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Here you will
see that the spirit of the Brotherhood is so strong that some Brothers
Melbourne, FL Viet Vet Memorial Reunion - 2007 Gary Beatty, Frank Marsh (TAG), Ted Trousdale, Bob Norway, and Dick Grimes met at the 2007 Vietnam Veterans and All Vets Reunion and Traveling Wall at Melbourne, FL on the weekend of 28 and 29 April 2007. Nobody had a camera until Frank 'remembered' he had one in his truck. Unfortunately, Dick had already left, so no picture of him. I guess Frank didn't want to wear out his camera, so there were only a few pix of the Swift Boat, a Huey and the four of us that happened to be there when he retrieved his camera. Click the button to see the pix.
Mini in Colorado Springs, 21 July 2003 Hi, Everyone, Gerry Frazier and incoming TLCBer Paul Murtha are teaching a class on simulation at the Air Force Academy this week. So I guided them over to the Wild Ginger Restaurant this evening in Old Colorado City, where we were joined by Jim Harrod and Joe Wilson for another great Thai meal. We had a couple of hours of great story telling  From left to right you have Paul Murtha (Batman 16), Gerry Frazier, Jimmie Butler, Jim Harrod, and Joe Wilson. Gerry and Paul stopped by my house on their way from the Academy to the restaurant. Right before they arrived, I’d just hand-fed a box of Triscuits to a couple of does who’ve been hanging around lately with this year’s fawns. When Paul and Gerry arrived, a doe and a fawn were still in the yard, so Paul was happy to get a picture or two. His wife is coming out at the end of the week, and they’re going to look around Colorado Springs to see how much they might like it. Perhaps one of these days, Paul will be a part of the Colorado contingent of the TLCB. While chatting in the parking lot with Paul, Gerry, and Jim Harrod, I mentioned that one thing that always surprised me was that many Army chopper pilots I've talked to spoke of surviving 2 or 3 crashes. I’d always worried about those blades chopping through everything and I'd been surprised about the number who had survived. Paul said he had gone down 7 times and usually was glad he was in a chopper. He also shared a great story about one of the squadron mascots, a 4-pound monkey named Moose. During a mortar attack, one of the pilots wanted to get airborne and Moose decided to go along. Paul explained that you balanced the blades with the equivalent of a few bb’s out a foot or so from the hub. Obviously a 4-pound monkey hanging on the trim tab at the end of the blade was going to affect the balance. I know it’s going to be hard to tell the story in an e-mail as well as Paul told it over our Thai meal, but I told him he needs to share that one sometime on the mission net. Paul flew a number of clandestine missions into Cambodia. A good time was had by all. TLC Brotherhood mini reunion for Joe Gagnon - June 13, 2003
Brothers and Sisters,
June 13, 2003 Staten Island, New York was the scene of a surprise TLC Brotherhood mini reunion for Joe Gagnon.
Former Brooklynite Dennis (Bzaza) Browne, Wendy Liles and I surprised Joe at his favorite haunt near the Staten Island Naval Homeport facility on the north shore. We all had a great time!
It took us a little while to find Joe's secret hideaway. No one in the immediate neighborhood would admit to knowing what we were talking about, so we were beginning to think it was one of the "Social Clubs" the attorney general keeps a close watch on. The well-hidden Ocean Yacht Club has neither an Ocean nor Yachts (not even one boat), but it does have some members so I guess it is a club.
One thing the Yacht Club has is plenty of beer, so while Joe was unable to imbibe due to his treatments, he took great pleasure in watching us wet our whistles. As is traditional at all reunions, we took turns telling wildly exaggerated and sometimes completely untrue stories all the while assuring each other of their absolute factual basis.
We worked up a pretty good appettite at the yacht club, so we set off on a hunt for a Thai restaurant. Since all the restaurants on Staten Island by law must be owned by one or another "Family" of Sicilian heritage, this proved to be an impossible dream. We finally settled upon the local Appleby's, and had a great lunch.
The highlight of the afternoon was Joe's spirited retelling of how he spent two days stuck in the wing tip fuel bladder of a B52, stripped to his skivvies and trying to work in a space designed for someone half his size. Joe swears that Boeing, at that time, actually had hired a team of civilian midgets that were specially trained to perform maintenance on that #16 fuel cell.
Joe and Joanne will be making their long awaited move to their new home in South Carolina within the month. We were all glad to be able to get together one more time to wish them well.
Pacific NW Mini - Salem, Oregon - March 2003
S. California Mini - March 2003
Standing Left to Right Rick Middleton--Vic (New Bro)--Ralph Wetterhahn (First Reunion) Aubrey Bell (My Dad)--Len Scheid--& Bob (New Bro) Kneeling Les Thompson---Rod Bell (Slick) (Click on Thumbnail to see Larger Picture)
Florida Mini-Reunion October 2002
Maty & Jon-Pierre Benoist with Linda & Bob Norway After a pleasurable evening at a British Pub in Orlando. Jon was showing off his knowledge of fine Scotch, thus the big grin...LOL. The grouch on the right was just tired.....:)
North Carolina Mini-Reunion October 26, 2002 King and I Thai Restaurant in Cary, NC Fort Walton Beach Mini-Reunion
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