821 Dunbar Road, Carlisle, PA 17013
24 January 2003
2003 NEWSLETTER AND REUNION ANNOUNCEMENT
A. After-Action Report: Hard Core Reunion 2002
At the 2001 Reunion the members voted to hold ‘official’ reunions every two years. Immediately after that vote, there was a minor insurrection and a demand was made to have an ‘off year’ reunion whenever an ‘official’ reunion was not held – such reunions for the “Hard Core” to be held at my house.
The first ever Hard Core reunion was held 20-23 September 2002 and proved to be well-attended – and well-supplied with food! In addition to the huge amount of foodstuffs laid in for the event, Art Brandt brought a gigantic kettle of his famous vegetable soup, and Liz Edger showed up hauling a footlocker-full of Swedish meatballs. As if this weren’t enough, Allen Roeder brought in several bags of Crawdad sausages, which most of us thought were “interesting.” As has become usual, the women took over my kitchen and did ALL of the work, leaving me free to relax, criticize and Pontificate upon things in general. There was so much food and so many of us I thought my deck would collapse – but post-reunion inspection showed not even the slightest warpage.
Hard Core Reunion 2002. Left-to-right:
Top Row: Jim Venditti, MG (Ret.) Hugh Foster (my dad), Debbie Ashby, Rodney “Kentucky” Ashby, Jerry Gore, Frank “Doc” Edger, Keith Moyer, Janet Moyer, Art Brandt
Middle Row: Mary Jane Foster (my mom), Casey (my Wonder Dog), Hugh Foster, Dianne Barry, Allen Roeder, Chris Venditti
Front Row: Tom Walker, Mike Collins, John Caravella, Tom Loomis, and Liz Edger
(Names in boldface indicate first-time attendees.) Not pictured, but in attendance: Don & Rita Hayes, Carol Brandt, Auggie Loolam and Paul & Debbie Schottenhamel.
Due to the relatively short duration of the reunion – and the high number of first-timers -- we elected not to organize any group outing; we just hung around and socialized. John Stumpf, a C Company guy, dropped by for an afternoon, just to say ‘hi.’ John, who lives in Kansas, had read about the reunion on Mike Collins’ website and was in the area visiting family; he just decided to come over. He was a most welcome guest. Other guests included my parents, and a surprise visit by Brigadier General (Retired) Theodore Metaxis and his lovely wife, Helma, who were kind enough to take the time to come over and chat with some of the guys for awhile. BG Metaxis is one of the very few soldiers to be awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge with TWO stars – indicating combat service as an infantryman in WWII, Korea and in Vietnam.
My mom and dad have been great supporters of our reunions and really enjoy themselves when they have attended. They have contributed significant amounts of money to Mongoose Bravo over the years. Mom was an Army nurse during WWII, and my dad was a career soldier, who served for nearly 40 years. While many of our members have come to know my mom, many of the men who served with me in B Company know my dad from our time in Vietnam. He commanded the 1st Signal Brigade in Vietnam when I was in Bravo Company, and he established and ran a special supply pipeline to the company, providing us not only mission-essential equipment that was in short supply (such as Machetes, machine gun barrels, and radio antennas), but also some really appreciated creature-comforts, including: Air Force survival saws, COOKIES, and photographic support! Dad is one of those rare men who achieved high rank who truly loves soldiers, and it showed in what he did – and what he still does -- for the men of Bravo.
Bad weather was a factor at this reunion, and the heavy rains drove us indoors on several occasions. However, the well-organized Inclement Weather Plan (a good leader ALWAYS has an inclement weather plan!) saw to it that our forced indoor activities were interesting and worthwhile. Paul Schottenhamel and Keith Moyer showed their slides of Vietnam, and provided excellent narrative to accompany them. My dad (prepared for any eventually, as usual) provided a most interesting presentation (complete with slides) about his participation in World War II, including his work with the Comanche Code-Talkers at Ft. Benning, and relating how he was fired three times in one month yet went on to command two companies, a battalion and a separate brigade.
