Update January 29, 2015

1/83rd Unit News	1. Missing - Joe Ortiz (67-68) asked if anyone knew the current whereabouts of Art Shoenberger who was in "HQ" Battery in 67-68. Let me know if you know anything about him. 2. Update from 2014 Reunion - If you attended the last Reunion, you remember Elizabeth Hughes our wonderful Guest Speaker from the College of the Ozarks. After many years at the College, Elizabeth resigned in December and is pursuing a career as a writer and consultant. She recently published a book that Elizabeth says would appeal to both adults and children. It is titled "TOM THE TURKEY'S ROAD TO FREEDOM". Here is a comment from her website.... "Tom the Turkey's Road to Freedom serves as Elizabeth's book debut. What began as an idea incubated to become an inspirational story that weaves American Exceptionalism and the Founding Fathers' intentions for the country with life lessons and biblical truths." More details, including how to purchase her book can be found at her website. Click here. 3. Basic Training early 1960's - This Army film is from the early 1960's and depicts Basic at Ft Ord. It runs about a 1/2 hour and is interesting and fun to watch. The Infiltration Course sequence in particular reminds me of how it looked at Ft Jackson in 1966. 4. Unit Merchandise - See section below. ____________________________________________________________________________ Be sure to let me know what is going on in your life so we can share it with everyone in this section. See the latest 1/83rd News by clicking here.
Photo of the Week	"A" Battery 175mm at Nui Dat-1966-67 (Courtesy of Ross Wood (Australia) - Nui Dat with “B” Company 5RAR.
General News	1. The Four Chaplains - February 3rd is the 72nd Anniversary of the sinking of the USAT Dorchester. Following is an excerpt from a recent email from Mike Helm National Commander of The American Legion. In the early morning of Feb. 3, 1943, a torpedo struck the USAT Dorchester in the Atlantic Ocean, just 150 miles from its destination. Panic and chaos quickly replaced the calm and quiet aboard Dorchester. The blast killed scores of men, while many more were seriously wounded. It would only take 20 minutes for the Dorchester to sink into the ocean. But what occurred in those 20 minutes is something we still revere today. A selfless act of courage was performed during the sinking by Rev. George Fox (Methodist), Jewish Rabbi Alexander Goode, Rev. Clark Poling (Dutch Reformed) and Father John Washington (Roman Catholic). Each man demonstrated service before self in a time of crisis. The chaplains calmed the crewmen, comforted the injured, directed others to safety and distributed life jackets. When there were no more life jackets, the four chaplains removed theirs and gave them to four crewmen. We honor the Four Chaplains and ensure their legacy of brotherhood and selfless service. May they be remembered for generations to come. Here is more on the Four Chaplains and the chapel in their memory which is located in the former US Navy Shipyard in Philadelphia. 2. Don Aird (70-71) sent this story about how the Home Depot Foundation is helping Veterans.
Interesting Links and More	1. A friend sent this patriotic video God Bless America I think you will enjoy. 2. Ken Blank (69-70) sent this for all the car buffs, Old Car Movies.
Website Updates	1. I added a new section Tips. If you have any ideas for more content for this section, send them along. 2. 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. 3. Check out all the latest updates by looking at the website Table of Contents.
Vietnam Veterans of America Update	1. VVA Update for January 17, 2015 2. VVA Update for January 23, 2015 3. VVA website
1/83rd Merchandise	Unit Merchandise - The proceeds from Cap, Decal and Patch sales will go to the Reunion fund. a. Unit Crest Patches (same patch as has been available 3.25"h x 2.75"w - $6 each. Here is a photo. b. Unit Crest Decals (Decal is round 3.5" x 3.5") - $5 each. Here is a photo. c. 1/83rd Caps (Adjustable) - $20 each. Here is a photo. If you are interested in any of these items, send me a check. Make sure you supply your mailing address. If you want an 83rd Artillery Unit Crest Pin, I have a link on the website where you can order them from one of the 3 vendors listed. I have bought from all 3 of them and they are identical in quality, all are very good. Please note that Uniform Accessories will ship 2 for one price where the other 2 only ship 1 for almost the same price.
1/83rd Roster	Review your entry on the website Roster and let me know if any changes are necessary. If your email stops working, I cannot reach you if you have incomplete contact details on the roster.
Missing members of the 1/83rd	Help us find those former 83rd members who haven't found us yet!! 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.
Rules & Regs	I recently updated the "Rules & Regs" document, if anyone would like an updated copy, let me know. Go to Contact Us and submit your request or email me directly.
Advisory	If you get an email from and it has a website link included anywhere within the email, most times you should be able to just click on the link and you will be taken to the website. Sometimes however, the link will not work because, in sending you the email, the link is deactivated although it is still usable. If this should happen, another way to use the link is to copy and paste it into the address line on your browser. Please be sure to let me know if you have any questions on this. 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 Please note that there are no blank spaces in email addresses. What you see in mine between words/characters is the underscore (_) character.