121st AVN Association= Volume Number 4 Is= sue Number 3 Date 18 November 2011=

Welcome

Fall has arrived, and Thanksgiving is upon us. This is the time of year that we reserv= e to give thanks for our lives and the many blessings that we enjoy. For the Tigers and Vikings, it is also = a time to remember those absent companions who shared the days of our youth. We honor those young men in our hearts,= and now are going to pay them a permanent honor by erecting a memorial to them = at Veteran’s Park on Fort Rucker, Alabama. We plan to dedicate this memorial next June. This is important to all of us, and als= o to the families of these fallen heroes. If any of you know any of the family or friends of a fallen Tiger, please tell them about the memorial, and urge them to attend the dedication.

Don Jackson

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Chairman’= s Corner

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Greetings to all,

Work on our monument is = now rolling. The design was approved b= y the Garrison Commander at Fort Rucker on 24 October. I visited the Veterans Memorial Park ne= ar the museum two days later and, in coordination with a representative of the Post Master Planning Division, a location for our monument has been reserved. Next up is finalizing the contract in a timely way to have the work completed about the middle of June next year. I’ve included a list of our known causalities. These men died while serving as members of the 93^rd Transportation Company (Lt Hel) or the 121st Aviation/Assault Helicopter Company in Vietnam and their names wi= ll be engraved on the memorial. There= ’s always a chance for error, and ask if you know of any others that have been missed, please inform me quickly.

We’re planning the June = reunion to be at the same location as the three previous in Dothan. The name has changed from Holiday Inn to Clarion Inn and Suites. We started negotiating with them on the 11^th of November and have 60 rooms reserved for our use 20 through 24 June 2012. So plan your summer activities around that time frame and join us th= ere. More information will follow as we progress.

Recall from last year, t= here were no applications for our education financial assistance grants. The program is still alive and well, so plea= se keep your descendents informed and encourage them to apply for next year’s = fall semester.

Hope all are well.

John Kennedy

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Secretary= ’s Report

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Now is the time for a= ll good men to come to the aid of the Tigers -- by helping us find these guys! Your Membership Committee has located= over 440 men that served in Da Nang & Soc Trang during the existence of the 93rd - 121st and the attached units. In addition we have discovered that 118 Tigers have passed = on to the big LZ in the sky. There are, however, many more Tigers who have not "found their way back home". We ask that you check the following = list carefully, to see if any of these names set off a spark in the old memory banks. As we all get a little "more mature" (not older, but more mature) our memories may not be quite as vivid as they were back in the day= , but any speck of information could lead us to locating these lost Tigers. If you recall someone's home town that could bring us one step closer. If you happ= en to still have some of your old orders from the time you were in Da Nang or Soc Trang, per= haps one of these names were included in those orders which again would be a tremend= ous help. The following list contains the last name, first name, the year which= we have found them listed as serving in the 93rd/121st, or attached units, the= ir duty (if known) and their home town or last known area of residence (if known). If you happen to recall or= find any little tidbit of information on anyone on this list, please contact Dave Cunningham - tigerlead67@aol.com (305-986-9450) or John Schmied -johndschmied@yahoo.com (352-633-0541). We would sincerely appreciate any information you can provide. Thanks in advance for your help.

John Schmied, Secretary.

SEE THE ATTAC= HED LIST (editor)=

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Membershi= p/Treasurer’s Report

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Gents,

Much is going on and there are several items to report= , all good.

The fund raising for the me= morial project has been very gratifying. The proposed cost would have been intimidating to most organizations but evidently not to the Tiger/Viking family. The donations, large and small, are from a large number of veterans, family members, and a couple independent organizations. It has put us at the threshold of our financial goals and I believe they will be achieved in the very near term, Congratulations and a hearty thank you to all who have or w= ill contribute.

The itinerary for the upcoming reunion in 2012 is being organized and will be finalized in the next month or so. Informational flye= rs and registration forms will be mailed out at that time to all the folks we = have current mailing addresses for. The same documents will be posted on the Association’s web site at: www.121avn.org= . It will be listed under the menu portion entitled “2012 Reunion”. Included under the reunion portion of the menu will be a current, up to date, listin= g of all those who have registered and sent in their payment. It is updated on a daily basis. I should also mention that the flyers and registration forms w= ill also be posted in case you misplace the ones sent to you by snail mail.

