Whiskey Battery 1^st Btn. 12^th Marine

 Reunion – Quincy, MA

Saturday, Sept. 15, 2012

Mark Keefe, host of the 2012 Whiskey Battery reunion opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance. Mark welcomed and thanked everyone for coming. He made a brief statement saying history is what our group and this reunion is all about.

 Mark then handed the floor over to _Russell Hicks spoke about the history of 112, mentioning going to the rock two times with “new gear, new guns”, ready to go back a 3^rd time.  He told a story about a frog outside of a pharmacy that was spotted as they were going down the road to a company picnic in Hanson that day. Lo and behold, the frog showed up at the picnic, stuck around and became the company mascot and was named Blizzard. Russell then handed the story over to Ron Cummings.

 Ron said the frog went along with the company on the USS Litchfield and then on to Dong Ha and Con Thein.  Although they took hits all day from the top of the hill the frog never got hit.  After that the frog was never seen again…………….until……………………..

 Ron was down by the shrimp docks in Honduras and who should show up but Blizzard. Ron decided that the only right thing to do was to bring him along to this year’s reunion. Blizzard was then presented to the group present and Ron made a motion to add him to the Whiskey Battery roster. Mark Keefe seconded this and all were in favor. Blizzard will be present at all Whiskey Battery reunions going forward.

 Mark introduced first time reunion attendee Jerry Meskun. Jerry stated that he was headquartered with 112 from Aug. of ’68 thru Oct. of ’69.  Mark also introduced a family member of Bob Huber, Liz Huber. Mark stated the Bob was with the battery company when they went to Con Thein.

 Mark requested a moment of silence to remember our past and fallen members of Whiskey Battery.

 Dick Huslander, Treasurer, reported that there is currently $875.12 in our account. There will be some expenditures taken out of this amount to reimburse Mark Keefe for this year’s event. Other expenses that need to be paid are the renewal of the domain name and hosting site fee of $180 for our online Whiskey Battery website.

Cliff Michael made a motion to pass the hat around the room and request that each male member of the group make a donation of $20 if they can afford to do so. Otherwise, any donation amount one can give would be appreciated. Teddy Nuzzolo seconded the motion and all approved.  The amount collected from passing the hat was $600. which will be added to our funds.

Dick also told a story about how he went to deposit last year’s pass the hat money and discovered a $20 bill from Honduras. The value was so minute that he couldn’t even deposit it as the bank said it would cost more money to collect on it than it was worth. Hmmm, need to watch what goes in the hat!

 New Business:

Rich Richey could not be present this year but reached out to Mark Keefe and Vicki Burrage and asked that the motion be made for him to host next year’s reunion in Green Valley, AZ. Virgil Boyer made the motion and Dick Huslander seconded it. All were in favor. Much more information to come. Vickie will be sending out an email with the details as well as posting the information on our website.

JP Burrage asked the group present if anyone was interested in taking over the website duties. There were no volunteers. Dick Huslander made a motion that Vickie continue to be the website host for another year. The motion was seconded by Cliff Michael. All stood and gave a round of applause acknowledging Vickie for the great job she does all year long. 

 Vickie said that Tom Conklin had been compiling a history of the Whiskey Battery. He sent it to Vickie and requested that others in the group critique/review it and add updates and corrections where needed. Vickie will post it online on our website with the understanding that this doc is a work in progress. Vickie will update with the input she receives back and we will review the doc at each reunion going forward.

Dick Huslander made the motion to post the doc on the above conditions with Cliff Michael seconding it. All were in favor.

 Vickie also stated that she was contacted by Chris Harrington who was good friends with Jerry Glaze. Chris recently took pictures of Jerry’s burial site and wants to share the pictures with anyone who is interested. Cliff Michael made a motion not to post the pictures on the website and anyone who wants copies to reach out to Vickie individually.  This was seconded by Dick Huslander.

Cliff Michael let those present know that he still has some t-shirts left over from the first reunion. They are available for purchase at the cost of $25 each.

Virgil Boyer stood and acknowledged the great job that Mark and Jan Keefe did with this year’s reunion. All stood and gave them a round of applause as a way of showing a round appreciation. 

 Mark Keefe also wanted to thank Jan for the help and support she has given him throughout the last year as well as during the reunion weekend.

Mark Keefe adjourned the meeting @ 9:43 AM.

Minutes submitted by Debbie Bissonette.