The Monday following the end of the reunion, the Truly Hard Core of the Hard Core attendees -- the Edgers, the Ashbys, my folks and I – set off on a Cultural Tour, to visit the most interestingly named Pennsylvania town of Intercourse. Frank Edger and Kentucky Ashby were crestfallen to discover that the town has nothing to do with their interests, but is merely a rather quaint Pennsylvania Dutch village in the heart of Amish country. The ladies thought the stores were neat, though.
B. Reunion 2003: The particulars
The 2003 Mongoose Bravo Reunion will be hosted by Keith and Jackie Landgrebe in Milwaukee, WI. In addition to the facilities available at the hotel, Jackie and Keith have graciously announced that their home is available – and will be appropriately decorated -- for group activities. Here are the details:
Dates: September 18 – 21 (Thursday – Sunday)
Hotel: Embassy Suites, 1200 S. Moorland Rd, Brookfield, WI
Rates: $99.00 per room per night, including a Continental breakfast and evening cocktails (!)
Reservations: You must make your reservations at least 30 days ahead of time. You can make reservations by calling the hotel directly (262-782-2900) or the chain’s central office (800-444-6404). Ask for “Bravo Company rooms.”
Airport and transportation: The hotel provides complimentary transportation to and from Mitchell Field Airport. You can arrange this ahead of time with the hotel, or you can use the courtesy phones at the airport to summon a ride. I am sure that enough of us will have our own cars there so that local transportation will not be a problem. Baggage pickup is at Area #4.
As this is an “official” (every 2nd year) reunion, excuses for non-attendance will be examined with Great Reserve. “My dog ate my homework” will not suffice! Please let me AND Keith/Jackie know if you will be attending (addresses, phone numbers, email addresses are in the accompanying roster). Keith will send out directions and maps upon request.
C. Mongoose Bravo History Projects
This must be a photo of the original Mongoose Bravo sign, since it dates from early 1966. The photo was sent to Mike Collins by Claude Roy, who served in the company in 1965-66. It is quite different from the final Mongoose Bravo company sign, which utilized a ‘flower power’ motif, and was last seen at Stand-down in March 1971.
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I am currently engaged in a number of rather long-term projects involving Mongoose Bravo’s operations in Vietnam, including (but not limited to) those discussed below. If any of you have information to contribute or helpful ideas, please let me know.
1. Total Company Roster. I am working to create a ‘total’ roster of everyone who served in and/or was attached to B Company in Vietnam. This is probably a never-ending project. I started with the two official rosters I retained from my time in the unit, and have added names as I find them. The entries are coded for those men known to have been in the company and those who are thought to have been in the company. Mike Collins has managed to get a couple of older rosters from the personnel folks at St. Louis (though I haven’t been through them yet). Additional names came from a few division general orders awarding the Combat Infantryman Badge to unit-identified soldiers. If any of you have documents listing the names of soldiers in B Company, please send me copies for the ‘unit files’ and ultimate use in creating the Total Roster.
2. Memorial Scrolls. Several years ago the 1st Cavalry Division Association commissioned several bronze tablets listing the names of all soldiers Killed In Action while assigned or attached to the division. These tablets are affixed to the walls of the Division Memorial Chapel at Ft. Hood, TX. At the time the tablets were officially commemorated, the 1st Cavalry Division Association offered memorial scrolls listing the name of any soldier, upon request. At that time very few of Bravo’s dead were known by name, but I did get memorial scrolls for those we knew about, and have made efforts to get them to the families. Now that we have a better handle on all of our fallen comrades, I entered into an agreement with the 1CD Association: for the small fee of $50 of unit funds, I purchased 200 blank memorial scrolls (everything but the soldier’s name is there). Now, the Mongoose Bravo Association can produce memorial scrolls on demand. The example shown to the left is reduced in size – the originals are full-page documents. In the near future I will organize a group to try to locate surviving family members so that we may get a personalized scroll to each family. In the interim, if any of you know how to reach a family member, please let me know.