In the past several months we have received numerous c= opies of personal military orders that have resulted in finding long lost veteran= s. Fred Lammers has done yeoman service to the organization in this regard. The people we cannot initially locate are plac= ed in a MIA file for further follow up. The latest list of MIAs is located elsewhere in this Tiger Gazette. If you have any contact information on any= of these individuals, even long ago, please contact me or John Schmied. Even a very cold trail is worth following. If you know that any of these fo= lks have passed on please advise us of that as well,= along with any details (date of death, cause of death, etc.) The Association is a= lso very devoted to reconnection so if you’re looking for a long lost buddy con= tact us regarding that and we’ll help all we can. There are some security protoc= ols to be observed in this regard, which I’m sure you all understand. We must protect the privacy of both the person you are seeking and yourself.

PX sales continue to be quite busy. For pictures of the items and pricing please go to the “PX” portion of the web site. All items displayed are currently in stock though the “Tiger” polo shirts are in very short supply and will not be reordered. Also note the Soc Trang Tiger Cook Book, an accumulation of donated recipes and great cooking/nutritional information. A real bargain at $10.= 00 plus $3.00 for shipping and handling. They make a wonderful gift, especially at this time of year. If you haven’t finished up your holiday shopping please consider this book. The profits off this book go to the Memorial fund project as well.

Total membership continues strong and although we have= had a few members pass new ones continue to join. Your dues are used to finance t= he various projects of the Association. The list of current Life and Annual members is listed in the Association Membership Section of the website. We = urge all to join and support the efforts of the organization on behalf of the veterans and family members of our beloved unit.

Next year’s reunion will be the most important event i= n the post war era of the World Renowned Soc Trang Ti= gers. I have already received information that family and friends of our KIAs and DATs will be in attendance. I strongly urge all of you to make plans to att= end this great gathering.

I hope this finds you all well and I look forward to s= eeing you in Dothan next June.

Dave Cunningham

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Historian= ’s Report

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Since the last Gazette was published, I have again exp= anded the format for each year of the Tiger’s time in Vietnam, and then I have set about fleshing it out. I have been= back to the National Archives several times searching through the 1^st Aviation Brigade general orders files and have found quite a few awards and decorations presented to Tigers and Vikings. Because of volume, I have not collected awards without citations, e.= g., Air Medals and Commendation Medals. However, I did collect Bronze Star Medals and Purple Hearts. As I proceeded with this effort I obser= ved that there was quite an interval of time between the event and the publishi= ng of the order. For example, Dave Cunningham was wounded on his way home in July 1967 but his Purple Heart was not awarded until November. I don’t write this in any pejorative way, because when I saw the number of awards t= hat were published every day, and believe me I went through every one of them, = the time delay was understandable.

I continue to plug away on the transcription of the ta= ped interview I had with Jerry Daly year before last. Transcribing is obviously not the great= est of my skills. I am, however, determin= ed to have it done by our next reunion in June.

The first release (Version 1) of the 121^st Aviation Association Archive will be 31 December. At that time I will bundle the archive = and send it to Texas Tech University. = On 1 January 2012 I will began Version 1.1.

It has occurred to me that the Association archive sho= uld also include the events of the years we have been organized and what has be= en accomplished. I’m going to attempt= to organize that aspect of our Association in the future.

On Friday, 4 November 2011, I attended the funeral of Charles Modzelewski at the Old Post Chapel at Ft Myer, VA and at Arlington National= Cemetery. I wrote a short piece on that event for= the 121^st AHC Yahoo Group, and since this issue of the Gazette is go= ing to all, I am enclosing it, below:

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Yesterday I was privileged to attend the funeral service of Charles Modzelewski at the o= ld post chapel at Fort Myer, Va. with internment at Arling= ton National Cemetery. Charlie served as an aviation mechanic with the 93d/121^st = Avn Co. from 1962 to 1963. He had the additiona= l duty of caring for Tuffy while he was at Soc Trang. Charlie died at age fifty in 1992, but h= is sister Joyce La Fiura wanted him to be put to rest at Arlington among the many other heroes of our Nation. There were seven family me= mbers and close friends plus myself in the party and we were so impressed with the way the Army treated Charlie. He got a soldier’s internment with a 21 gun salute and taps. The ceremony at the columbarium was brief but dignified. The National colors were opened over his remains then fold= ed with military precision. After words by Chaplain Sneed, Joyce placed = his remains in the space for him and the ceremony ended.

