Company B, 2d Battalion

501st Infantry 101st Airborne Division

NEWSLETTER #2 May 2008

It was our intent to make this a quarterly publication, but we are depending on news from you in order to make that happen. News & photos can be sent to the webmaster and newsletter editor, Cathy Jimerson, via email at cat@jimersons.us OR snail mail info to her at PO Box 152, Steamburg NY 14783 but keep in mind that Cat is ON THE ROAD full time RV’ing and doesn’t get her snail mail regularly.

SUMMER BIRTHDAYS:

13 JUN 1948 Leo "Doc" Flory

24 JUN 1944 Jim Julien

29 JUN 1950 Edgar N Wallace

22 JUL 1949 Doug Grier

23 JUL 1948 Pat O'Leary

25 JUL 1948 Al Werth

27 JUL 1948 Ed Paradis

06 AUG 1951 Jack Kato

21 AUG 1948 Dave Reinheimer

27 AUG 1948 James Estes

2009 REUNION NEWS:

Our next reunion will be in Kalamazoo MI on 16-18 July 2009, to be hosted

by Leo "Doc" Flory and his wife, Ann. The reunions are for those who were

in B-2/501st from 67-72, along with their guests and family members. We

extend a welcome to interested family members and friends of deceased

members also. We hope you’ll plan to attend! Reservations can be made at

Lee’s Inn where 54 rooms have been reserved for our group. Their phone

is 269-382-6100. Ask for B-2/501 Airborne rate of $91 which includes a FULL

breakfast each morning. Campers will be allowed to stay in the Inn parking lot

at NO CHARGE. See www.leesinn.com/kalamazoo.com for more hotel information. The airlines that fly into

Kalamazoo airport are: American, United, Delta and North West. Doc Flory’s number is: 269-423-8115

Want your birthday listed on our Website’s BIRTHDAY

CALENDAR? Send it to the webmaster/newsletter editor and

get some cards from your buddies on your next birthday!

Leo “Doc” Flory (68-69)

Why do B-2/501st troopers return to reunions?

The B-2/501st Reunion Committee makes an extra effort to make your reunions a most memorable

event. We try to give you and your family a BIG reason to come back again and again. You may ask,

“Why would a B-2/501st member want to see again the men whom they may have nearly lost their

lives with, men who together saw some of their best buddies killed and men who together went

through probably the worst experiences of their lives?” The reasons are similar to the reasons

many other military units show up year after year to see old friends. It is a deep bond and

camaraderie we share that drives us to want to reunite and rekindle memories of our combat time

together. The bond we share is perhaps the strongest of all human relationships. The problem for

most reunion attendees is finding the time, and often the money to go to the unit reunion. Some of

us simply don’t have as much money as others. As a result, more attendees are spending an extra

day or two at the reunion destinations and making it their annual vacation, instead of a separate

event. B-2/501st reunions are celebrations of life and remembering fallen comrades. Reunions allow

an opportunity to renew connections, to talk about the past and to develop new memories of our

brothers-in-arms. Reunions allow us to remember the sad times and the glad times. It is a time

when rank no longer separates us. It allows us to meet with decent, responsible, family-loving

individuals who have an undying love for their country and all it stands for. It makes us proud to

have had the privilege and honor to have served together with the B-2/501st. So many of those who

have attended their first B-2/501st reunion, say they will never miss another one. No matter how

hard we try, though, not every B-2/501st member will make it to the reunion. 25-40% simply have

no interest in attending. For them, the experiences they had were either so painful or so unhappy,

that they never want to see their “brothers” again. It has been said that more than 50% of us

suffer from PTSD and yet many show up each time for therapeutic reasons. As we age, illness

prevents some from attending. Will you always be able to make it to the reunions? Of course not!

As we get older, more and more of us will be unable to attend. Our time will run out some day,

that’s a certainty, so while our health is holding up and we have the time and money, we want to

encourage you to make an effort to try to be there. Who knows, you might meet up with someone

who saved your life. Consider bringing your wife or significant other, or just bring your lone solitary

self and show everybody you are still alive and kicking; that “Charlie” didn’t put you down.

