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Project Jenny KLIK - 1st Inf Di v Women in Vietnam RELATED-- To AFVN To Saigon To Vietnam Further Afield Index
Sent: September 23, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
Morrie:
Paul was down in the Delta with me, but in the Army and assigned to the with the 9th ID's River Assault Group. He was a zippo gunner. Tanks were backed into modified Mike boats and ferried to wherever needed. They operated as fire support afloat, combining the firepower of the tank with the mobility of an LSIL. Some of those tanks were equipped to fire napalm, hence the name “Zippo.”
When working with the RAGs our PBRs functioned as cavalry in support of troops ashore. The Army would attempt to push the bad guys out of their chosen field of combat and into either the mounted tanks of the RAGs on the river or our boats deployed inland on canals. Hammer and anvil, in a way, but more like the African buffalo tactic designed by Shaka Zulu. The main body of the infantry acted as the boss while smaller units acted as the horns deployed to the left and right flanks, with one end anchored to the main body and the remainder arcing out and ahead to flank the enemy and contain them. Worked very well. When the “horns” (the flanking units) came to water, the enemy was effectively encircled.
Ken
From: Ken Kalish
Sent: September 27, 2012
Subject: Reunion Stuff
I'll be getting out an updated list tomorrow. Weary right now.
Ken
From: Jim White
Sent: September 24, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
Frank,
Must admit that I am disappointed at not being able to see you at the reunion. However, I also fully understand that "family comes first." Glad that your grand-niece had a good doctor and hope that recovery is quick and complete. Might be able to see you when you come through Tokyo but I'm not sure if I will (or even want to) make another trip so soon after getting back from the U.S.
Best wishes,
Jim W
From: Ron Heskeith
Sent: September 24, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
Yes. I was initially sent to the Atlanta Army Depot and when we finally got settled in a rented duplex (with more than $400 in deposits for rent, utilities, phone, etc.) and reported in, was told that my orders were amended the day I picked up the wife & kids in Cleveland. I was re-assigned to Ft. Monmouth to be an instructor. Back then, we didn't get our deposits back and when Joyce & I arrived in NJ, we had no money & had to go to Army emergency relief. When I went to personnel and asked for reimbursement for all we lost I was told NO because the orders were amended & not a new issue. All we received was mileage from Atlanta. That is when I decided that the Army could kiss my "you know what" and when my term ended two years later, in '67, I said Bye Bye after almost 9 years. I was an instructor for the ADPS computer hardware repair course (MOS 34C2) and was in charge of the Ft. Monmouth burial & ceremonial detail.
From: Ron Heskeith
Sent: September 24, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
Yes. I was initially sent to the Atlanta Army Depot and when we finally got settled in a rented duplex (with more than $400 in deposits for rent, utilities, phone, etc.) and reported in, was told that my orders were amended the day I picked up the wife & kids in Cleveland. I was re-assigned to Ft. Monmouth to be an instructor. Back then, we didn't get our deposits back and when Joyce & I arrived in NJ, we had no money & had to go to Army emergency relief. When I went to personnel and asked for reimbursement for all we lost I was told NO because the orders were amended & not a new issue. All we received was mileage from Atlanta. That is when I decided that the Army could kiss my "you know what" and when my term ended two years later, in '67, I said Bye Bye after almost 9 years. I was an instructor for the ADPS computer hardware repair course (MOS 34C2) and was in charge of the Ft. Monmouth burial & ceremonial detail.
From: Jim White
Sent: September 24, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
Jim Beard,
Thanks for the tip--I went to Google, typed in AFVN (enter), and found AFVN - American Forces Vietnam Network Home Page
I clicked on that and got http://www.reocities.com/afvn/ Went to "Meet the Veterans" (4th link from the top) which gave me http://www.reocities.com/afvn/veterans.html Got the wide photo of the 1972 Staff but now I can't find "Duty Roster" on that page. It has eight links near the top and then a list 48 links to "photo pages." Further down I got the link to Join or enter Yahoo (I already belong), how to contact Bob and finally the Guestbook links. And, incidentally, all three of the Guestbook links go to Geocities and come up with "Geocities no longer exists.
Any more suggestions?
Jim W
From: Morrie Beitch
Sent: September 24, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
From: Jim White
Sent: September 24, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
Paul and/or Ken,
I tried the URL given below with both Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer. Both come up "Can't find." I know that sometimes I live in a parallel universe, but how do I get to the AFVN Roster?