= ;We then went to lunch in Clarendon and I had the opportunity to get to know Charlie= ’s family. They were raised on Staten Island, N.Y. in a big family of four boys and two girls. Charlie’s Brother Bill had been a staff sergeant in the Air Force many years ago and had purchased a n= ew uniform for the occasion. He wore it proudly and looked great. There was much discussion of Charlie’s life and I talked about Soc Trang. I told them that Joe Levinson, Charlie’s= CO had died the week before. It was a wonderful time of memories. Joyce gave me a large packet of photographs the Charlie had taken in the Army. I will scan them and have them put out on the web to be seen by all. I will also put them in the archive before returning them to Joy= ce.

= ;If you ever get a chance to go to a funeral at Arlington I recommend you go. = It is a place of great beauty and dignity. It is where I hope to go.

= ;Bob

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Contact Us:

Letters to the editor should = be sent to:

Donald Jackson

217 Wilderness Cove Lane

Georgetown, Ky. 40324

Email: Tiger129ts@roadrunner.com

Your Board of Trustees is:=

John Kennedy, Chairman                        Donald Jackson, V= ice Chairman

Kennedyj101@mchsi.com                       Tiger129ts@roadrunner.com<= /a>                                                     =

John = Schmied, Secretary                          = Dave Cunningham, Treasurer and Membership                                                =                                                          =

johndschmied@yahoo.com                      Tigerlead67@aol.com                                                =

Bob Greene, Historian                             Norm Laumeyer

47296 Grandview Place                       babsnnorm@aol.com

Potomac Falls, VA 20165                                                =

bojogreene@verizon.net                                                 =                                                                            =

Lawrence Hays
lawrencejhays@att.net

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OUR HONORED DEAD

SP4            <= /span>DAVID B.          ANDERSON                5 APR 1969

SP5            <= /span>PAUL R.            ANZELONE                9 FEB 1968

1STLT       JAMES Q.          AYDLETT                   11 JUL 1966

CPT           FRANKLIN S.   BRADLEY, JR            9 FEB 1968

SP4            <= /span>DONALD           BRAMAN                    2 JAN 1963

SP4            <= /span>WILLIE B.          CATLIN                       2 JUL 1968

PFC            LOYE T.             CHRISTMAS              17 JAN 1964

SP5            CLYDE L.           COFFMAN                  2 APR 1970

1STLT       CHARLES M.    FITTS                           11 JAN 1963

SP4            <= /span>LORENZO         FOX                              31 AUG 1970

CW-2         FRANCIS L.       GRIFFIN                      1 FEB 1968

SP4            <= /span>GEORGE S.       HADZEGA                  15 JUN 1968

CW-2         JAMES W.         HARGROVE               18 OCT 1966

WO-1         RICKY L.           HULL                            9 FEB 1968

WO-1         JACKIE D.         JONES                          11 JUL 1966

SP4            <= /span>MICHAEL          LYNCH                        9 FEB 1968

WO-1         WILLIAM G.     MONCRIEF                 3 JUL 1968

PFC            DAVID E.           NANCE                        11 JUL 1966

SP4            <= /span>ANGELO J.        SFERRAZZA              11 JUL 1966

SP4            <= /span>THOMAS J.       SILVA                          3 APR 1970

SP4            <= /span>PRESTON J.      SNYDER                      18 MAY 1966

1STLT       LEWIS L.            STONE                         11 JAN 1963

CPT           DONALD B.       TOTH                           11 JAN 1963

PFC            DALE E.             UMBENHAUER         17 MAY 1966

SGT           WILLIAM L.      VASPORY                   2 APR 1970

WO-1         RICHARD J.      WARDEN                    4 JUL 1970

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