1/83 Artillery Update
January 8, 2020

1/83rd Unit News

and

General News

a. I recently learned that George Tyner (66-67) lost his wife Wendy in November 2018, after a long illness. They were married almost 50 years. Condolences can be sent to George at:

708 Pleiades Place
Livingston, Montana 59047

b. General Allan Pixton - Recently Neal Schwartz (68-69) called to my attention the passing of General Pixton who was the Commanding General XXIV Corps Artillery in 1968-1969.  General Pixton passed away in 2015 and is buried at Arlington Cemetery. Neal had great admiration for him and asked me to add a page in our Last Mission section for General Pixton. I was very grateful to Neal for bringing this to my attention. Here is the page for General Pixton.

2. Happy News - I am pleased to tell you that I have caught up on all my website update backlog. If anyone sent me something that they do not see on the website, please let me know.

3. TET 1968 - I recently asked you to share your recollections of what happened at our various bases during the 1968 TET offensive. I have consolidated the replies and added them as a Reminiscence on  the website. Check it out, it is interesting, and be sure to let me know if you want to add or change anything. Look on this page for the TET 1968 Experiences section.

I also remind and encourage you to look at the Reminiscences section for other stories of our past. This is one of my favorite sections on the website and one of the most interesting and enjoyable. Look on this page.

4. Vietnam Tours - I was recently contacted by an Australian (Luke Johnston) who lives in and operates tours in Vietnam. He does these tours in the Nui Dat area as well as other locations in Vietnam. His father was an Australian Infantryman in 1968 was in the reaction force sent to Baria when it was attacked during TET 1968.

Luke asked me several questions about the 1/83rd and our times at Nui Dat. We have had an interesting dialog so far. He told me that Camp Everett is now part of Nui Dat village. What was the main east-west road through the camp is now a village street. He has promised to send me some photos of what that area at Nui Dat looks like today which I am looking forward to. Here is a link to the tour company which includes some photos.

5.. Australian Wild Fires - I have been in contact with several of our Aussie members recently as I was concerned about their safety with this terrible tragedy currently going on in Australia.  I know you have been seeing the stories of this in the news for some time now.

While many of them are experiencing troubles with varying degrees of severity, many of their countrymen are in a dire situation. Please keep them in your prayers.

We have 15 Australian members of our group and some of you met a couple of them at our 2016 Reunion. Please reach out to all of them with your messages of support by looking on the Full Roster for their email addresses. They are identified in the notes column like this Honorary Member - Australian

6. Australia Day - January 26 is Australia Day. Here is more on that occasion.

7. 2020 Reunion - The Reunion is scheduled for October 11-14, 2020 in Colorado Springs, CO. There is a link on our website with Reunion details as well as a link to the hotel to make your reservations along with a list of those who have told us they plan to attend. Please review this list for accuracy and let me know if you see any errors or omissions. The link to the list is on that page.

Please do not delay in making your hotel reservations. As you know, Don Eikenberry is organizing the Reunion so let him know if you have any questions. Don has indicated that he will be asking me to send an email with more on the Reunion before too long so keep your eye out for it.

It is also very important that you let Ray Elwood (who is organizing the post-Reunion day-trip on October 14) know if you plan on attending that optional trip. He needs numbers for planning purposes including how many buses to reserve.

8. Book Review - One of our members, Malcolm Decker (69-70) has written 2 books. The first is titled "On a  Mountainside" and is a story of how Malcolm's father, Doyle Decker survived when he was in the Philippines when they were attacked by the Japanese in World War II.

The courage and resourcefulness of Doyle Decker was something that was so admirable, I doubt seriously if I could have endured what he went through to survive such a terrible ordeal. It seemed like he had so many skills that helped him survive, I truly was in awe of how he tackled whatever was thrown at him. It is a great story of survival and even better because it is a true story.

While there were so many parts of the book that I enjoyed reading, and marveled at, I wanted to mention one thing that really struck home with me and I think it will with you. In the Preface of the book was a quote from John E. Olson. He said "we did what we had to do. Everyone had a different experience and each handled the experience in his own unique way".

