COMANCHERO 2007 REUNION

Fort Campbell, TN ~ May 17th - 20th, 2007

Holiday Inn Clarksville, I 24 Exit 4, 2095 Wilma Rudolph Blvd., Clarksville, TN 37040

Attendance: 64 Comanchero Veterans, 91 total reunion attendees, 137 Comancheros with guest were served at the A/101 Aviation Dinner on Saturday. This was the largest gathering of A/101 Avn members in the history of our unit. The historic A/101 Avn legacy and the excellent camaraderie between the eras was deeply felt by everyone in attendance at this great reunion. A huge Thank You to the U.S. Army for all of the outstanding hospitality you showed to us during our visit. You treated all of our reunion attendees like we were honored US Army family members. It was truly an honor to meet the heroic men and women of today's Screaming Eagles. None of us will ever forget this memorable time at Fort Campbell.

Hundreds of more reunion photos are located in the links at the bottom of this page

2007 Reunion After Action Report by E.G "Jerry" Turner

Day 1;  Travel day, drove from Houston to Clarksville, departed at 0545, arrived at 2045 at the Hotel, met our guys in the Hospitality Suite, checked in, went back to the Hospitality Suite and had several beers, I needed them badly!  Only got lost once (in Clarksville!), spent an hour and a half trying to find the Hotel, last time I will follow Mapquest directions!
 
Day 2; Joined the group, went to the Division Review, kinda chilly out there, but worth the effort and chill to watch our Young Warriors on parade.  The old guys marched as well, looked really good, they even stayed in step!  Got kinda teary eyed watching them march by, great job guys, you all looked great!  We went to the Bn area and spent time with our current crop of Warriors, can't say enough about them, they make me very proud and are certainly carrying our legacy forward!  We went to the Museum and listened to Ted Crozier regal us with our history and other war stories.  Later in the day we had a barbecue with the Troops, got to drink more beer and talk to our Younger Brothers, enjoyed it very much, then back to the Hotel Hospitality suite, more beer!  I must say that LTC Fish and his staff really treated us right and with much respect, the XO had his hands full escorting us old farts around, I told him it was like herding cats, it cannot be done!  But he managed to keep his cool and was a fine escort.  A very special thanks must go to our Drivers for putting up with all our war stories, they actually pretended to listen to us with interest!  Our Driver van number 4, was from Alaska and treated us with respect, a fine young Trooper with a young wife and baby.  Of course van #4 was the best of this motley crew for we had all Warriors and Thunderbirds aboard, you know them really old guys from the BC era!  A long day, but very enjoyable.
 
Day 3;  Attended a Division Memorial Service, then the dedication of  the new headquarters building (The Nut House), met the Division CG, MG Schloesser, had a long conversation with him, a very personable man, with great respect for our legacy and veterans.  But I pointed out to him that the Battle Streamers in the headquarters were wrong, they showed the earliest Vietnam deployment as being in 1967, I told him that A Company 101st Aviation Battalion arrived in Vietnam in 1965, the first 101st Unit to see combat since WWII and advised him that we received the Presidential Unit Citation, along with the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry (Unit) while there.  He said he did not know that and would fix the error, I told him that I would be checking on that!  Went to the air show at Sabre Field, got to see RB's aircraft that he crewed in RVN, he showed me all the bullet holes, very happy that Richard got to reunite with "his aircraft". Went back to the Hotel for our A/101 Association Meeting, I'll let someone else address the results of that meeting, suffice it to say that we accomplished a number of things, not least of them the approval of our A/101  Scholarship Fund.  After that more beer in the hospitality suite, then the Banquet, which was great, much fun was had by all, many smiling faces, war stories, great food, good service and participation of the active duty guys and their families.  PT Paul entertained us with with his rendition of various songs, Ken Trump did a great job with the Auctioneering,  raised a bunch of money for our Scholarship Fund!  Another long, but satisfying and very enjoyable day!  I had invited two guests to attend our banquet, Steve Verrigni (A Cav guy, 229th Bn.) and his fiance Sandy, Steve brought a Patriot Guard Riders Flag to present to the Battalion and it was presented to LTC Fish along with other gifts at the banquet.
 
Day 4;  Time to leave, had breakfast with all you great guys and gals, said our goodbyes, made a trip out to Campbell with Steve and Sandy to get some souvenirs and toured the base, went to the PX.  Departed Clarksville at 1400, arrived in Friendswood at 0430 the following morning, 14 and a half hours of driving!
 
A couple of additional comments; I must commend Richard Bittle, Tom Halligan, Gil Jones, Chuck Slezak, Chuck Luczynski and Don Kennedy our A/101 Board for their hard work in making this reunion one of the best yet, great job guys, thank you!  And seeing Stan Rosinski and his family there was wonderful, Stan is a great guy, he served in WWII, maybe Korea and with us in RVN in 1965-66, a real combat leader and example for all of us to emulate.  I don't want to forget my bud Hermie, yes Hermie, I know that you are an Alpha-Eagle!  And I wonder if Ron Kuhn ever got his patch?  Finally got to meet Crash McKool, thanks for being there my friend!  And to ALL of you that attended; we are truly a "band of Brothers", no matter what era you may represent, thanks to you all!  You all will forever have my love and respect!

Jerry Turner
114th AML. White Knight 1965
A Co., 101st Avn. Bn., Warrior 25 1965-66 Soc Trang RVN.

 


2007 COMANCHERO REUNION ROSTER


2007 COMANCHERO REUNION PHOTO LINKS

 

2007 Reunion photos provided by Stephen & Dixie Cipot

 

2007 Reunion photos provided by Jennifer Wick, Chuck Slezak and Chris Simone

 

2007 Reunion photos #1 provided by Gil and Pam Jones

 

2007 Reunion photos #2 provided by Gil and Pam Jones

 

2007 Reunion photos #3 provided by Gil and Pam Jones


2007 Reunion photos #1 provided by Pony Tail Paul Cauley


2007 Reunion photos #2 provided by Pony Tail Paul Cauley


2007 Reunion photos #3 provided by Pony Tail Paul Cauley


2007 Reunion photos #4 provided by Pony Tail Paul Cauley

 

2007 Reunion photos with humorous captions provided by Pony Tail Paul Cauley

 

2007 Reunion photos with humorous captions provided by Pony Tail Paul Cauley

 


All of the patches and other merchandise that sold out at the reunion are available online with this link

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Revised: 07/20/07.