Go Greyhound! ????
I recently traveled by Greyhound bus from
Winston-Salem, North Carolina to Nashville,
Tennessee to attend the 2008 reunion of
Troop A, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry, 101st
Airborne Division. I served in this U. S.
Army company in Vietnam in 1966 and the unit
remains activated to this day and has fought
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This was my
first time to attend a reunion.
Due to gas prices and my desire to attend
the reunion of people and experiences from
the past, I dreamed up the idea to travel
the 491 mile trip to Nashville by Greyhound
and relive the experience of riding a bus.
The round trip fare was only $92.00 which
compares to $200.00 for gasoline alone if
I'd driven my car which gets almost 20 miles
per gallon. In addition, there would have
been depreciation costs on my car plus
$22.00 per day parking at the hotel. This
made the bus fare very attractive.
The disadvantage of the bus was the
departure time on my return trip home. The
departure time in Nashville was 12:45 AM on
Sunday June 22. Yeah, that's right, 45
minutes after midnight following the main
dinner of the Alpha Troop Association
meeting. I checked out of my hotel room by
noon on Saturday, attended reunion functions
all day, attended dinner Saturday night
until 11:00 PM, and then went to the bus
station. Since I'd checked out of my room,
there was no place to relax for a nap during
Saturday's unscheduled time. I changed
clothes in the hotel men's room to get ready
for dinner and again to prepare for the bus
ride home following the elegant dinner.
When I decided on the bus travel schedule, I
thought a late night departure would suggest
few people on the bus and I could relax and
sleep. Wrong! When I arrived at the bus
station, it was packed. In addition three
police cars were there and five officers
were inside the terminal questioning four
young travelers who apparently had been
fighting. Three females and one male were
taken away to the police station. After an
hour and some confusion about which line of
people was correct for the bus with
destinations to Knoxville, Waynesville,
Asheville, and Winston-Salem, we began
loading the bus. When we loaded and departed
the bus station, every seat was occupied
plus three people lay prone in the aisle.
Those three would have had a 12 hour wait
for the next bus if they weren't allowed to
board this one.
(Greyhound doesn't take reservations. Date
and time of ticket purchase doesn't matter.
The first people in line at boarding are
the first ones on the bus.
However, re-boards are asked to go to the
front of the line.)
From 1:00 to 5:00 AM the Greyhound sped
through the dark night to Knoxville. My
expectation of sleep vanished. The woman
next to me slept well as she sprawled out,
snored, twitched, and invaded my space. The
aisle next to my feet was filled with a
stretched-out 60 year old man whose body
tilted side-to-side as the bus entered and
exited curves along Interstate 40.
The row behind me was filled with the four
young people who had been taken away by the
police, then released. They bragged among
themselves how they responded to the
questions by police and about possible
charges they discussed with law enforcement
at the station. Their destination was
Winston-Salem.
Lesson learned: Unless you're destitute or
living on a very tight budget, choose to
travel by personal auto, commercial airline,
or train. Another option is to stay home.
I now have bragging rights that I
sacrificed. I reduced traffic congestion on
the highway by one car and prevented the
consumption of one barrel of oil. (50
gallons of gas would have been used if I had
driven my car on the 1,000 mile round trip.)
I had a great time at the reunion. I'll
report about the reunion later.
Have a good week!
Guidon
A military guidon is a rectangular shaped
cloth with insignia that indicates company
or platoon designation. A triangle removed
on one end makes it "swallow-tailed". The
regulation size is 20 X 27 3/4 inches. The
above photo is a miniature guidon of Troop
A, 2nd Squadron, 17th Airborne Cavalry. The
regulation size would display crossed swords
as well.
This airborne cavalry unit was established
in February, 1964 when the 1st Brigade,
101st Airborne Division was formed. This
"Always First" Brigade trained in Iran, the
Mojave Desert, and other places in the
United States. In May 1965, the division was
alerted for deployment to Vietnam. On July
29, 1965 the Brigade arrived at Cam Ranh
Bay, Republic of Vietnam.
