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Neil Pipher's pull with
Virgin River Resorts landed us decent accommodations at a good
bargain. Jonn Forslin's organizational skills put us all in the
right town at the right time and in a good frame of mind. Thanks,
Marines!
Rich Stepanek was in good
form as our Master of Ceremonies. Always thoughtful and witty, I
thought he added a most necessary element when he suggested that we
keep religion and politics out of the discussion. That helped.
Jonn Forslin came up with a
really great idea for a special tradition for Whiskey Battery. He'd
heard of a World War I unit that had retained a bottle of booze of
some sort from their time in Europe. They brought it to each of
their reunions, marking the names of their comrades who had died. It
fell to the last survivor to open the bottle and drink the Final
Toast. dj pro full version
It was really good to see
the increase in attendance. As we meet newer members of W-1-12, we
get a whole new slice of our patched history. As expected, all the
new guys were just as good as the old ones. Hmmm, come to think of
it, we're all old ones! I was a bit startled to note that I
assumed command over 38 years ago.
I thought I was the oldest,
but Capt Walters beat me out by two years.
I regret that I was only
able to spend about 24 hours there in Mesquite. Sandi was still
suffering from a nasty bout with shingles . Added to that, my
favorite mother-in-law was in hospital for rehab for the leg she
broke on Labor Day.
For future consideration, I
think it might be a good idea to have a designated area for
attendees to sign in. It could be a hospitality room or a form at
the hotel desk. That would give us all a quick idea of who has
arrived and how to contact them. The impromptu dinner on Friday was
a lot of fun. It would be better, though, to have a specific time
and place to meet so that everyone could join in the merriment.
Let's put that into the hopper for next year.
As I said in my talk, the
Brothers of Whiskey have continued to improve themselves as
testified to by the women who have chosen to live with them. Well
done!
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| "Hoorah for the Next Man That
Dies!" |
| by Rich
Richey |
We
closed Operation Mesquite with "Three cheers for the next man
that dies!" It went like this:
This
title, by the way, comes from a very old song the Brits used
to sing. I'll bring the music to the next
reunion.
Jonn
Forslin, ever attentive to the basic needs of his
brother Marines, brought a bottle of very fine Jack
Daniels single-cask whiskey to start our own tradition. That
got a lot of creative juices flowing--and Jonn's injunction
that's the only juice that oughta be flowing! The
bottle is only to be entrusted to the care of the least
temptation-prone among us.
Mark
Steffey, a metalworker, volunteered to create a chrome or
brass box to house it. He'd affix an Eagle, Globe and Anchor
to the front with a suitable title below. The final design
should be the result of input from everyone in the Battery,
but the newly established Board of Directors probably should
have the final approval.
A molded form inside covered with red
velvet would hold the bottle in place. On the cover,
under the EG&A, I suggest the inscription:
| Battery W, 1st Bn, 12th
Marines |
| 3rd Marine Division,
FMF |
| Viet Nam |
| "Hoorah for the next man that
dies!" |
Inside
the cover of the box would be inscribed the names of everyone
who served, shown in random order. That would allow
adding comrades we find later. The combat deaths could be
marked with a star. All other deaths would be acknowledged by
an inscribed line through the name. (A jeweler should do that,
as a K-bar doesn't scratch straight!)
To
ensure the survival of the whiskey down to the last survivor
of Whiskey, the bottle should be entrusted to the Marine
responsible for the next reunion. He will bring it to each
reunion, having attended to the appropriate interlineations of
the dead. The Board of Directors should also know of its
location, in the event the caretaker should die before it can
be passed on.
The
last man will open the bottle and toast to all his departed
comrades. We will all then rest easy knowing the whiskey is in
Whiskey forever.