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3. Memory Cards. I had an earlier tour in Vietnam (68-69) with the 199th Infantry Brigade (Separate)(Light). Our brigade-level association – REDCATCHERS! -- has its reunions on Memorial Day in Washington DC (every fourth year, we go to Ft. Benning, where the brigade was raised). At dawn on Memorial Day, several volunteers assemble at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall and work swiftly to place ‘memory cards’ at the base of the Wall. Each card bears a color representation of the brigade’s shoulder patch, the name of a fallen comrade and his date of death. Each year we place more than 900 cards along the Wall. It is a beautiful tribute and a stunning sight. I am working to create similar memory cards for our dead – similar design, but with the inclusion of a single rose on each card, and special cards for our two Medal of Honor recipients. I believe a pilgrimage to the Wall as part of our Hard Core reunions, in order to place the cards would be appropriate, and would be something many of you would like to participate in.
4. Cambodia Walkouts. There is some contention (started by me, of course) about how many men were in the company when it walked out of Cambodia at the end of June 1970. Those of you who were in that group, please identify yourselves to me, and let me know the names of any other men you know for certain were in the company when it crossed back into Vietnam.
5. KIA/DOW accounting. Mike Collins is in contact with a small group of former soldiers that is working (on their own time and at their own expense) to cull the official records of the Vietnam War dead, with the specific purpose of identifying company assignments at the time the men were killed. (The Vietnam Memorial Wall list contains unit identification only down to division and separate brigade.) This group has provided us with our current register of Bravo KIAs. However, we have found that this list is not complete in at least two particulars: it does not include all soldiers who were killed while attached to the company, and it does not include those men who died of wounds or disease in hospitals, or at least not all of them. I have been informed of an artillery reconnaissance sergeant, Carl Ussery, who was attached to the company when he was killed in a helicopter crash, and a man who was the 3rd Platoon Sergeant, Danny Maloney, who was WIA in Cambodia and died of disease in a hospital in Japan – neither man was on the list provided by the researchers. These revelations lead me to question if any of our comrades who died after evacuation from the field are accounted for in the list, and how many attached personnel were likewise overlooked. Other than visiting the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis and examining ALL of the company’s morning reports, and then cross-checking all evacuated WIA against the Army’s register of the dead, I cannot think of any sure way to arrive at a totally accurate list. Input from you guys is the next best option, and I solicit your help. If you know of any soldier not on the roster of our dead who died after evacuation, or of any soldier attached to the company when he was killed, please let me know. A list of our known dead is included in this newsletter.
6. On 28 September 1968 a Log Bird crashed at the Bravo Company log site after its main rotor blade struck a tree when the bird was about 30 feet above the ground. The helicopter rolled onto its right side, crashed and burned. All four of the crew and two of the four passengers survived with only minor injuries. Two passengers, however, were trapped under the cargo of ammunition, and died. The fire and explosions also wounded five Bravo soldiers. The two soldiers killed were Sp/4 Raymond Evans (B Company) and SGT Carl Ussery (B Battery, 77th Field Artillery Battalion) who was then attached to the company as part of the Forward Observer team. I am trying to help Mrs. Ussery, Carl’s widow, to find more information about the crash. In particular, we have not been able to identify the two surviving passengers, who probably were B Company men, or any of those injured on the ground. If you were in the company at this time and witnessed the crash or heard details of it, please contact me. I also need to learn the names of the CO, XO and 1st Sergeant at that time.