Some of you are planning to attend the WEEK OF THE EAGLES at Ft Campbell, KY which is to be

held 26-28 June 2008. I would appreciate any photos that any of you who attend, care to send.

John Marlowe (70-71) wants to let you know that the 101st ABN DIV Vietnam Vet Association has

reserved rooms at the Holiday Inn Express in Oakgrove KY. John and his wife will be there and he

wants to see others from the B-2/501st. Hotel info is as follows:

12759 Ft Campbell Blvd, Oak Grove KY 42262. Phone is 270-439-0022

Room is $75.00 a day. Email John at Paratrooperjohn@aol.com for more info.

EAGLES WHO HAVE SOARED:

Recently received word that Bernard F Rajzer passed away in Nov 89, Harvey G Reece in the

mid-80’s and Platoon Sgt Fred Mahone on November 21, 1995 from Leukemia. Bernard, Fred and

Harvey served in RVN w/the B-2/501st in 1970.

For those of you who wish to contact Mrs Dessie Mahone, here is her info and she welcomes your

contact – 706-687-6551 dm1217@aol.com

Salvador Rocha, little brother of Raymond Gonzalez Rocha, one of our 67-68 KIAs would like to

know if anyone has pictures of his brother. You can contact Salvador at srocha@military.com

If anyone is in touch with the family of one of our 69-70 KIAs, Mark Rivest, please give them Jane

Binzen Mourer’s contact info - 703-477-9487 fj.mourer@verizon.net

Carla, widow of Mike Carolan who died in 2-81 from a rare type of leukemia (68/69) would like to

Hear from others. Her address is: PO Box 13, East Quogue, NY 11942 and her email addy is

auntsis3@verizon.net

Gail, widow of Dale Hegman who died 6-01 (69/70) is looking for anyone who remembers Dale. In

particular, a black soldier named “Best”. Her address is: 225-B Circle View Dr, Buford GA 30518

and her email addy is hegman2004@bellsouth.net

We have a MEMORIAL page on our

B-2/501st website to honor our

KIAs and those who have passed

away since Vietnam. Submit a

memory or a photo to keep their

memory alive & it will be posted on

their memorial page.

If you want a copy of our current roster,

please email your request to

cat@jimersons.us OR call Cat at 716-720-

0050. A donation to help with the postage

would be appreciated. Donations can either

be made to Cat via www.paypal.com OR

mailed to PO Box 152 Steamburg NY

14783.

Roster has current contact information for

298 B-2/501st members who served from

67-72, complete w/year(s) served.

NEWLY LOCATED:

Dan Albrecht (69-70) CA

Dick Auld (71-72) TX

Mike Altizer (69) VA

Henry Ash (68) MS

Terry Channel (70) OH

Scott Filipek (71-72) WI

Steve Forsstrom (70-71) SC

Danny Hays (69-70) GA

Willard Langdon (71) GA

Tony Loiero (69-70) NJ

Randall Mays (71-72) OK

George Oplinger (70-71) PA

Paul Sondey (67-68) NJ

Mike Stafford (70-71) TN

Terry Templeman (69-70) GA

J.C. Walton (70-71) GA

Fascinating Fact and Figures: Our B-2/501

st members live all throughout the US. We

also have members living in Australia, Canada, Puerto Rico, Vietnam, and one serving in a security capacity in, Iraq. The only states not represented by our current members are Delaware, Hawaii, New Mexico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Two states tie for having the majority of our members –California and Florida both have 21 living in those states.

We are currently in touch with: 68 in the 67-68 timeframe. 15 in the 68 timeframe. 103 in the 68-69 timeframe. 14 from the 69 timeframe. 52 from the 69-70 timeframe. 15 from the 70 timeframe. 25 from the 70-71 timeframe. 1 from the 71 timeframe. 5 from the 71-72 timeframe.