I arrived five months later as a volunteer
on January 3, 1966 with rank of private
first class and M.O.S of 11-B (infantryman).
I served with Troop A as a "boots on the
ground" soldier until December 15, 1966. The
standard tour of duty was 12 months and new
troops arrived often to replace the wounded,
killed, or soldiers with completed tours.
Combat operations continued until 1972 when
the 101st Airborne Division was withdrawn
and returned to Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The
U. S. policy of Vietnamization transferred
most of the division's armaments and
equipment to the ARVN forces. The departing
paratroopers left behind helicopters,
artillery, trucks, jeeps, and base camp
supplies and equipment as they flew home on
military and contract commercial airlines.
The veteran's association was chartered in
2003 under the name Alpha Troop. I became a
member this year and attended the 2008
meeting in Nashville, Tennessee from June
18-22. There I met 25 veterans who served in
Troop A from '69 to '71 as helicopter
pilots, crewmen, or infantrymen. The
activities and meeting were structured, well
organized, and executed following a plan and
agenda. A hotel meeting room served as our
gathering place for meetings, reflections
upon the past, friendly talk, and for
sharing family and life experiences after
the military.
Most Alpha Troop members were around my age
of 61, retired, and with grown children. We
probably came from 12 states from coast to
coast plus Puerto Rico. The careers of these
veterans included retired military, Shell
Oil, ExxonMobile, J. C. Penney, self
employed businessmen, engineering or defense
industry employees, and one large scale farm
operator. All were patriots and solid
citizens of our country. About sixteen
wives and four children accompanied the
veterans to the Doubletree Hotel in downtown
Nashville where we met.
I'll continue my reaction to our meetings
and activities with next week's update. The
image below is that of a bumper sticker
which was for sale at the meeting.
Have a good week!
Sites in Nashville
The StockYard at 901 2nd Ave. N is among the top
ten steak restaurants in the U. S. according to
our waiter. The restaurant sent a complimentary
shuttle bus to our hotel to take us to our
dinner reservation in this former animal auction
place. There, we dined, engaged in friendly
talk, and enjoyed the presence of Alpha Troop
family members who joined us for the evening
meal. This building functioned as a livestock
auction during the first half of the twentieth
century. Its location is between the Cumberland
River and the railroad yard in Nashville. This
hub was a marketplace for farm animals brought
here by river boats and rail cars. Some upstairs
rooms were used as market offices. Other rooms
were secret and used for gambling, drinking, and
sex-for-money during some periods of its
history.
The waiter at my table was a veteran of the 82nd
Airborne Division and participated in the
invasion of Panama in Operation Just Cause, the
military operation to remove Manuel Noriega from
power in 1989. He expressed how honored he was
to serve a group of veterans like us and some of
us expressed comments of appreciation for his
military service.
Earlier in the day we toured parts of the city
on a bus called the Nash Trash Tour. A picture
of the bus is at the bottom. We drove past
famous sites in the city as two guides explained
the significance of the places, the people, and
the music. The guides were female with a hick
comedy act. Their antics created laughter as
they engaged us with their craziness. One of the
guides snorted when she breathed between
sentences. The pink tour bus was known around
the city as these ladies sometimes shouted
through an open window to pedestrians. Their
shouts suggested the pedestrian looked like
Elvis or some other country music star. Most of
us seemed to enjoy this unusual tour of downtown
Nashville.
One evening most of us attended the Grand
Ole Opry where Little Jimmy Dickens and
Vince Gill were the main performers. Again,
we rode by bus from the DoubleTree Hotel to
Opry Land. This transportation was
prearranged by the Alpha Troop Association
activities committee. Other entertainment
opportunities during the three days included
tours of Country Music Hall of Fame, the
Hermitage (President Andrew Jackson's
estate), and the Ryman Auditorium (the
original site for the Grand Ole Opry).
