Home Page : News: Reunion: Reunion Articles and Stories: DDMBC DDMBC 2003 Last Updated June 25, 2006 DDMBC November 29 - December 13, 2003 At the
November 29th gathering, Judy & Allison Porter, Michie
Stevens, Don Clair, Dickie Elder, Herm Jackson, Walt Ranallo, Geza Eiler,
Marius & Vinetra, Stan & Chau Thompsen, Pat Myers and Stash Waite
joined me and my family, Kim and Chris & Drew Morrison.
My son and daughter and her husband had come down for the
Thanksgiving Holiday. Brian
couldn’t make the breakfast as he had left earlier in the morning for
Gainesville to watch the “Noles” whip some “Gator” ass.
It was a glorious battle and in the end, the better team prevailed.
Brian, who drove to the game in a car full of Gator fans, mentioned
the drive up was pretty lively with a lot of boasting and trash talk, but
the drive back was very silent and gloomy.
Dickie and I bet a buck on the game; I offered him the point that
the “Noles” were favored by, but he didn’t think he needed it.
Guess it wouldn’t have been enough anyway. Stash
and I had an interesting conversation about a private gun collection in
Titusville. The collection
belongs to Reed Knight and the guns are in KniArms Company just south of
SR405 on US 1. Reed
manufactured parts for the M-16 rifle and his collection includes all
sorts of small arms from the U.S., Russia, Israel, and other countries.
The KniArms Company is run by Reed’s son, Troy, and they are
presently gearing up for a new government contract.
Stash says that he can arrange a group tour for those of us
interested in seeing this collection and right now we’re talking about a
Saturday in January (either the 10th or the 17th) or
any Saturday in February. I need for anyone
interested in the tour, to let me know which date you prefer.
Based on numbers will decide the tour date and have Stash
coordinate it with Reed Knight. Stash
works for the Sheriff’s Department in Martin County south of here.
He flew the Sheriff’s helicopter for 4 years before becoming
their technical maintenance person. The weekend of the tour, Stash plans to bring the
Martin County Sheriff and Barbara Stoner with him to join us for
breakfast. The Sheriff is a
friend of Reed Knight and Barbara is the widow of Eugene Stoner (developed
and manufactured the M-16 rifle). After
breakfast, Marius and I took Stash and Stan to the Brevard Veteran’s
Memorial Center to see the Huey display and also tour their Museum.
I’ve included a few pictures taken by John Owens, a volunteer at
the Center. John is pretty
good with computers and can develop websites and do repairs and system
set-ups in case anyone is interested, e-mail <mowens@cfl.rr.com>.
Stan & I talked at length with John and he appears to know a
lot about digital cameras, printers, scanners and other computer
peripherals. SICK CALL: Steve has had a bad cold the past three weeks but is better now. I called him a couple days ago and appears that he’s feeling much better now, but Michie has picked up the cold. Steve tried to make breakfast on the 6th, but couldn’t get to the Island BBQ due to roads being blocked for Christmas Parade. Our
breakfast for the 6th was attended by 6 people; I arrived late
to join them for coffee. Attending
were Judy, Herm Maury Meisner, Don, Hutch, Herm and Marius.
As mentioned above, the Christmas Parade didn’t allow some
others, who most likely would have been there, to attend.
The main topic today was the pros and cons regarding Veteran vs.
Civil Service status for AA employees.
No major decisions were reached. The
Brevard Veterans Council is having a Christmas Party, Wednesday, December
10th at the Veterans Memorial Center, 400 S. Sykes Creek
Parkway (Behind Merritt Square Mall), Merritt Island. Festivities include entertainment by the Hot Cocoa’s Band at
10:30 AM followed by Christmas Lunch at 11:30.
Cost is $7 per head and nine (9) DDMBC members have committed to
attending; Marius (and guest, Rob Zwink), Judy, Herm, Don Claire &
sister, Steve & Michie and me. Anyone
else interested in attending should call Maury Meisner at (321) 783-3649
and make a reservation or stop by the Center and pick up a ticket.
Seating will be limited, so please get your ticket or make a
reservation. Should be a good
time and understand the food is really good. As I mentioned, couldn’t get to the Island BBQ on time, so I had breakfast at the Cozy Corner Café, 2425 N. Courtenay Pkwy. They have about the best breakfast in town and just recently opened an expanded section of their café. I had the Steak’N’Egg special for just under $7 and it was delicious. This Café now has a Banquet Room that accommodates 24 people and we may have a breakfast there soon. Have to make reservations though and thought we could do it either December 20th. Please let me know if you would like to have breakfast there on the 20th, and I will reserve the room for that morning. Please e-mail me and let me know if you can be there. Thanks. Oh,
I’d like to also mention that Judy gave me a picture signed by Sheriff
Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona.
Joe’s the Sheriff who makes his prisoners live in tents and wear
pink clothing. Anyway, when I
learned of his methods I expressed my feelings that he is one of my
heroes’s and guess it got back to him.
He sent the picture thanking me for my support.
I shall hang this one in my office just above the picture of Herm,
Mike Seale, Clarence Beverly and Bill Cosby. Lastly,
since this will be the last letter in 2003, we wish all you good people a
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Walt
& Kim Ranallo DDMBC November 22, 2003 It’s
been several weeks since my last reported.
Kim and I were in Tallahassee for the FSU/NCS game on November 15th.
