Update February 26, 2017

1/83rd Unit News and General News	1. Sad News - I recently learned of the passing of Mike Rossi ("D" Co., 41st Signal, 39th Sig. Bat). Dave spent some time at Nui Dat in 67-68 and was part of a Reminiscence dialog about events at Nui Dat at that time. Mike was a friend of Dave Ellis who was with the same unit as Mike and Dave was part of that same dialog. Mike's death effected Dave very much. Say a prayer for Mike and his family, I know that Dave would appreciate that. Lest We Forget. 2. Help with a Photo - I had a photo that one of our 66-67 HQ guys took of two of the 175's firing at night at Nui Dat. I can't remember who took that photo but I had a hard copy of that photo which I brought home with me from Nam. As a surprise, my wife had it enclosed in plastic and I had it for many years until eventually the picture completely faded out. Here is that picture. I got it somewhere on-line over the past years but the quality is poor. If anyone has a better digital copy of this photo I would be very grateful if you could send me that digital copy. Others have asked me about that photo as well. 3. New Email Address - Bob Bosl (68-69) has a new email address. Check the Full Roster for details of Bob's change and for all current email addresses. 4. News - Recently, one of the group asked me if I ever get any good news from our group. I think he asked because of the recent number of death's in the 1/83rd family that I have been reporting. I have asked you for years that if you have any good news you would like shared with the group, let me know. I am asking again, it would be great to pass along the good things that have been going on in our life. As you know (or should know), I have a page on the website devoted to News. Send me some positive news to report. 5. Military Exchanges to be open to all honorably discharged Veterans - A few guys sent me this news that, effective next November,16 million honorably discharged veterans will be able to shop online for discounted military exchange products. Click here to read a story about this that was in the March 2017 issue of the American Legion Magazine. Here are similar links from the Stars and Stripes and Kipsap Sun. They are basically the same story by the same author but you may find these easier to view than the American Legion link. 6. Blue Water Navy Veterans exposure to Agent Orange - I received this message from advocates for this act. "House bill HR 299, “The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2017” has been introduced and is currently under review. This bill is to clarify presumptions relating to the exposure of the “Blue Water Navy” and other veterans who served in the Territorial Waters of the Republic of Vietnam to Agent Orange. There are currently 194 co-sponsors. History: prior to 2002, any veteran who received the “Vietnam Service” medal was granted presumptive exposure to the 14 diseases associated with Agent Orange exposure. In 2002, the Veterans Administration changed the rules. It now required the veteran to have set foot on Vietnam soil or was on patrol on the inland waterways in order to qualify for presumptive exposure to the Agent Orange. I am asking that you contact your Congressman/woman asking for their support of this very important bill. To see if your representative is already on the list of co-sponsors, Google HR 299. Click on the 115th Congress and click on co-sponsors. You can sort this list by name, state or party. If yours is on the list, please give them a call thanking them for co-sponsoring this bill. The process is pretty simple, just follow these steps: On internet explorer, you need to type in, or click: http://action.fra.org/action-center/ this is for the Fleet Reserve Association “Action Center”. 1. Scroll down and click on “Support Blue Water Vietnam Veterans. a. Scroll down and enter your name at the bottom of the “letter”. b. Scroll down and enter the requested information, i.e. Name and Sender Information. c. Uncheck the box that says “Sign me up for the Action E-List”. You do not want to be bombarded with these! d. Click Send Message. This bill states “Blue Water Navy Veterans, but also encompasses Marines, Army, Air Force and Coast Guard personnel that were stationed aboard a Navy vessel in the Territorial waters of the Republic of Vietnam. That’s it! Thank you in advance for assisting our Veterans in getting this bill passed!" 7. Vietnam Veterans Memorial 2017 Reading of the Names - As part of the 35th Anniversary Commemoration of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial all of the more than 58,000 names will be read from Tuesday, November 7, 2017 through Friday, November 10, 2017. A few of us volunteered in 2012 to read the names when it was the 30th Commemoration and it is a wonderful experience to be part of. If anyone will be in DC at that time and is interested in volunteering, more info can be found at this link. 8. 1/83rd Website - 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. 9. 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. 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. 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. 12. Reunion News - Mike Reetz (66-67) has agreed to plan and organize our next Reunion. When and where to be determined. Mike's contact info can be found on the Full Roster if you have any questions.
Photo of the Week	Vietnam Women's Memorial at The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington DC. The Vietnam Women's Memorial is a memorial dedicated to the women of the United States who served in the Vietnam War, most of whom were nurses. Photo Courtesy of Johnnie Pearson (68-69)
Interesting Links and More	1. Need a Projo Tray for your backyard 8-inch or 175mm? Dan O'Brien (69-70) sent this along so act fast.
Did you Know	The most remote place in North America, in terms of distance from an ocean, is a spot in southwest South Dakota located just north of the town of Allen—this spot is 1,030 miles from the nearest coastline. (Courtesy of How-To Geek Newsletter)
Website Updates	1. 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. 2. Check out all the latest updates by looking at the website Table of Contents.
Vietnam Veterans of America	1. VVA website
1/83rd Roster	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 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	If anyone would like a current copy of the "Rules & Regs" document which has helpful information about using the website, 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.