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The Tiger Gazet=
te
The official public=
ation
of the World Renowned Soc Tra=
ng
Tigers and the Vikings
121st AVN Association &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Volume Number 2  = ; &n= bsp; Issue Number 1 = Date 1 March 2009
Welcome
Another New Year̵= 7;s Day has passed, and we have been reflecting on old friends with whom we have lost track. John Schmied has = started a list of names that we have not heard from, and we are including it in this issue. If anyone knows a name= that is not on the list, or knows the contact information of anyone who is on it, please contact us. All contact information in our database is kept in strict confidence. We do not give out any addresses or phone numbers. If someone wis= hes to contact a Tiger or Viking, we will send the address and phone number of the person desiring to initiate contact to the person that he wants to contact,= and that party can decide if he wants to reply.
Our next reunion will be June 12-14 at the Atlas Inn in Cape May, New Jersey. We have a tour of both the Wildwood NAS and the Forgotten Warriors museums. The Forgotten Warriors Museum was created by our own Tom Collins, who flew as a door gunner on many missions = in 1967-68. He has done a fabulo= us job both with the museum and the traveling display that he uses to present our service to schools and civic functions.&nb= sp; We realize that our ladies have other interests, and are investigati= ng the possibilities of activities specifically tailored for them. We know that bus tours are availab= le, and we solicit other suggestions for activities for the ladies. I hope to see you there.
Don Jackson
One of t= he hazards of being a slick driver was that the shoulder harness made an excel= lent hand hold for the troops sitting behind it. Of course, when one of them grabbe= d the harness it pinned the pilot’s shoulders to the back of the seat. I recall a radio transmission from Captain Wilson: “Vikings, Tigers will be coming out in one zero. Get = that S-- O- a B---- off my strap or I will kill him!” Keeping the hands off the straps w= as an ongoing battle. Later, we not= iced a stencil beside the pitot tube of an Air America helicopter that read: “Cam Manh Tay” and had the paint shop stencil this on the shoul= der harness strap. I am not sure exactly what it means in Vietnamese, but the ARVN troops got the idea.
The pitot tube on the pre-1966 Hueys was located where= it was very convenient for someone walking past the nose to grab. As the troops were frequently slog= ging through mud and water, it was not uncommon for one to slip and grab the pit= ot tube for support. This usuall= y bent or broke the pitot tube, rendering the airspeed indicator useless. Because the water that was splashe= d up from the rice paddies frequently got in the pitot tube, pilots of the older ships learned to turn on the pitot heat as part of the pre-landing check list. This had the happy side effect of teaching people to not grab and break the pitot tube.
Greetings to all.
Only two subjects for me to mention in this issue: the next reunion (the = Cape May Gathering), and the Association>05 reunion this one is being pla= nned and coordinated by Tom and Theresa Collins, who did an outstanding job for = us then. We can never have too m= any former Tigers, Vikings and Wreckers attend our reunions, so if not already wired to go, please plan to attend if possible.
The Financial Assistance Program got a late start because of some restrictive wording that precluded applicants that were bey= ond one year after completing high school being qualified to apply. That has been corrected and we are= ready to kick it off for sure. So f= ar, one application has been received and another potential applicant has expre= ssed interest. The deadline for completed applications to be received is 30 April. So check out your decedents and encourage any that are in, or ready to begin, college or technical training= to apply. The application and instructions can be down load= ed from our web site. Norm Laume= yer, one of the trustees, is primary for this program, but any trustee can provi= de the needed form and information. Give it a shot.
Hope all is well with everybody.
John Kennedy
Historian’s Report: A couple of weeks ago I got an ema=
il
message from a fellow by the name of Bill Verebely. He had been a member of an U=
SAF
T-28 unit stationed at Soc Trang (1963 – 64). He saw my name and email address o=
n the
Association website and wondered if I was interested in some pictures he had
taken at Soc Trang. Of course=
I
said, “Yes.” So he sent me fifty-three pictures in batches over=
a
few days. This week I am send=
ing
these pictures to, Dave Misselhorn, our webmaster to add to the photo
gallery. Probably by the time=
you
read this many of you will already have had a chance to see these excellent
pictures. When I emailed Bill=
to
thank him, he replied that he thought his Vietnam memorabilia would probabl=
y be
put in the trash when he was gone; so he wanted to get them to someone who
would preserve them. I assure=
d him
that it was a goal of the 121st AVN Association to preserve its
artifacts. It is my since hop=
e that
those of you who have documents and photographs will take some time to get =
them
to me. I will make copies and
return the originals to you, or you can send me copies (.jpg files if possi=
ble)
bojogreene@comcast.net If you=
have
other artifacts, e.g., maps, weapons, helmets, flags, please consider donat=
ing
them to our own Tom Collin’s Forgotten Warriors museum at Cape May,
NJ. If you are coming to the
reunion this year, it would be an ideal time for your donation. For questions contact Tom at: http://=
www.forgottenwarriors.org/index.html
.