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 Rich
Richey |
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| |
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| 1st. row sitting left to right: Clifford
Michael, Hank Bobala, Mark Keefe, Steve Samohey, Ron Cummins, Tim
Wolf. 2nd. row sitting left to right:
Neil Pipher, J.P. Burrage, James Maines, James Chesser,
Richard Stepanek. 3rd. row sitting left to
right: Harold Mituzas, Jonn Forslin,
Standing: Mike Mead, Sitting: Dick
Hulslander, Standing: Hugh
Walters. Top row standing left to
right: Virgil Boyer, Greg Weaver, Robert McClintock, Gardner
Cannon, Gary Caulkins, "Rich" Richey. |
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OPERATION
MESQUITE
After Action Report
by Dick
Hulslander
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Whiskey Battery, 1 – 12 was
once again in action over the weekend of 17 thru 19 October 2004 at
Mesquite, NV. The Advanced Party arrived Friday evening and partook
of evening chow with the natives. It is reported that the AP
participated in various forms of gaming with the indigenous peoples
as well.dj pro full version
Saturday
morning, the entire battery present enjoyed morning chow together
and then collaborated on various ceremonial and business matters
with Rich Stepanek doing a fine job as Master of Ceremonies.
J.P. Burrage read the names of our brothers lost in combat and then
of those who have since left this earth. LtCol Richey (f/k/a
Captain) gave the history of the Battery until the time he was
relieved by then Captain Huber. Greg Weaver also spoke about
the history of the Battery.dj pro full version
Capt. Hulslander
(f/k/a Lieutenant) related the subsequent history through his
departure from Con Thien approximately two weeks before Whiskey was
pulled off “The Hill.” Hulslander then read from the Third Chapter
of Ecclesiastes, after which Tim Wolf led us in
prayer.dj pro full version
Vickie Burrage
spoke about our website and encouraged each of us to contribute to
it. There was a round of applause and a standing ovation in
support and appreciation of Vickie and Joyce. Jonn Forslin
presented Vickie with a beautiful leather photo album and gave her
one to send to Joyce as well.dj pro full version
Hulslander spoke
again (Perhaps it should be noted for the next reunion to put glue
on “The Lieutenant’s” chair as he does not seem to be able to “sit
down and shut up.”) giving the financial. After all of the receipts
were received and the expenses paid for last year’s reunion, there
was a balance of $129.25 remaining. dj pro full version
It was agreed
that we will have a reunion in 2005; however, thereafter it may be
an every other year affair. It was also agreed that the ’05 reunion
will be in New Orleans, LA. Jerry Nevils lives in that area and has
volunteered, and if not that has been Shanghaied into working
as event coordinator. John Forslin explained that as an active
member of Kiwannis he knows that absence means that the absent
person gets elected to a position of responsibility, which he dare
not fail. That being the case, Russ Adams was elected President in
absentia. Four directors were elected: Bob McClintock, Greg Weaver,
Dick Stroud and Dick Hulslander. dj pro full version
Other matters of
note include that we had forty-five people in attendance despite the
disruption of air schedules caused by Hurricane Ivan and the
resultant inability of several people to get air transportation. We
did however get through to Top McFarland. Many in attendance
took the opportunity to express our thanks to Top for all he did for
us. It is correctly said that the Marine Corps builds men; what has
not been noted is that for the men and officers of Whiskey 1 – 12 is
that Top McFarland was the General Contractor for project. Again
Top, deep from all the hearts of Whiskey Battery, thank you.
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Additionally,
$1,340 was paid into the battery treasury. We owe approximately $800
for the breakfast and will need to pay $93 for our website; so, we
should have close to $450 available towards next year’s reunion
and/or other expenses. Of course if anyone forgot to contribute
towards the breakfast meeting or otherwise wishes to contribute to
W-1-12 fund, please send check to Dick Hulslander, made payable to
me as I do not want to through all of the resolutions and paper work
to open a business account, at 80 S. Lakeshore, Ransom Canyon, TX,
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Most of us had
dinner (evening chow) together Saturday night. Sunday morning, we
said our goodbyes over breakfast and went our various
ways.dj pro full version
Semper
Fi,
Dick Hulslander
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