3rd Brigade 82nd Airborne Division (Vietnam)

It’s about us. It’s who we are. It’s why we meet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifJbEBSX4N0

Counting Short Time!

As many of you have heard, Manny lost his battle with cancer yesterday afternoon (2 Feb); I have just spoken to the family and they have scheduled a viewing and memorial service for Tuesday, 9 February 2010 at Rogers and Breece Funeral Home (see location below). The family will accept visitors from 4:45 – 6:45 immediately followed by a memorial service at 7 pm. Manny’s wishes were to be cremated, therefore there are to be no graveside services.

Always a staunch supporter of the 82d Educational Fund; the family asks that in lieu of flowers donations be made in his name. Please also note that due to allergies and health concerns the family asks that while cards are welcome; no plants or flowers be sent to the house.

Below are the addresses for both the De Jesus family and the Funeral Home. If you need further information please contact either myself, Jaqi or Santiago here at the office (910)223-1182.

Airborne,

Candace

Migdalia De Jesus
528 Carteret Place
Fayetteville, NC 28311

Rogers & Breece Funeral Home
500 Ramsey St
Fayetteville, NC 28301
(910) 483-2191

With regret I am passing on the death of our past Executive Director Manny DeJesus. He passed away late this afternoon and at this time there are no funeral arrangements.

Steve Frazer, Past President, 82nd Airborne Division Association

It is with great sadness that we announce that Manuel “Manny” De Jesus, retired executive director of the 82nd Airborne Association, passed away Tuesday, February 2, 2010. As many of you know, Manny had fought a valiant fight against lung cancer. As Manny would always sign off in his letters, “Airborne All The Way!”

Texas Lone Star Chapter, 82nd Airborne Division Association

Hey B Company 2/505, Indy is coming. Be there in force.

All Viet Nam Vets are invited to a “welcome Home” celebration at Green Bay, WI’s Lambeau Field May 21-23, 2010. See details at the following web site: http://lzlambeau.org/

Dear Troopers,

We will only have one 42nd Anniversary so mark your calendars and plan to be there.  We encourage Troopers to bring their families. Bob Murrill (1/508) is coordinating one of the most fantastic gatherings that you will probably ever experience. For those who have never been to one of our events, it is a time to enjoy friendship, tell some lies and renew or make new friends. We had our 40th in the same hotel and it was fantastic!!!! We are also working on some special guests but nothing has been finalized at this point.

NASCAR has pulled a slick one on us. We originally scheduled our event so there would be no conflict. After we had everything arranged, they changed their schedule so this puts extra pressure on us to make early hotel and travel reservations.

The Hotel Dallas Fort Worth Hilton Lakes Executive Conference Center is a beautiful, high class hotel located next to historic Grapevine, Texas. Check out this website (www.hiltondfwlakesecc.com)!!!  The hotel is bending over backwards to accommodate us and I guarantee that you will not be disappointed! Here’s what it looks like at this point:

• Rates Deluxe Rooms are $92 per night + taxes. Rate is good for a limited number of rooms on Thursday (15th). A major block on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Normal rates are $207 – $225 during the week so you get an idea of the kind of place we have no poncho liners on the ground here and you will have to bring your own leeches and mosquitoes as none are supplied!  
• Welcome Lunch, Friday Noon: The Austin Ranch. Rick Randazzo and his family and friends are going to treat us to a Shrimp and Crawfish boil.  
• Welcome Dinner, Friday Night: The Austin Ranch next to the hotel – meet, greet, renew friendships and make new ones. We will have a Texas style Barbeque and maybe some other surprises. We are planning on a Country Western Band so get you cowboy boots shined up.  
• Activities Available (Additional Cost): Spa, 2 Golf courses near the hotel, Horseback Riding, Fishing in a private pond (no charge) etc.  
• 82nd Chorus will be invited to perform on Friday and Saturday, dependent upon combat situation and their schedule.  
• Hospitality Room is on the first floor of the hotel.  
• Magnificent Gala Reunion Dinner,Saturday Night: DJ will play nice dinner music in the hotel ballroom. Jacket & Tie/Tux/Blues/Class A required.  
• Free Shuttles to and from the Airport – 10 minutes away. Call 817-481-8444.
• Free Shuttles to the Golf courses and local shopping in historic Grapevine.  
• Registration Cost $82 per person, but generous donations are greatly accepted/needed to defray actual costs which will be much higher due to what will be provided to you.  