7. I need help in identifying all the casualties of the action surrounding the ambush of 2nd Platoon on 16 January 1971. The platoon was ambushed early in the morning, just as it was leaving the NDP. The ensuing gunfight involved elements of the company CP (me) and a squad of soldiers from an unknown platoon, whom I dragged with me. The group I was with engaged the enemy in a flanking assault over ground that was out of view of the ambushed men. Lt. George DuPuy, the 2nd Platoon Leader, was badly wounded; he and one or two others of his platoon were Medivaced by hoist from the NDP. At least three of the men who were with my element were lightly wounded but, since they were ambulatory, they were not evacuated. A few days later, they did receive treatment at the aid station on FSB Apache. I am unable to identify any of the wounded, except for Lt. DuPuy. Unbelievably, the National Personnel Records Center claims that it cannot locate the company’s morning reports for the period 16-31 Jan 71! Anyone who was in this action and who can recall the names of any of the wounded, please contact me.
D. Other Bravo News
1. Mike Collins! Mike (formerly platoon sergeant of 2nd Platoon) has been a tireless worker for Mongoose Bravo. Through his great 5th Cavalry website (www.ranger25.com) Mike has helped to keep the spirit of Mongoose Bravo alive. The many successes of his website include the identification of most of Mongoose Bravo’s KIAs and the ‘finding’ of several veterans of the company. As a small token of our appreciation for what he has done – and continues to do – I issued Mike a B/1-5 CAV challenge coin, engraved with his name and the words, “Bravo Lives!”
The issuance of “challenge coins” is a fairly new tradition in the Army, dating from sometime in the 1970’s. They are large brass coins – larger than the old silver dollars – purchased by unit funds and awarded by commanders and senior NCOs to soldiers deserving of special recognition for good deeds. They usually depict a unit’s insignia and are engraved with the awardees name. Once awarded, the possessor is required to keep it in his possession at all times, and must present it upon demand by another coin holder, who must display his own coin before issuing the challenge. Failure to produce the coin obligates the “shamed one” to stand a round of drinks for the challenger.
In active units, the requirements of the “coin challenge” have led to some interesting events, such as when a bearer is challenged while in the shower! (In some units it got to the point that soldiers taped their coin to their bodies when they went to shower. However, I don’t expect this to happen within Mongoose Bravo, but you just never know.)
The central idea behind the challenge coins is this: if you carry your coin with you at all times, people will see it, and this will give you an opportunity to tell them about Mongoose Bravo. Coming back from our Granbury reunion Art Brandt and I stopped in a McDonald’s for coffee. When I pulled change from my pocket to pay, my Bravo Lives! coin was visible to the young cashier. She commented on how “neat” it looked, and I had a chance to tell her of its meaning, and of the fine patriots who served in Mongoose Bravo and those who help to keep the spirit of comradeship alive.
Many thanks, Mike.
Because of people like you……….Bravo Lives! 
2. I have a new supply of the great Mongoose Bravo ball caps – a gift of Chuck Jesse. Sale of the hats is our sole money-raising activity. Coupled with donations (and there have been some significant ones) sale of the caps brings in the funds necessary to produce and mail the newsletters and provides ‘seed money’ to get our reunions off and running. The caps are available for $12 each, postpaid.
3. Enclosed, please find a Mongoose Bravo association roster, accurate only up to the moment it was printed. It seems the roster changes almost daily, as new men are found, others disappear, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses change, and so forth. Please note that email addresses are now a part of the roster – those of you who are on the ‘net please confirm the accuracy of the email address listed, or send me your email address if you are not shown as having one.
As
I write this American Army forces are once again preparing for battle in foreign
lands. I do not know if B/1-5 will be among those to be shipped overseas or if
it will be called upon to engage in combat, but the likelihood is that it will
go. Through my son, who is an active duty infantryman, I have had the great
pleasure to meet some of today’s soldiers and have see a little of what they can
do. I have every confidence that, if called upon, our soldiers of today will
acquit themselves well in combat. Please join me in bringing these fine men and
women into your thoughts, hearts and prayers from time to time as this crisis
unfolds.
I expect to see MANY of you in Milwaukee!
Don’t Forget To Reenlist! (And don’t EVER use your overcoat to clean your rifle, as this WWI Helpful Hint instructs.)
Hugh Foster
CO, August 70 – March 71
(717) 249-6219
hfoster3@earthlink.net