Ever Vigilant- Dog and Handler

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ALUMNI DIRECTOR
Larry Majeski
212th 65/66



NEWSLETTER
EDITOR
Dave Keeton
981st 67/68



WEBMASTER
Jack H. Duffell
212th 71/72



2013 REUNION
COORDINATOR

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August 2005
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Friday, August 26th

Reunion Update


Hi from the heartland.

I wanted to write this to let those of you who did not attend the reunion know what you missed. First, I want to thank all those that attended. I believe this reunion was great. I got to see a lot of old friends and made new friends.

The reunion started for on Thursday when we opened the hospitality room. There were a few early arrivers that came to help set up the room. It was nice and easy that first afternoon and night. It gave everyone a chance to get acquainted.

Friday morning started out the way Thursday night ended. However, that did not last long. The Elvis Presley Parade got everyone’s attention. Kansas City has an annual Elvis Parade around the downtown area. It so happen our hospitality room overlooked the whole festivities. If you have never seen Elvis riding in a giant commode, you have missed something. At the end of the parade, Elvis was blown out of a Portable John. The explosion was heard all the way up to the seventeenth floor. It startled us all. The rest of the day, folks were checking in with Larry Majeski. .

Saturday morning began with a breakfast buffet. In the past, we have had this breakfast on Sunday mornings. We changed it around so folks leaving early Sunday morning could still take part. I ate so much food it held me over till dinner. After breakfast, Charlie Conn showed a film of military working dog units in the early years of Vietnam. Two sentry dog units were included in the film, a Hawk Battalion and the 88th MP Company. Larry Majeski saw a couple guys he knew. It was really worth watching. I believe everyone enjoyed it. About noon, we received several VIP visitors. They were two dog teams from the Wal-Mart Corporation. Patricia Ryan and J.R. heard about our reunion so they stopped by. They brought Maverick and Goose. Both were Belgian Shepherds. The dog teams are trained in bomb and personal protection. They were in Kansas City in preparation for Wal-Mart’s upcoming conference. We got to tell Patty and J.R. about ourselves, and they told us about what they do. It was nice having dogs around. We even got to pet them. I felt like a tower jockey in Nam wanting to pet Rolf.

Saturday night was the big dinner. Again the Marriott stuffed us full. Before dinner, we took time to have our group photos taken. I bet Jack Duffell has those photos up on the web site already. During dinner, we were entertained by Doug Mager of Muchmore Music. After dinner, we had some business and two guest speakers. Larry Majeski welcomed everyone to the reunion. He spoke about finding another location for the next reunion. David Keeton spoke about the newsletter. He also reminded us of going to schools to offer our selves as speakers about the history of Vietnam. Ernie Ayala told us he had recruited four members for the Vietnam Dog Handler’s Association. He also encouraged members to join and attend the next VDHA reunion. Ernie introduced our first guest speaker, Dick King. Dick is from Kansas City, and he was a Navy Sentry Dog Handler in Vietnam. Dick gave us insight into what it was like to walk a dog for the Navy. It was very interesting. Our last speaker was Richard Verrone. Richard is with the Texas Tech University Vietnam Archive Oral History Project. Richard, along with Laura Calkins, has written a new book titled” Voices from Vietnam: Eye-witness Accounts from the War, 1954-1975”. Richard read several excerpts from his book to show us how what we experienced is important to share. He mentioned that several of his students at Texas Tech did not realize that there were sentry dog teams in Vietnam.

After dinner, Doug turned up the volume and the tempo. Sandy got to dance. She really enjoys dancing. I got a lot of compliments about Doug. Even David Dahl was pleased. Doug played “We got to Get out of This Place”, by Eric Burton and the Animals. During the music, Bob Bouslaugh told Larry Majeski and me that he would like to host the next reunion in 2007 in Durango Colorado. I am looking forward to seeing Colorado. I have never been in Colorado other than the airport. The rest of the night was spent talking dancing and saying our good byes.

Sunday morning was an informal continental breakfast in the hospitality room for those still around. It gave everyone a chance to sit down, eat a little and say their final good byes. It was a good way to end the reunion.