Your Obligations:

• We need to have an accurate count so don’t be a slacker and wait till the last minute. We only have a limited number of rooms blocked at this point so call   1-800-984-1344 and mention 82nd Airborne-Golden to get this fantastic rate. One night is non refundable should you cancel later. We have just increased the block and rooms are going very fast.
• Room Reservations should be made by January 31, 2010 to assure that you get hots and a cot. The earlier the better as the hotel will start releasing the block after that time. 
  Send in your $82 registration per person and donations ASAP – that means now! 
  If you have special needs such as a handicapped accessible room, please let the hotel know when you make your reservation.
• Jingle up your long lost buddies and get them there – no sweat, GI!
• We’ll need volunteers to help with various activities such as sign-in, manning the hospitality suite, picking up supplies, making table arrangements, etc. We’re all getting older so the more hands the better.  
• Save up your MPC and mark your calendars – do it now!!   
• Start doing pushups etc. so that you are in shape for the 5 mile run that Mike Hood and Dickie Keaton are going to lead each morning at 0-dark thirty. If I’m not there, start without me!
  If you were a Military Intelligence guy, that means about 5:30 AM in civilian time . . . just kidding!  
• Lastly, if you haven’t renewed your dues, do it now. Complete this membership application or give Rich a call on the horn (804.598.4805) for an application. Virtually everyone has signed up as a life member to cut down on the paperwork. We don’t want to have to chase you down the Candy Stripe for a few bucks . . . but we might!   

Hope to see you all soon. Let’s make our 42nd a time for you and your families to remember for many years. 

Check back here frequently for updates.

Airborne, All the Way, God Bless Our Troopers and God Bless America!!!
 
Carl H. Bludau, Chapter Chairman  

Richard F. O’Hare, Treasurer

Rich Jones from B-2/505 Tiger Platoon squad leader from Aug 68 to Aug 69 lost his last battle early this AM. See www.caringbridge.org/visit/richjones for the full rundown–he has been hospitalized since Oct 31, 2008. I will let you know the funeral arrangements so the Chapter can send flowers or make a charitable donation-maybe to Caring Bridge?? I will also see if the Bay Area Chapter has an honor guard and if the family wants them to participate in Rich’s funeral/memorial.

See you in August,

Jerry Schaefer

Dear Troopers,

It is with sad regret that I report that LTC (Ret) A -2-505 John Kapranopoulos’ wife, Dawn passed away last week. Everyone who knew Dawn was fortunate to have the pleasure of knowing her – she was a wonderful lady.

This is the information I have from Carl Bludau.

“The church part will be at the Post Chapel at Fort Huachuca, AZ at 11:30 am on Thursday February 5, 2009. The burial well be at the Veterans Cemetery at 1:00 PM followed by a reception. Rudie Kay and I will attend.”

Dawn was awaiting a heart valve transplant but complications ensued. Sympathies can be sent to:

LTC(Ret) John Kapranopoulos
5507 Shawnee Drive
Sierra Vista, AZ 85650-9639
520-378-2096

We share his loss. Rich

Airborne, All the Way and God Bless America!!!

Richard F. O’Hare, Treasurer
Golden Brigade Chapter, 82nd Airborne Division Assn., Inc.
4075 Old River Trail
Powhatan, VA 23139-4112
Home 804-598-4805/9996 FAX
Office 804-784-0394/0396 FAX
Cell 804-338-8222

It is with heavy heart that I report the passing of SSG Joseph Sheldon Kroack, 18 Dec 2008. I served with then Spec 5 Kroack with 82nd Finance in Vietnam. Bunked accross from him for several months. Knew him after in Tucson from 73-75. I’ll miss you Joe, but I will never forget you. His obit can be read http://www.legacy.com/tucson./obituaries

Steve Burley
Co A Spt Bn
3rd Bde 82nd Abn Div
Vietnam May 1968-May 1969
steveburley@hotmail.com

Good Morning Guys,

I received the below article from Stephanie Kovac, the young lady from Fox News, who covered our reunion in April.  It’s pretty moving.  Thought we might want to share it with the Brigade.  I’ll be meeting with John Moody from FOX News Group after Labor Day to present him with our plaque.  I will then ask for a copy of the video of the interviews in Dallas.

Stephanie Kovac is a producer for FOX local news channel, Dallas Texas.  She covered the 40th Anniversary reunion of the 82nd Airborne’s 3rd Brigade, Golden Brigade’s, deployment to Vietnam 40 years ago.  She was born the same month and year, February 1968.  Some may remember the 1968 Tet Offensive.

PaddyB
Airborne All The Way!

———————

As a journalist, I’ve had the opportunity to not only witness history, but in a sense, write it.  This weekend, I was afforded a rare luxury.  It was as if I was allowed to step back in time and set foot on a page right out of my high school history book.  The only difference was the room full of heroes I found myself standing among weren’t the ones I’d read about.