I’ll be set up in the hospitality room at our forthcoming reunion to receive any documents or photos you have and answer = any questions. I will also have c= opies of the 121st annual reports from 1963 – 1970 available for= any reasonable contribution to the Association.
Bob Greene
Your Membership Committee ne=
eds a
little help to try to locate some of our brothers that are MIA from our
Association. We have been unable to locate the following men who served with
the 121st or attached units.&nb=
sp;
If you recognize any of the following names and know anything about
them, please contact Dave Cunningham at tigerlead67@aol.com or 305-235-7762,
Don Jackson at tiger129ts@roadrunner.com or 502-370-4049 or John Schmied at
jds50@aol.com or 636-207-1825.
If you have =
any of
your old orders stashed away. Please take a moment to drag them out and che=
ck
them to see if anyone else on those orders was in the 121st. If =
so,
please make a copy and send to any of the above, or bring them with you to =
the
reunion in June, in Cape May. Likewise, if you happen to recall anyone that=
you
served with, please send us their names and any little bit of info you may
recall about them. Your membership committee is constantly working to locate
anyone that served in Soc Trang, to get them “back home” into t=
he
“Tiger Family”.
John Schmied=
Banta, Donal=
d
66 - Maint=
span>
Barefoot, Be=
n
Evans, GA
Bartlett, Er=
nie
Pinehurst, I=
D
Battagliotti,
Guerino
“Batma=
n”
66-67 - Main=
t.
Carbondale, =
IL
Bowstring, B=
ruce
66-67 - Maint.
Deer Run, MN=
Braga, Franc=
is
Bucchio, Sal=
vatore
(Sal)
66-67 –
Maint.
Tiger/Viking=
Crew
Chief
New York (NY=
C?)
Chrisco, Jam=
es
(Jim)
66-67 - 80th
Trans – Maint.
Arnold, MO=
span>
Churchill, J=
oe
Colby, Ronal=
d
Cole, Franki=
e L.
Conally, Jam=
es G.
Crisp, ?
66-67 - 80th
Trans - Maint.
Chicago, IL<=
/span>
Darling, Art=
Dozier, S. C=
.
Eneix, Lowel=
l
67-68 –
Pilot
Gold Beach, =
OR
Esper, Greg<=
/span>
Etle, Gary=
span>
Fleming, Ter=
rence
J.
Forsythe, Bo=
bby
66-67- Maint=
-
Crew Chief
Memphis or
Nashville, TN
Fortner, Ric=
hard
Garcia, Vict=
or A.
66-67 –=
; BT
Crew Chief
Salt Lake Ci=
ty, UT
Gordon, Thad=
B.
Gormley, Art=
66-67 –
Maint.
Graves, Lawr=
ence
Groghan, R. =
F.
Henry, Donal=
d
66-67 –=
; BT
Crew Chief
Hicks, Rober=
t W.
(Willis)
66-67 –
Maint.
Ft. Wayne, I=
N
Johnson, Jer=
ry W.
Jones, Tony =
W.
66-67 –
Maint – Tiger or Viking Crew Chief?
Bowlegs, OK<=
/span>
Kelly, David=
Kendig, Lore=
n D.
Kirk, Jack=
span>
66-67 –=
; BT
Plt. Sgt.
Klett, Raymo=
nd F.
Lee, Jr., Wi=
lliam
G.
Lenz, James =
(Jim)
66-67 –
Maint.
LeVerve, Sr.,
Charles
Linder, Jerr=
y W.
Lofton, R. C=
.
Long, Thomas=
J.
Lynn, J. E.<=
/span>
Martinez, Ch=
arles
O.
Materne, Tom=
Mattsen, Leo=
nard
McDonald, Fr=
ank A.
McKeich, R. =
W.