On July 13 I'll report on "The Hooch" and
our meetings there. Have a good week!
The Hooch
The Jackson Room is located on the first floor
above the Doubletree Hotel lobby in downtown
Nashville. We called this room "the hooch" for
our gatherings because this term was used in
Vietnam by GI's to refer to shacks at base camp.
However, there was no hooch for Alpha Troop in
1966. Alpha Troop departed base camp at Phan
Rang on 1/5/66 and didn't return.
The hooch remained open all day and late
into the night as veterans met to talk, eat
snack foods, consume beverages, look at old
photos albums, and watch a DVD of film
footage taken in 'Nam by one vet from Texas.
Food and beverages
were replenished regularly by a devoted
member and his wife who were from Wisconsin.
They took great interest and put forth much
effort to make certain we were cared for.
The couple also managed the raffle sales
and prizes.
A business meeting was led by the
association president one morning with
agenda and presentation data delivered
by PowerPoint and digital projection.
Among other reports, the meeting
included the treasurer's report on
financials and discussions about open
positions. Ample time was given to
members seated at each table to make
comments or ask questions.
The only input I offered was near the
end when "other business" came up on the
agenda. I spoke to the members about
substitute teaching 301 days in high
schools since my retirement 3 years ago.
I pointed out that I've noticed an
interest by today's teenagers, history
teachers, and junior ROTC leaders to
have Vietnam veterans speak to them when
their curriculum in US History brought
them to the Vietnam War. I commented
about the invitations I received to
speak to classes about my participation
in that war. This interest by them is
unusual compared to my generation. Most
boomers and older people generally
showed little interest in hearing from
Vietnam veterans. I progressed through
a university and a career in corporate
management of big business and few
people ever asked about my experiences.
(I didn't say this to Alpha Troop, but
my experience has been that whenever
Vietnam came up in conversation, the
other person quickly remarked how wrong
it had been for our country to enter
that far away war . . . blah, blah,
blah. I always thought these were
inappropriate and insensitive comments
to say to one of their country's
warriors who fought there. This type of
comment should be directed to policy
makers, representatives, or historians.
Perhaps your experiences as a veteran
are different from mine.)
The modern teenager today is different
from us and I've discovered them to be
better quality than my generation when
we were their age. I encouraged Alpha
Troop members to gauge the interest in
their local high schools and be
proactive to sub or become a guest
speaker to these young people. One
member from Wisconsin followed me by
speaking about his experiences with high
schools for many years.
The president concluded the meeting with
an classy touch. He had a gift for
everyone, but instead of distributing
the gift like a teacher passing out a
class assignment paper, he invited
anyone who chose to receive it to come
forward after the meeting. When that
happened, he handed each member a tag
and chain and embraced the person or
shook his hand. I thought his
presentation of the gift was a class
act. The picture below is the tag
called Shield of Strength. The reverse
side expresses a commitment to the
scripture verse from the book of Joshua
chapter 1 verse 9 in the Holy Bible.
The verse can be read by clicking
here. The shape of the tag and
style of chain are like a military dog
tag.
Mementos were for-sale in the hooch. I
purchased a bumper sticker, a DVD, and a
challenge coin struck with a Screaming
Eagles shoulder patch insignia, 17th
Cavalry crest and guidon. The coins are
sequentially numbered on the obverse
side. The bronze coin or medallion
measures 1.5 inches in diameter and
weighs 26.38 grams. I plan to send this
coin, number 188, to the medic who was
in my platoon in '66. We've made
contact with each other for the first
time in 42 years.
On 7/20 I'll comment about the
remembrance service.
Have a good week!
Remembrance Service
The colonel stood straight with his weight
equally distributed on each foot. He wore his
cavalry hat and held a sheaf of papers
containing names and dates. His posture, speech,
and demeanor were that of an army
commander-which he had been. He was now the
Alpha Troop Association commander and the
occasion was a remembrance service for deceased
warriors of Troop A, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry
of the 101st Airborne Division.
