Update July 18, 2014

1/83rd Unit News	1. Reunion Reminder - Attendance fee is due August 1. There are still 36 outstanding so please get it to me by August 1. See the section below for more information on the 2014 Reunion. 2. Sad News - I recently was told that the Mother of Winfred (Lang) Langley (66-67) has passed away. Condolences can be sent to Lang by getting his contact info on the Roster. 3. New Mailing Address - Rex Hon (66-67) has a new mailing address which can be found on the Roster. 4. Volunteers wanted - Many of you are aware, if you have visited the Vietnam Memorial all in DC, that you can do a rubbing of any individuals name on the Wall. For a limited time, it is now possible to request a rubbing by email. A volunteer at the Wall will do it and it will be sent to you by postal mail. While this may be something that you want to request personally, I was hoping to get 8 volunteers to request a rubbing for the (8) former 1/83rd members who died in Vietnam and are listed on the Wall. If 8 of you would request 1 name each listed on the In Memoriam page on our website and then mail it to me, I will scan it and add it the In Memoriam Page. Please let me know who you will request. Click here to make your request. 5. Nui Dat - In the last update I mentioned that one of the Aussie's recently retuned to Nui Dat. I asked Paul Dickson, the editor of the Eyes & Ears Newsletter about what his mate discovered and Paul responded with "unless you were taken there it would be near impossible to recognise". ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 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	In the last update I mentioned that a photo was identified as being Craig Castona (66-67), in the most recent edition of the Eyes & Ears Newsletter (June 2014). As Craig later confirmed, it is not him. Below is a better view of that mystery man. He is most likely from "A" Battery circa 66-67. Can anyone tell me who it is?

General News	1. Rex Hon (66-67) sent this VA News release, New Regulations Automate Burial Payments for Veterans’ Survivors
Interesting Links and More	1. Dan O'Brien (69-70) sent this speech that Terry Garlock recently gave at the Angry Skipper Reunion (1st Cavalry Division). It was so good I added it to our website. Here is that speech... Terry Garlock Presentation to Angry Skipper Reunion 2. Ken Blank (69-70) sent these photos taken by the late Horst Faas who was a Pulitzer Prize-winning combat photographer who became one of the world’s legendary photojournalists in nearly half a century with the AP, he captured these images during the Vietnam War. 3. This Guinness beer commercial tribute to soldiers was sent in by a few of you. 4. This tribute to a Korean War hero was sent in by a few of you. 5. I may have sent this in the past but it's worth a view if you did not see it. How to safely dispose of 9 Volt Batteries. Here is another. 6. Walt Noechel (69-70) sent this - Inside New York City's Most Secret Basement 7. Neal Schwartz (68-69) sent this look at a new Boeing jet (I think the test pilots were frustrated fighter jockeys). 8. Rich Webekind (66-67) sent this interesting comparison of race car pit stops - 1950 vs 2013 9. Tom Sellers (68-69) sent this Military Channel Documentary Lock N' Load: Artillery. 10. This painting is truly remarkable. Even more amazing though, is that the canvas has been computerized. When you click on the link, a much bigger version of the computerized painting appears. Then as you run your cursor over the people, the program tells you who they are. Click on a person and you obtain the individual’s life history. Click here.
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 Update	1. VVA Update for July 10 2. VVA Update for July 18 3. VVA website
2014 Reunion News	1. Reunion Reminder - If you haven't made your hotel reservation yet, don't delay. Also, remember that attendance fees are due to me by August 1. Contact me if you need a Reunion Flyer. All necessary details for the Reunion and Dinner Show can be found in the flyer. 2. Reunion Fund Raising - If you haven't read my recent email regarding our fund raising efforts for the Reunion, please do and let me know if you are interested in helping. Contact me if you need that email resent. 3. Reunion Dinner Show - As you know, Roger and Kathy Hatcher volunteered to organize an optional dinner show excursion during the reunion in Branson. Roger sent me a couple of links to the Hughes Bros show which is reported to be one of Branson's best. If you are on the fence about attending the dinner show, maybe this will help convince you. Show promo. Hughes Bros website Please be sure to contact Roger Hatcher if you are interested in attending this optional event while at the Reunion. Details on the dinner show and Roger's contact information are contained in the reply form that was included with the Reunion Flyer. You need to get the form and payment to Roger by September 1 but sooner would be better. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Please check the list on the website of those who have said they will attend the 2014 Reunion and make sure you are listed and that you are listed correctly. 5. Unless you are extending your stay longer, please make sure your hotel reservation covers at least 3 nights (October 12, 13 and 14). You will need to stay through Tuesday night Oct 14 (Check out on Oct 15) if you plan on going to the Farewell Dinner on Tuesday evening. Please double check the confirmation you receive from the hotel to make sure the dates are correct. 6. If you have any questions on the reunion, please let me know.
1/83rd Unit Crest Patches and Pins	If anyone is interested in buying an 83rd Artillery Unit Crest Patch let me know. Price is based on how many you order. If you are interested, send me an email with your mailing address and how many you want. Don't send any money until you receive the patches. When you receive them, you will see the cost for the number you ordered plus my mailing address for payment. 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	For a current copy of Rules and Regs, go to Contact Us and submit your request.
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.