2020 News

8/4/20

• Paul Griffith (67-68) sent this photo showing an Honor Flight salute to him.

Ed Note. I had the privilege of serving under Paul's command in HQ Battery, he was a fine officer, a good man and and an even better friend.

8/2/20

• Some of you may recall that our Alex Athans (66-67) lost his Daughter Christina to pancreatic cancer in 2014. Christina's final wish was for Alex and his wife Pat to continue the fight to defeat this terrible cancer. Since then they have been doing just that. A story on their efforts was in the August 2020 edition of the VFW magazine. Click here to see that story.

Ed Note. If anyone is in a position to help Alex with this effort his contact information can be found on the Full Roster.

8/1/20

• Paul Picciuto (69-70) sent this photo of him and his Dad Tony, a WWII Veteran of the Pacific Theater, who just celebrated his 98th Birthday.

Mr. Picciuto makes wooden crosses in his workshop and distributes them to many. He has now made over 18,000 and counting. Take a look at this video which shows Mr. Picciuto at work at age 96. He was "only" at 11,000 at that time so he has had a busy last 2 years. What a remarkable man.

Happy Birthday Mr. Picciuto, another member of the Greatest Generation!

Tony and Paul Picciuto.

7/14/20

• David Boroff (75-77) sent along this message. If anyone lives in his area, drop in and say to David.

Hi Bill,

I just wanted to say, "Thanks" for doing such a great job of running this website, and to tell the guys that I'm going back to volunteering tomorrow, 14 July at the St. Joseph County VA Medical Center in Mishawaka, IN. I'll be there 11:00 am to 4:00 pm. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I do Patient Escorts and push a lot of wheelchairs.

It is one of the most humbling, and awe-inspiring jobs I've ever done. Part of me has the greatest hope that one day a fellow vet comes in and tells me he was in the 1/83 also. I'd love to meet as many of you as possible, but with a greater prayer, I wish all of you good health, stay safe and be of good cheer.

Best regards,
David Boroff
HHB FDC 75-77"

7/14/20

• Steve (Boots) Boutlis, one of our Aussie mates sent these 2 photos of how he celebrated ANZAC Day in this the year of the virus. He also sent this note:

"Greetings to all of our mates of the 1/83rd,

The virus has certainly curtailed all of our Anzac Day commemorations but we all around Australia observed in a national call to be in our driveways at 0600 hr. That’s me alongside the Anzac decorations. The teddy bear soldier is dressed in WWI Aussie digger outfit.

Cheers to you all,
Boots"

Steve "Boots" Boutlis

7/12/20

• Mike Reetz (66-67) sent the following 2 photos along with this note. Mike lives in Gettysburg.

"Local National Guard unit here in Gettysburg is recruiting this week. Spotted the object below. Thought you might find it interesting.

It's the new (issued year 2000) 155mm gun. Range 25 miles."

When Rex Hon (66-67) saw the photos, he sent this note:

"I went an OCS reunion at Ft Sill about 6 or 7 years ago. We got to see the Model 777 Towed 155 mm Howitzer in action. Half the weight of the old M109 Towed Howitzer we used in Vietnam. As I remember the M777 is towed by the barrel. The range of the M777 is 26 miles however the Russian Koalitdiya 152 mm Howitzer SP has a range of 43 miles. Out gunned again by the Russians.

But we also got to see the Army 155 mm rocket propelled GPS guided artillery shell with a range of about 65 miles but this shell is extremely expensive!! Can be fired from the M777. Called the Excalibur shell the reported cost is $60,000 per shell!!"

Mike Reetz

2/7/20

• Glen Gronseth (69-70) was recently on a cruise that made a stop in Vietnam. Here are some photos of current Hue that Glen sent.

Glen is the guy in the red shirt right of center bending forward.

From Glen:

"All I saw in 69-70 was the south side of the outer wall. Inside that, there’s an inner wall. And inside that is the Forbidden City. Photo shows our bus tour group just before we fought our way into that inner sanctum. No shooting required for our successful assault but all those steps are hard for people age 70+. You’d think that god-kings could have installed escalators."

The Citadel on the north side of the Perfume River.

From Glen:

"I’ll re-read parts of “Hue 1968” now that I have an updated sense of the geography. Why 3+ million had to die to get from then to now remains hard to explain. During a RT bus ride to Hue from the new port at Can My, I spotted the former location of Camp Eagle on the west side of Hwy 1 thanks to the Hue-Phu Bai Int’l Airport’s control tower on the east side. But, despite having two passes, I could not identify the hill ~50km south that once was FSB Roy. I saw several cloud topped mountains west of Hwy 1 that matched my memory but none was across the road from a lagoon side hill/mountain that might have been FSB Roy."

Part of today’s Hue south of the river.

2/7/20

• Ross Wood, one of our Aussie members was with “B” Company 5RAR at Nui Dat in 1966-67. He sent along these photos of Australia Day 2020.

From Ross:

"On Australia Day in Sydney, many of the events are held around, and on the Harbour. At 12 noon there is a 21 gun Salute to Australia fired by an Army Reserve ceremonial troop with four M2A2 105mm howitzers. They are located on the northern side of the Harbour immediately to the east at the base of the northern pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and with harbour pleasure and ferry boats held back the guns fire blank rounds south in the direction of Sydney City. The Salute is accepted by the New South Wales State Governor who is on a Royal Australian Navy warship about 200 metres out from the 105mm howitzers."

Australian Army Ceremonial M2A2 105mm howitzer being towed at Bradfield Park, Australia Day 2020

Australian Army M2A2 105mm howitzer being towed onto Bradfield Park, Australia Day 2020

Australian Army M2A2 firing Salute to Australia, Bradfield Park, Australia Day 2020

Australian Army Unimog towing M2A2 105mm howitzer, Bradfield Park, Australia Day 2020