The following USED to be online, but we don’t currently have email addys for them. Contact Cat at cat@jimersons.us if you have a current addy for the following: Baldwin, Robert K (68-69) Clark, Robert A (69-70) Copeland, Jerry D (69-70) Crouse, Carson R (68-69) Dehart, Norman (69-70) Duke, James M (68-69) Dyer, Michael F (68) Hanna, Roger G (68-69) Hannan, Mark (69-70) Heiter, Anthony (68) Holsten, Jack W (69) Johnson, A Rusty (67-68) Linkous, Jeffrey H (70) Lockett, Howard L (67-68) Mahan Jr, George T (68-69) Malone, Mike C (69-70) Massey, Ronald L (67-68) Pawlak, Paul (68-69) Pickford, Patrick S (67-68) Pratt, Donnie L (68-69) Shepherd, Richard (67-68) Sherwood, James L (68-69) Testerman, David C (68-69) We currently have email addresses for 162 of our members. If you haven’t heard from us, then we probably don’t have your email address! If you’re online, why don’t you drop us an email? There may be fellow troopers out there who are waiting to get in contact with you again!

CAN YOU HELP THE WEBMASTER?

I need the YEAR(S) served with the B-2/501st in RVN for the following: Cummings, Wayne Evans, Richard N

Head, Jerry Knerem,Ralph

Reeve, Michael W Robinson, Richard W

Sellins, Ron L Taylor, Thomas L

Williams, Jack

Email Cat at cat@jimersons.us or call me at 716-720-0050 if you can help.

40th ANNIVERSARY - 2d Brigade Reunion, June 12-15, 2008!! Troopers of the 2d Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, 1967-68 (1/501 Inf, 2/501 Inf, 1/502 Inf, and Bde HHC) RSVP if coming to BBQ or BDE dinner: Jim Hallums 931-572-9527; or email him at: hallumsfarm@charter.net Schedule: Thursday, 12 June 1100-1600 Hotel Registration 1500-2300 Hospitality room open Friday, 13 June 0900-1500 Visit Ft Campbell; lunch, activities 1500-1800 Hospitality room open 1800-2100 BBQ Saturday, 14 June 0900-1600 Activities as desired 1200-1600 Hospitality room open 1800-2100 Bde dinner 2100-0100 Hospitality room open Sunday, 15 June 0900-1200 Reunion guests depart

Register at Reunion Hqs, Holiday Inn Express, 4 mi N of Fort Campbell on Hwy 41A. Phone: 270-439-0022 Ask for special 2d Bde rate For more info, contact : JOHN H. CUSHMAN, Cdr 2d Bde/101st, '67-’68 6200 Oregon Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20015 202-541-0435 JackCushSr@aol.com

Recent photo of

Luther “Bill” Lassiter (67-68)

Airborne All The Way!

MILESTONE

Dec 2007 marked 40 years since the B-2/501st

67-68 guys landed at Bien Hoa airbase in Vietnam

to begin their tour of duty!

Member News

Darrel Heinsohn (68-69) of OK, came to visit Clyde Crossguns (68-69) and his wife, Lavina from

December 13-17, 2007. Two brothers meet once again. The temperature certainly was different

from the 120 Fahrenheit back in 68/69 Viet Nam to plus 4 Celsius (burrrr COLD!) in December

2007 in the Canadian Rockies near Lake Louise, west of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, but they had a

good time. (See photo above)

Brad Jimerson (67-68) and his wife Cat, and Gene Fry (67-68) and his wife, Dora, got together in

Destin FL for a visit in March and then in Crystal River, FL with Stan Ralph (68) in May. (See

photos above)

L-R: Jimerson (67-68) Ralph (68)

L-R: Heinsohn, Crossguns (68-69)

L-R: Jimerson, Fry (67-68)

American News Photos by Dawn Dietrich-S

Doug Grier (69-70) and his lovely wife Trina, visited Pat & Debbie O’Leary in CT in Aug 07 for Holy

Cross pre-season training (O’Leary is the coach) and recently visited the Antarctica, Argentina,

Chile, Uruguay, Washington DC and then Colorado. That guy gets around! (See photos above)

Chuck German (69-70) had a newspaper article written about him in the Aberdeen News in

November 2007. He has been the mayor of Aberdeen ND since the early 70’s and owns the only

auto body business in town (population 19). (See photo above)

Leo “Doc” Flory (68-69) and his wife Ann, had a mini-reunion earlier this year, w/Bobby Butts (68-

69) and his wife Audrey who live near Detroit.