As he stood facing us, we were seated at
round tables inside the hooch of the Jackson
Room in the Doubletree Hotel in Nashville.
The mood was quiet, respectful, and
reverent. The colonel read aloud the names
on the alphabetized list. He spoke the full
name, year(s) served in Vietnam, and the
casualty date. After a pause, he gave voice
to the next name and dates. When a veteran
in the audience recognized a name, he stood
and made comments about the hero who made
the ultimate sacrifice. Sometimes the
comments brought tears among us. Other times
the levity of the remarks brought laughter.
This continued for almost 2 hours as around
160 names were spoken.
A name was missing from the list.
Gerard Vincent Palma, a 1964 graduate of
the United States Military Academy at West
Point, was my platoon's leader the year of
1966. Lt. Palma completed the Troop A tour
of duty, went home, and returned to VN in
1969 as a captain for a second tour in the
11th Cavalry. The helicopter in which he was
riding on 4/19/69 was hit by enemy gunfire,
crashed, and all aboard were killed.
A 1966 picture of him is below. Below
the picture is his name as it appears on
the Vietnam Wall on panel 26W line 8.
Captain Palma is buried at Arlington
National Cemetery at section 8 site
5518-E. I spoke his name at the meeting
and it will be added to the Alpha Troop
list for the next meeting in 2010.
I am the shirtless soldier at age 19
in the same picture somewhere in VN.
I'm now 61.
Alf Iver Hovland was on the
colonel's list. He, too, was in
my platoon. His picture is near
the bottom showing him as he
removed a biscuit from a can of
C-rations as I snapped this
photo. His date of death was
announced as 4/10/92, after
tour. He is buried at Ft.
Snelling National Cemetery in
section U-2, site 1102 in South
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The bottom picture shows Hovland
standing and Palma seated in a
jeep somewhere in central VN in
January 1966.
Think about this for a
moment. Will a group give
voice to your name and dates
long after you pass? How
about your rotary club,
college fraternity or
sorority, former employer,
or the church or synagogue
where you worship? I doubt
it.
An old WWII veteran
from Connecticut who is a
patient at the veteran's
hospital in Salisbury, North
Carolina said this when I
was there to help serve
watermelon on July 5. He
said, "there is an unusual
bond between men who served
and fought in war. It's
different from any other
bond between people." He
continued, "the bond that
exists between these men is
the way the Lord intended."
Have a good week!
Mouse and click to enlarge photos for clearer
viewing.
Dinner in Salon E
Three days of getting acquainted, touring
Nashville, being entertained, and attending
meetings reached the zenith at the Saturday
evening dinner in Salon E of the hotel. The
commander hosted the evening. Food was served
buffet style. Raffle tickets were drawn to
decide the lucky winners of desirable prizes.
Friendly talk continued among veterans and
families as had happened each day. A cash bar
was the source for adult beverages and desserts
were on the buffet.
The veterans assembled after dinner for a group
picture. Multiple cameras clicked photos for
several minutes as we posed. Then it was time
for the wives and families to take their turn.
Two photos are below and can be enlarged by
point and click. I'm kneeling on the front
row far right.
I could continue to write about the
reunion and the patriots I met and spent
time getting to know. Each person has as
an interesting life and experiences that
I admire and respect. I enjoyed all the
people I met at the reunion. Everyone
was welcoming to me and I look forward
to 2010 when the next reunion is
scheduled.
When my son and daughter were growing up
in our family, there were times when
behaviors, attitudes, fun times, or
complaining brought me to the point of
saying to them, "enough is enough!"
which meant stop, change, or leave it
alone.
Now is the time for me to say to myself,
"enough is enough" of reporting on the
reunion.
Return here on August 3rd for something
different.
Have a good week!
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