Jim W
From: Bob Nelson
Sent: September 24, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
Ron, never realized you were at Monmouth. I was the CSM, went off to Desert Shield/Storm, came home and retired. Good last tour - I also had family in Princeton and on Long Island which worked out nice. That made my first AFRS assignment in 1965 - last one in 1991.
Bob Nelson
From: Jack Holsomback
Sent: September 24, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
Morry:
My first tour was April 1966-May or June 1967. I was first in the old itsy bitsy one-story building next to the Brink Hotel, flew a few times on the blue angels, then went to Da Nang to help build the first detachment which was on Monkey Mountain, DaNang. MGySgt Bill Sutphin was the NCOIC of the new TV station in Saigon and the network honcho. None of these old farts look anything like they did back in the olden days in country.
Semper Fidelis Jack Holsomback
From: Bob Nelson
Sent: September 24, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
From: Frank Rogers
Sent: September 24, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
And I'll bet he said, "Son of a Beitch." Today you'd be rich from the discrimination settlement.
And where is this "quickie school?"
From: Morrie Beitch
Sent: September 24, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
I’m pretty sure this isn’t why you’re asking -- but -- I went to the Tennessee Institute of Broadcasting in Nashville which had a six week course in how to pass the 1st class license exam. These schools were fairly common in the 60s and 70s because so many radio stations required DJ’s to have a first
From: Joe Ciokon
Sent: September 24, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
I think we would all love to hear those “war stories”. Sounds like fun. Dickie, Nick, and I used to go out of our way to get in trouble. My most heroic efforts were engaged in escorting our AFVN Commo Marines out of Saigon bars.
JoeC
From: Forrest Brandt
Sent: September 23, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
I was a transportation officer assigned to the 1st Signil Brigade at Long Bihn and ran an occasional convoy. Hated the job. Not the convoy part, the sit behind the desk and push paper part. CWO 4 Jamail Joseph, Lebanese-American, was the Brigade mess honcho and very theoretically under my command - knew Lt. Col Franklin, the PIO - USARV, put me in touch with him and that was my get out of jail free card.
I flew on some missions, one a wild ride in an OV-10 piloted by Wing Commander Larrard of the RAAF, a couple of insertions and escorted some reporters into the Michelin, Iron Triangle and up highway 13 to Song Be.
From: Joe Ciokon
Sent: September 24, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
[Reply to Ken Kalish's message] I'm Nervy Journalist Joe Ciokon and I approve this message!
JoeC
From: Mike Jackson
Sent: September 24, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
From: Joe Ciokon
Sent: September 24, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
[Reply to Forrest Brandt's message] Yeah, but weren’t you an Infantry officer upcountry? Seem to remember something about that. I have a lot of respect for ground pounders.
Cheers,
JoeC
From: John Thomas
Sent: September 24, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
Thanks for the comments. All of my guys, the engineering crew, really enjoyed our jobs. We had a super mix of services and backgrounds.
I did have a 1st Phone, but you know AFVN was the only place I worked where I actually used it. After my tour I went off and finished my schooling and went to work for Texas Instruments and have remained in a similar role at Pantheon, dealing with Military Systems. Someday I might retire!
From: Ken Kalish
Sent: September 24, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
From: Morrie Beitch
Sent: September 24, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
From: Ken Kalish
Sent: September 24, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
John:
You should be there. Like those wonderful people for whom we provided morale service, you made it possible for us to do our job. Yes, many of us were the face or voice from home. What our audience didn’t know is that it wasn’t us doing the heavy lifting.
Back home at a small town station we hung our 3rd Class FCC license on the wall and took transmitter readings each hour. Even there, it was someone with a 1st Class license who made the music machine run. All we did was pick out a few tunes, read copy, invent chatter, stick to the boss’ chosen format, and stay within the PD’s playlist. We kept the logs. Nice job, if you can get it. We didn’t climb towers to replace light bulbs, fine tune the Bauer, keep turntables running at correct speeds, fix a smoking pot in the Gates, or perform feats of magic to overcome lightning’s handiwork or that of an enemy mortar team. No, we were just the voice of the machine. You were its beating heart.
It isn’t us whom you should want to meet. It’s we who want to meet (and thank) you.
Besides, where else are you going to find home-brewed corn nectar?
Ken
From: Morrie Beitch
Sent: September 24, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
From: John Thomas
Sent: September 23, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
Sounds like you are going to have a great time. I confess I did not know anyone in the studio areas during my tour. I had my head buried in the transmitter building or out taking pictures or flying around fixing things.