Accolades to John Marlowe (70-71), who was been promoted to Reserve Sergeant, Reserve Sector

6/7 at the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, FL in January 08. Congrats John!

Doug Grier (69-70) and his wife Trina in

the Antarctica

L-R: Grier, (69-70) O’Leary (68-69)

Chuck German (69-70) talks about his

color mixing machine in his auto body

shop. Photo courtesy of Gretchen

Mayer and Dawn Dietrich-Sahli of

The Aberdeen News

Gary Goelzhauser (69-70) is battling bladder cancer, diagnosed on Valentine’s Day 2008. His family

has a website where you can keep up with his treatment updates and sign his guestbook to offer

words of encouragement. See http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/garygoelzhauser

This from John Ward (69-70) who lives and works in Vietnam: “You might be happy to learn that the

folks in A Luoi were so happy with last year's kindergarten that we were invited back to build

another. A 4-classroom kindergarten was started in A Dot Commune, at the southern end of the A

Shau Valley. We're partnering with the Veteran's Vietnam Restoration Project (VVRP), the

Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, and the People's Committee of A Luoi District for

funding. The VVRP put 11 vets and 2 of their wives on-the-ground to help out for two weeks

between April 7-18, our 23rd team. Permissions were needed from the provincial levels of the

People's Committee, Police, and Military. A Dot is a sensitive and restricted area. We're the first

Americans allowed into the valley to work - a modest accomplishment. A prolonged and unusually

cold winter killed rice crops north of Hai Van. It also killed a large number of water buffalo, cows,

chickens, and some humans.”

Ron Peabody (67-68) and his wife Pam, tell us that they bought a condo in Mazatlan, located on

Mexico's Gold Coast and spent the winter there. Mazatlan is the closest Mexican resort to the US

and it's been a favorite destination for those looking to soak up the relaxed pace of life along the

Pacific Coast for decades. It is nicknamed the "Pearl of the Pacific".

Bob Colombo (69-70) and his wife, Sandy reports that their daughter Alyse presented them with

their second granddaughter on April 18th. Cora Mackenzie was a healthy 7lbs 6oz and 20” long. So

far, big sister Lily has been great accepting her new little sister.

Al Werth (69-70) reports that his son, John C. Werth, Senior Airman USAF has been in Balad, Iraq

for 3 mos. John is a radar air traffic controller.

George “Top” Schorr (69) reports that his grandson, Nicholas Schorr has returned from his THIRD

tour of duty in Iraq just this month and is now headed with his wife, to Okinawa.

We have a page on our website for any B-2/501st member who has a family member currently

deployed. If that applies to you, please send info to the webmaster.

CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE – It currently has 605 pages of content! There is page

after page of photos. Maybe YOU’RE in one of them! Take a LOOK!

official website: www.b2501airborne.com

Happy Father’s Day to all of our B-2/501st Fathers

Father’s Day poem written by Bill “Tiny” Kaufman (68-69):

My Father

No tree shall ever stand as tall

than he who stood by me when small.

His arms a shelter in each storm

kept me safe and and very warm.

His voice a beacon in the night

guided me by wisdom's light.

His smile a rainbow in my day

turned my heart to skip and play.

His steps my path through thick and thin,

that's how I remember him.

Now he's gone to Heaven's rest

while I ponder all his best.,

For there shall never ever be, A greater love than his for me ~

( All rights reserved) This newsletter is going out to the 298 members that we currently have addresses for, spanning years served in RVN from 67-72 AND friends and family of our honored deceased brothers-in-arms. Brad Jimerson and Dave Reinheimer have been responsible for reuniting many of our brothers by a tireless search over the years and maintaining regular contact with all those they have found. This newsletter has been made possible by many donations from our B-2/501

st members AND a generous monetary pledge from Christos Cotsakos (a B-2/501

st 67-

68 original), to keep it going!

CONTRIBUTIONS for the

B-2/501st

(Geronimo), 101st Airborne Div

can be mailed to:

Dave Reinheimer

7324 Summer Manor

St Louis MO 63129

Dave Reinheimer - President

Walter Bouman - Vice President Bob Worrall - Treasurer

Gene Fry - Secretary

Leo Flory - Sergeant At Arms