested.
Calenders
Last year Harry Cockson put together a 1999 Whiskey Battery calender. This year Bob Heuman has put together a 2000 Whiskey calender. They both have done an excellent job. If you are interested in obtaining a calender, contact Bob at 636- 240- 8286 or e-mail him at Rhe5857701@aol.com. Bob has also volunteered to produce a 2001 calender and is looking for photos. If you have any photos you would like included, contact Bob.
T-Shirts
Whiskey Battery t-shirts are available. Contact R.P McDavid at 770-218-0847 or
Whiskey Battery Home Page
Our home page on the internet is a valuable tool. A window to our group, it is linked to other sites, which in turn are linked to more sites, on and on, down the line. Some of you were browsing around out there in cyberspace and found our site by chance, clicking on links. So we know it works. We have been complimented on our page by other vets who have sites and they have linked us to their sites. But our page isn’t growing. We’d like to make it bigger and better so more people will visit us and pass the word about it to others. Dave "Doc" Rupp is looking for photos, stories, etc. to add to the page. If you have anything you would like displayed on the page, please contact "Doc". "If you build it, they will come."
Any errors you may find regarding spelling and punctuation were put there for those of you who, like my wife, take delight in finding such things. I apologize for any other errors.
Semper Fi
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