Medley, Park=
er
Miller, D. R=
.
Mobley, Don<=
/span>
Moore, Carlt=
on R.
Moore, J. A.=
Mullins, Jos=
eph
Nees, Randy<=
/span>
66-67 –=
; WT
Plt. Sgt.
Orr, William
Crooke
Palczynsky, =
Steve
F.
Phannenstill,
Richard
66-67 –=
; Maint.
or Crew Chief?
Pluhar, Vern=
F.
Polk, Albert=
Pollitt, Car=
l E.
67 – G=
uner
Puffenbarger=
, ?
66-67 –
Maint. & Crew Chief
“Puff =
the
Magic Dragon”
KY ?<=
/b>
Quisenberry,
William
68-70=
Resendez, Jr=
.,
David “Frenchie”
Richey, Bob<=
/span>
Robinson, Br=
uce
66-67 Maint.=
BT
Crew Chief
KY ?<=
/b>
Roe, R. G.=
span>
Romero, Jr.,
Artenio
Rudeen, Howa=
rd
Kent
Russell, Joh=
n
Russell, Ric=
hard
Sharp, Billy=
Smith, Bruce=
W.
Spears, Lou<=
/span>
66 – M=
aint
Stagner, Ric=
hard
66-67 Maint
– BT Crew Chief
KY ?<=
/b>
Steele, Gary=
Strickler, D=
onald
Teague, Char=
les
Thornton III,
Robert D.
Trotter, Gar=
y
66-67 –
Maint or Crew Chief
Granite City=
, IL
Vassar, R.
A.Veloni, Gene
Williams, Jo=
hn E.
Wilson, Calv=
in
Winn (or Wyn=
n)
Robert O.
67 - Maint - Crew Chief
WI
Young, Gary =
B.
MEMBERSHIP=
/TREASURER’S
CORNER
&nbs= p; Gentlemen:
=
=
span>I
am pleased to report that the Association continues to be financially healt=
hy
in these economically troubled times.
At this point here is no need to apply for any bailout money from the
stimulus bill. Having said th=
at,
please remember that if you have any spare cash we welcome your donations, =
all
of which are tax deductible. =
Your
dues/monies go to financing the organization’s operation, not the lea=
st
of which includes, scholarships, the Tiger Gazette, reunion expenses and the
day to day expenses involving membership activities, postage, stationary co=
sts,
etc. The Association has no
salaried folks and all =
time
is donated without compensation.
=
=
span>It
is satisfying to note that the reenlistment rate is very high and some have
stepped up from annual membership to “LIFE” membership, of which
there are more than seventy. =
The
list of current members is on the Association website and is updated
periodically. The webmaster
contributes the time to maintain and update our fine website without pay. In fact, he never served in the 12=
1st but is a relative of a member. We hope you will visit the site of=
ten.
=
=
span>Only
three and a half months till the reunion at Cape May. Tom Collins has a great event plan=
ned
and this promises to be the finest gathering so far. The Jersey shore is beautiful in J=
une,
the hotel has just been updated, the food wonderful, the location right on =
the
beach, a great trip planned to The Forgotten Warriors Museum and the NAS
Wildwood Aviation Museum, and last, but not least, the opportunity to recon=
nect
with comrades and meet new ones.
Airfares are the lowest in quite a spell. It just doesn’t get any bett=
er
than this.
=
=
span>Please
make every effort to attend and bring you family and friends. Signup is available by mail or onl=
ine
and it is very helpful for planning purposes that you sign up early. See you there! Dave Cunningham C=
ontact
Us: Lett=
ers to
the editor should be sent to: Dona=
ld
Jackson 217 =
Wilderness
Cove Lane Geor=
getown,
Ky. 40324 Emai=
l: Tiger129ts@roadrunner.com <=
span
style=3D'font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Your Board of Trustees=
is:
<=
span
style=3D'font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>
J=
ohn
Kennedy, Chairman
Kennedyj101@mchsi.com
<= o:p>
D=
onald
Jackson, Vice Chairman
<= o:p>
J=
ohn
Schmied, Secretary
<= o:p>
D=
ave
Cunningham, Treasurer and
Membership
Tigerlead67@aol.com
<= o:p>
B=
ob
Greene, Historian
<= o:p>
N=
orm
Laumeyer, Scholarship Chair
=
&nb=
sp; =
=
=
The Tiger Gazette