It really conveys what I believe so many of the WWII Vets felt. On top of that, I felt it was an excellent way to describe my own personal feelings and experiences particularly in the early days at Nui Dat. I look back sometimes and marvel at how I must have been too young, dumb and naive to fully understand the dangers we faced. I am sure that most of us feel that same way.

His second book is titled "From Bataan to Safety" which describes the work of a brave family in the Philippines whose unselfish efforts helped save the lives of many Americans during the same period as in On a Mountainside.

I encourage you to contact Malcolm and get yourself a copy of each. If you do, read On a Mountainside first. You can find Malcolm's contact information on the Full Roster

9. Your Personal Contact Information - Once again I am asking you to please be sure to let me know if your contact information has changed.  I have had quite a few lately where either your email address or postal address is outdated and I was not notified. If your email address changes and you haven't provided a current postal address and phone number it makes it difficult or impossible for me to find you. Nothing is worse than losing someone just because of "paperwork" so keep me updated so I can keep the Full Roster up to date.

10. Support - Please let me know if anyone of you or your family have health situations so we can let everyone know of the need for our support.

11. News - if you have any good news that you want to share send it along. Having good news to share would be a real pleasure, as it seems like we are constantly only talking about sad news. Here is the latest 1/83rd News.

Interesting Links and More

1. Neal Schwartz (68-69) sent this story about Americans Retiring to Vietnam. Not for me I'm afraid, been there, done that.

2. Roger Hatcher (66-67) sent this video, Special Operations Free Fall Jump Into Normandy for the 75th Anniversary of D-Day. Very interesting.

3. Here is a nice and truly amazing WWII story from the American Veterans Center, WWII: Christmas Eve miracle brought German & American soldiers together.

4. Roger Hatcher (66-67) sent this story, Why do we sing the National Anthem before sports games? I never knew this.

5. Roger Koopman (68-69) sent this story, U.S. Army’s New Experimental ‘Super Cannon’

Did you Know

The term “lieutenant,” used widely in the military, police departments, and political office, is French in origin and translates as “holding a position.” A lieutenant maintains a superior officer’s position during his or her absence.

(Courtesy of How-To Geek Newsletter)

1/83rd Website

1. Please let me know if you come across any links in my website that are broken. With so much content, it is inevitable that links go out of date so let me know if you find one that does not work.

2. 1/83rd Unit Merchandise - Here is a link to the latest merchandise.

3. If you come across anything that you think may be a good addition to our website let me know. Also, if you have any questions or suggestions regarding the website, let me know.

4. Check out all the latest updates by looking at the website Table of Contents.

Vietnam Veterans of America

1/83rd Roster

Full Roster on Website - Check your entry on the Full Roster to make sure all your information is up to date. Notify me if any changes are necessary. If your email stops working, I cannot reach you if you have incomplete or incorrect contact details on the roster.

I have recently become aware of several changes to contact info. It is important that you keep your contact information up to date on the Roster, it is the only that your buddies can find you! Let me know when things change.

Please remember that all contact info that we have for our group can be found on the Full Roster. This is the best spot to start if you need to contact one of the group.

There is a long-standing page on our website where I list men that are either missing, inactive or trying to be located by someone in our group. I am asking everyone to review that page and let me know if you have updates you would like me to make.

I am sure that each of us has someone they would really like to reconnect with. If we all pitch in, we may find many more of our old buddies. Here are some ways to do that:

1. If you are in contact or have contact info for any 1/83rd guys please contact them and tell them about our group or at least tell me and I will contact them.

2. Look through the roster on the website and if you know of others who are not listed, let me know who they are. Also, if you see any incorrect or missing info (including your own entry) let me know.

3. If you have copies of old orders tucked away someplace, send me a copy so I can make sure those names are on the roster.

4. Sometimes all it takes is a name and location and we can find someone but the more details we know the better our chances.

Please make sure that your email system allows emails to be received from both of my email addresses, bill_t_08012@yahoo.com and artillery_83rd@yahoo.com

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