I was born in February 1968 – the same month the 82nd Airborne’s 3rd Brigade deployed to Vietnam – on February 20th – the same day they suffered their first casualty.

This weekend, I stood face to face with those who survived as I was assigned to cover their 40th anniversary commemoration.  I thought for sure I’d meet a group of old timers eager to share war stories.  Instead, I was introduced to a group of men who’ve been in some strange way frozen forever young in a faraway place.

I heard many stories of how they’d sustained their war wounds, and most of the time, the room resonated with laughter.  It was as if there was a kind of camaraderie in killing that I couldn’t possibly understand.

Granted, I knew who “Charlie” was.  The history books had taught me that.  But, the stories of “gooks” took me back.  Most of the time, the word seemed to slip, and was often followed with an immediate apology.  I wasn’t offended.  I thought it utterly fascinating that a generation who’d fought so bravely for freedom hadn’t yet succumb to the censorship in this country known as “political correctness”.  As if these old warriors have anything for which to apologize?

This country owes them.  Much more than an apology.  This country owes them a tremendous debt of gratitude.  This country owes them their due.

I’m not sure I have any greater understand of what Vietnam was really about, any better understanding than I had in high school.  And, to hear the men of the 3rd Brigade tell it, I’m not sure that Lyndon Johnson really understood it either.  Every time I posed the question – what were you fighting for – the answer was the same.  To stay alive.

The Golden Brigade, as they’re known, served 22 months in Nam.  227 were killed.  Two remain missing.  They never lost a battle.

Yet, my history book taught me that America lost the war.  I now know we won it militarily, and lost it politically somewhere between Paris and Washington, D.C.  I can’t help but wonder if public perception was the real reason these men paid such a steep price for their sacrifice.  Was it because we weren’t victorious on all fronts that those who came home from Vietnam had no homecoming?

Hearing the barrage of stories, it was easy to draw similarities between the war in Vietnam and the war in Iraq.  There are many who believe, like Vietnam, we have no place in Iraq.  That it is not America’s duty to police the world.  I wonder what it will mean to the young men and women on the frontlines today if politics cost us another victory?  Will they come home to streaming yellow ribbons or anti-war demonstrations and banners of protest?  Will they be welcome?

I’ve always heard “war is hell” but it wasn’t until I stood among these aging soldiers that I fully understood what that meant.  It has been 40 years since these men fought in the killing fields of Vietnam.  40 years.  And, each told stories in such vivid detail it was as if I was watching a movie.  40 years was a lifetime away, and as close as yesterday.

It was their eyes that told the whole story.  Haunted by images time can never heal.  Brimming with raw emotion.  Sadness.  Anger.  Resentment.  And, justification for it all. 

Their stories seemed incomprehensible, unfathomable.  It was as if a page had been torn from my history book.

How long had these men lived with the stigma of Vietnam?  One returned home to find women wouldn’t date him because he’d served in Nam.  Another ducked into an airport bathroom seconds after arriving in the States, hoping to change his clothes before anyone noticed his military fatigues.  Another remembered only one parade – it was 40 yards long, and 15 years after the fact.

These men weren’t the Harley hippies that have become America’s stereotypical image of the Vietnam vet.  They were doctors and lawyers, and officers of the law.  Productive members of society who still live with Vietnam.  Still go to bed with it at night.  Still wake up with it every day.  Still shudder that a song on the radio, or a copse of trees could cause them to “flip”.  One told me a rock hit his windshield while he was en route to the celebratory event.  He dove beneath the dash.  That same man had six brothers and couldn’t relate to a one.  He was the only son who’d served in the military.  But, he found comfort in the room that night.  And, every man among him understood his sense of peace.

It wasn’t as if these men were the best of friends – then or now.  It was circumstance that bonded them together as a band of brothers.  And, I learned that bond may not have stemmed from what they endured together but what they lost.  Their innocence.

Earlier this week, I sent a care package to a friend’s son serving in Iraq.  I loaded up a box with beef Jerky, and mixed nuts; crossword puzzles, and a deck of cards; Chap Stick and anti-bacterial wipes; batteries, an international calling card, a disposable camera; and a can of Silly String to detect trip wires.  I never met the kid.  I don’t even know if he likes Jerky, and I don’t agree with the war in Iraq.  But, I know freedom isn’t free, and that that young man is fighting for me.  I pray he comes home to a hero’s reception. 

The greatest history lesson I ever learned came long after high school, taught by the wounded warriors of the 82nd Airborne’s Golden Brigade.  This time, there wasn’t a single page missing.

Welcome home, guys.  Welcome home!

Fellow Rangers,

Sadly Don Lassen, veteran paratrooper of 2-505 PIR at Normandy and Holland , and Editor Emeritus  of the STATIC LINE has made his last jump and is heading for the assembly area, where Jim Gavin and the paratroopers of yesteryear await his arrival.