Best wishes to you all.
From: Forrest Brandt
Sent: September 23, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
I was in the PIO office for the First ID - Lai Khe, and as a matter of fact on Wednesdays my Jolly Crew, Willy Johanson and Wayne Yeager and I, would go to Long Bihn to USARV - IO to edit - scotch tape, razor blade and that little steel block- all the clips we had gathered from grunts in the field during the week so that we could get in and out of AFVN in our allotted 45 minutes of studio time.
Forrest
From: Joe Ciokon
Sent: September 23, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
Morrie,
I arrived in-country 01 July 1967, spent one week in Cholon at Annapolis BEQ, then reported to River Patrol Section 523 in Vinh Long for duty as a PBR crewman. I was injured during a rescue operation for a downed helicopter in April of ’68 and sent to Saigon. I joined AFVN Saigon in time to be on the FM board the day of the May 5th bombing. I left AFVN and Viet Nam on the last day of February, 1969.
Ken
From: Joe Ciokon
Sent: September 23, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
Morrie,
I arrived in-country 01 July 1967, spent one week in Cholon at Annapolis BEQ, then reported to River Patrol Section 523 in Vinh Long for duty as a PBR crewman. I was injured during a rescue operation for a downed helicopter in April of ’68 and sent to Saigon. I joined AFVN Saigon in time to be on the FM board the day of the May 5th bombing. I left AFVN and Viet Nam on the last day of February, 1969.
Ken
From: Joe Ciokon
Sent: September 23, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
What the…? Were you a tourist? J
What’d you do those other days? Tea and crumpets with MACOI?
JoeC
From: Forrest Brandt
Sent: September 23, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
From: Morrie Beitch
Sent: September 23, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
Got it, thanks.
Ken--where were you and when?
From: Paul Kasper
Sent: September 23, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
From: Paul Kasper
Sent: September 23, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
http://vietnamrewearch.com/media/afvn/roster.html
[In checking this site in August 2014 it appears that it longer exists.
The AFVNVets.net Roster is at http://www.afvnvets.net/afvn-roster.html Webmaster.]
From: Paul Kasper
Sent: September 23, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept - Add One
I wanted to make an attempt at determining which reunion attendees I actually served with (I don’t seem to remember names) so I looked for the site that had a list of AFVNers and included where they were and when; I can’t find it. Is it gone? I know Ray Profeta was in Saigon the same time that I was so that I can renew an acquaintance with him that I’m not actually sure I had. Is anyone coming that was in Saigon between Aug 68 and Feb 69 or Tuy Hoa from Feb 69 thru Jun 69? Thanks
From: Frank Rogers
Sent: September 23, 2012
Subject: Reunion
Sorry to hear that, Frank. Wish I had known. I’ve got syringes, knives, baling twine, and a soldering gun in my llama care kit. Could have saved her a few bucks. First rule of family--family first. Perhaps on some future plain, in some future dream. Tell her to be well, unless she wants a delegation from the reunion to show up and sing her tunes from that great sheet music book, Ren and Stimpy’s Greatest Hits.
Ken
From: Frank Rogers
Sent: September 23, 2012
Subject: Reunion
I had a "grand plan" to combine the Memphis reunion with a drive across country to see friends from FEN days and relatives on the East Coast ... sort of a 'last visit' prior to going to our new, little house in the Philippines, stopping to see the new granddaughter in Tokyo. This week I got news from my Tennessee niece that her daughter was taken to the ER in a small Georgia town. Result: extensive surgery to save her life. Not going too much into details, [Some details omitted but all turned out well for the niece] Bottom line: I can't make it to the convention, as much as I was looking forward to putting more recent faces on old names.
Regrettably,
FrankR
From: Steve Sevits
Sent: September 23, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept
I won't be going to Memphis, but can do this by remote control if nobody else will. With today's internet access it will be easy to dig out the appropriate contacts: radio, tv and print.
See who responds out of those who are going and advise me.
Steve Sevits
AFRS News Saigon '63
From: Steve Sevits
Sent: September 23, 2012
Subject: Reunion Attendees 22 Sept
I won't be going to Memphis, but can do this by remote control if nobody else will. With today's internet access it will be easy to dig out the appropriate contacts: radio, tv and print.
See who responds out of those who are going and advise me.
Steve Sevits
AFRS News Saigon '63
AFVN Reunion
October 3 to 6, 2012 -- Memphis, Tennessee
A Selected List of Messages Leading up to the Reunion. (Page 2)