Listed below is the complete list of those members who attended:



David Ford, 212th, 71-72 with spouse
Duane Kern, 212th, 65-66
Henry Labombard, 212th, 65-66
Richard L. Muto, 212th, 65-66
Charlie Hahn, 212th, 66-67
John Zimmerman, 212th, 66-67
Ernie Ayala, 212th, 67-68 with spouse
William C. Lyle, 212th, 67-68
Ernest L. May, 212th 67-68 with spouse
Jerry Hutchings, 212th 69-70 with spouse
Jack Duffell, 212th, 71-72 with spouse
Harold Gearhardt, 981st - 70/71 with spouse
Pedro Moreno, 212th - 65/66 with spouse
R. Joseph Tigner, 981st - 71/72 with spouse
Robert D. Beckwith, 212 - 69/70 with spouse
David C. Whitney, 212th - 69/70 with spouse
Larry Majeski, 212th - 65/66
John W. Cloud, 212th - 67/68 with spouse
Robert Bauslaugh, 212th, 981st, 67-68, with spouse
Paul J. Belmas, 981st 67/68 with spouse
Terry L Cremer, 212th - 69/70 with spouse
Charles Conn, 212 - 67/68 with spouse
Miguel Bustamante, 212 - 68/69 with spouse
David L. Dahl, 981st - 71/72 with spouse
Michael W. Igoe, 981st, 67-68
David L. Keeton, 981st 67-68 with spouse
Stan Brodine, 981st, 71-72 with spouse
William McCloskey, 981st 67-68
John Walker, 981st 67-68
Kenneth Casey - 212th - 67/68
Larry Davis - 981st - 71/72 with spouse
Jerry Gard - 981st - 67/68
Phillip Stockes - 212th - 69/70
Tom Hall - 212th - 69/70
Mike Colburn - 981st - 70/71
Dan Dallas - 981st - 70/71
Joe Willenbecock - 981st - 70/71
Tom Guildi - 981st - 71/72
Ed Norwood - 981st - 67/68
Rex Hughes, 981st 71-72 with spouse
Ray L. Rogers, 981st, 71-72
Gary Smith, 981st, 71-72 with spouse



I would again like to thank everyone who attended. We had a fund raiser and collected donations during the weekend. We exceeded our expenditures by $152.84. That money will be applied to the newsletter.

I mentioned earlier about Charlie Conn showing the film of dog handlers from Vietnam. The company that owns the rights to that film called me Monday morning to tell me in no certain terms that we violated copyright laws. They were notified by Marsh Air Force Base, that controls all DOD films, that we were showing the film in a public setting. The distributor told me there is a paragraph at the beginning of the film that says this film is for home use only. They said hotel rooms are not considered home use. I am not a lawyer so I did not argue the matter. I do not know how Marsh AFB found out about our reunion or got my phone number and name. I do not believe any further action is contemplated by DOD or the distributor. It is safe to say that I will not be showing any more films in a public setting.


Gary Smith,

981st 71-72

Rolf 72X6


webmaster on 08.26.05 @ 11:39 PM CST [link]

Tuesday, August 16th

Bad Link for the Malthion information...


It was brought to my attention that the link for the "Malthion Information" page was bad. The gentleman who had the link, lost his web site address. Here is a new link for this Information.

http://www.vspa.com/k9/malathion2.htm It is the same page, but on a different site.

The Malthion Link on the index page has also been updated.

Jack H. Duffell
212th 71'/72'
sdalumni@gmail.com
webmaster on 08.16.05 @ 08:16 PM CST [link]


Great Reunion!


Greetings to everyone from the state of Texas!

Reunion was really good! I will post photo's and a report in the next few weeks. I want to thank Gary and Sandy for their work. They did a wonderful job! The food was great, the speaker excelled, and the DJ kept us entertained through out the evening, with games and good music. I met new members, and rehashed memories with the old. It was a very good time!

A member has come forward and wants to host the next reunion in Durango Colorado! For anyone not familiar with this area, it is located in the Rocky Mountains, around 7,000 feet. It is breathtaking. This is tentitive, and more information will be forthcoming. Also in the future, we have members researching New York, and San Antonio, TX.

Until the next report,

Have a good week!

Jack H. Duffell
212th - 71'/72

webmaster on 08.16.05 @ 08:09 PM CST [link]

Tuesday, August 2nd

Reunion Schedule with Menus


Here is a pdf file from Gary Smith showing the times and menus for the reunion.

Reunion Schedule/Menus


webmaster on 08.02.05 @ 01:10 AM CST [link]



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Last Updated on 01/22/2009
By J.D.