There was a viewing on Sunday August 10 at the Ford Stewart Funeral Home  in Jonesboro, GA.  The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to the Airborne Historical Association, POB 87518 College Park, GA 30337-0518.

May St Michael, our airborne patron, welcome his arrival and guide him forward,

BDQ Roy Lombardo

Don will be missed in the Airborne Community.

RLTW

Art Silsby
Director, USARA Southern Region

Before I lay me down to sleep…
And fall into a slumber deep…
Hear this little prayer of mine…
Hope it gets to you in time…
Bless those on land and sea and air…
Who fight for freedom here and there…
Send special blessings from above…
Protect them with your shield of love…
Return them safely, we humbly pray…
To the Land of the Free…
And the Home of the Brave.

Anonymous

2LT Raymond George Krobetzky deployed with the Golden Brigade to Viet Nam and arrived in-country on February 14, 1968. He served as an infantry platoon leader with C 1/508th and was KIA by small arms fire on August 25, 1968 in Thua Thien Province. He was a native of Armonk, New York, born on February 11, 1947.

2LT Krobetzky is honored on The Wall on panel 46W, line 17. He will always remain “Forever Young” in our hearts. Please visit him on The Wall and post your remembrance.

We are making concerted efforts to identify and honor all of our fallen brothers. You can help by reviewing our “Forever Young” page and letting us know of any corrections that need to be made.

No one gets left behind, no one gets forgotten.

Troopers – we have just learned of Stu Harrell’s loss. Please join us in supporting him by conveying your wishes …

Darrel,

I just heard from Stu that his wife Martha passed away in mid May after a long and painful battle with cancer. He is really down in the dumps now.

Stu was the last ‘B’ Co Tiger 6 in Nam … came in after Roy Duncan replaced Dick Patterson for a time after Patterson was KIA. After we went home he was transferred to First Inf Div and had the Aerofifle Platoon in the 1/4 Cav.

Note: the last chapter of Hugh Mills’s book Low Level Hell features Stu and his guys.
 
If anyone wants to send condolences his e- mail is nttybmpo@aol.com.

Snail mail is 6712 N. 19th Place, Phoenix, AZ 85016.
 
He is one of the good guys and was at the reunion in Texas this year.
 
See you in August,

Jerry

Presidents often visit the 82nd. President Eisenhower received a delegation in the Oval Office. Lyndon Johnson sent us off to Vietnam. On Thursday, May 22, 2008, President George Bush spent almost the entire day at Fort Bragg honoring our recently returned young heroes from Iraq and Afghanistan.

He spoke at Division Review and “trooped the line” on foot. This is a ceremonial inspection that goes back to Roman or Greek times in which the commander shows himself to his men. Walking is highly unusual as previous guests rode in a Humvee to inspect the troops due to the size of the formation but the President insisted that he get on the ground with the soldiers. A very noble gesture, to be sure.

He also presented 2 Distinguished Service Crosses and several Silver Stars to 82nd troopers.

After the Division Review, he attended the Memorial Service outside the 82nd Museum and dedicated the Global War on Terrorism monument. The 82nd lost 97 troopers this past year alone. The President greeted each Gold Star family and expressed his condolences before they placed a gold rose at the base of the monument.

The tears rolled, including mine, at the reading of the names of so many young heroes.  God Bless them all.  Following is a letter that I wrote to the President in thanks for paying tribute to our fallen men and women.  We have also sent him a Golden Brigade challenge coin. 

—————-

May 28, 2008

President George W. Bush
The White House
Washington, DC 20502

RE: Fort Bragg, NC Memorial Service

Dear Mr. President:

On behalf of all the members of the Golden Brigade Chapter, I want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the honor that you bestowed upon the heroes of the 82nd Airborne Division, past and present, by your appearance at Fort Bragg on Thursday, May 22, 2008.

Our chapter is composed of Veterans who served with the 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division in Vietnam.  We lost 227 KIA and about 1,250 WIA during our 22 months “in country” 40 years ago. We have a special place in our hearts and souls for those that have followed on after us and have served our country with their selfless sacrifices. 

These young men and women who are serving today are our “historical sons and daughters”. They carry on a proud tradition that goes back 91 years and we are very, very proud of them as all Americans should be.

On behalf of our chapter, please accept the enclosed Challenge Coin as a small token of our profound appreciation for taking the time to honor these young heroes.

Airborne, All the Way and God Bless America!!

Richard F. O’Hare, American
Treasurer, Golden Brigade Chapter, 82nd Abn Div. Assn. Inc.

Videos from the Division Review.  http://fayobserver.com/special/bushvideos/