Attendees at either one
or both of the November 8th & 22nd gatherings
included: Jim Roberts, Judy Porter, Steve & Michie Stevens and friend
Anne Worley, Bill Hutchison, Don Clair, Dickie Elder, Herm Jackson, Buz
Pheasant, Walt Ranallo, John Elben, Ben & Kippy Densley, Geza Eiler,
Larry Fraser, Jead Rhyne, Bruce Burke, Maury Meisner and Roman “Ski”
Olkowski. Ski was a Flight
Mechanic in Udorn/Saigon. He
has a daughter attending Brevard Community College and he has an apartment
in Cape Canaveral. Ski
presently works in Costa Rico and was home on leave; he returned to Costa
Rico on November 11th. I
talked a little with Bruce Burke this morning and he told me that several
DDMBC members engaged in a couple major golf tournaments this past week.
Other participants were Marius, Dickie, John and Ron Dubinski (over
from Sarasota). The weather
was perfect for golfing and they all had a terrific time.
I also had a talk with Jim Roberts about computers and he tells me
he’s pretty familiar with PCs and has self-taught himself how to build
and repair them. I suggested he move to the area so our DDMBC members could
take advantage of his services. He
wouldn’t commit, but he mentioned that he would be available should
anyway have computer problems. I
may take him up on that one day. Six of
our group attended the dedication ceremony, for the UH-1H (Serial No.
71-20139) used on the ICCS Contract in Saigon; Steve, Hutch, Herm, Marius,
Judy and me. Marius, who had
logged 60 or so hours in this machine, represented Air America and talked
about the use of this helicopter for the ICCS, as well as for the
evacuation of Saigon in 1975. The
helicopter dedication ceremony was held Sunday (November 9th at
2 PM) at the Veterans Council Center located behind Merritt Square Mall in
Merritt Island. The Huey was
perched atop a metal frame and will remain there permanently.
Maury Meisner who has been instrumental in getting this Huey to
Merritt, advised me at breakfast this morning that Brevard Veterans
Council is also getting a Cobra helicopter for the site; Maury expects it
to arrive sometime after the 1st of the year.
After the ceremony, we all visited the BVC Center Museum and had
snacks in their cafeteria. On November 9th, several of us attended the annual Marine Corps Ball at the IRCC in Viera, Florida. Kim & I, Marius & Vinetra and Charlie & Marcie Means enjoyed this event. It was my first time since leaving the Corp in 1956. Marius hadn’t been to one in quite some time either. The Guest of Honor and speaker was General Paul X. Kelly, 28th Commandant of the Marine Corps. I believe I was the lowest ranking Marine in the room, and probably the only enlisted person. Lots of Generals and Colonels attended this affair. The birthday ceremony was conducted by students of the MC Junior ROTC Unit of Palm Bay High School. They did and outstanding job. O. B.
Harnage sent me a paperback copy of his new book, A Predator in Our
Streets. As mentioned previously, it is available on line at http.//www.Trafford.com/robots/03-0986.html.
You may order by title or ISBN 1-55369-745-9.
The book may also be available through Barnes & Noble, Amazon,
Baker & Taylor and other major distributors and may be purchased on
line. To
preview the book and contents go to www.trafford.com
and click on Bookstore and then on Search desk.
The book is 235 pages of intrigue and dangers of a narcotic
undercover agent. O.B. will supply signed copies at the purchase
price of $19.95 US. Sorry, no credit cards SICK CALL: Larry Fraser is pretty well recovered from his ruptured appendix. He attended breakfast this morning and advised he & Jead will leave for Argentina this Monday and would be returning December 20th. Larry is also planning a trip to Bangkok sometime next year. I recently received a message from a friend regarding low cost prescription drugs. Since most of our group are of the age where we need medications, thought it would be good info to pass on. Anyway, the message tells how drugstores such as CVC, Walgreen’s, Eckerd’s, etc. may mark up their prescriptions as much as 3,000% or more, Costco consistently charges little cost for generic drugs. This could amount to substantial savings for some of us. The message further advised that although Costco is a membership club, you do not have to be a member to use the pharmacy. I passed the message on and received a reply from Ed Clay thanking me for the info and advising that he buys his prescription medicine from the White Rock B. C. Canada, a reliable and honest pharmacy, and saves a bundle on prescriptions. You can call them for price quotes and they will send information. (Toll free 1-866-600-5262) That’s all I got for now, so take care. Walt Ranallo
DDMBC It’s
been several weeks since my last reported.
I’ve been out of town for several weekends due to Seminole
football, but did make breakfast on October 18th and November 1st.
Attendees at either one or
both of these gatherings included: Jim Roberts, Judy Porter, Marius Burke,
Steve & Michie Stevens and friend Anne Worley, Bill Hutchison, Don
Clair, Dickie Elder, Herm Jackson, Buz Pheasant, Walt Ranallo, John Elben,
Ben Densley, Geza Eiler and Keith Dennis.
Keith is an Associate member of the Air America Association and was
invited by Judy. We occupied
several tables at the Island BBQ and it appeared some lively conversations
were going on. We also had a visit by Maury Meisner of the Brevard Veterans Council. He reminded that there would be a dedication of UH-1H (Serial No. 71-20139) that was flown by Air America on the ICCS Contract in Saigon during the so called peace negotiations. Marius had logged 60 hours in this machine and I’m sure there were others who also flew it for AA. The helicopter dedication ceremonies will be next Sunday (November 9th at 2 PM) at the Veterans Council Center located behind Merritt Square Mall in Merritt Island. As I understand, the helicopter will be permanently located at that facility. Herm
accompanied Kim and I on a week long vacation to North Carolina and then
Tallahassee. We spent several
days at a condo in Charlotte, and from there made trips to Lake Norman,
the Biltmore Estate and to Blowing Rock and Boone in the mountains.
On Monday we drove to Lake Norman, where we enjoyed a fantastic 3-4
hour ride in a power boat; the lake has about 550 miles of shoreline, and
we got to see most of it. There are beautiful homes and estates
surrounding much of the coastline, but there was also a state preserve. The weather was about as good as you could ever want.
After the boat ride, the Pam Lineberger (Herm’s niece) invited us
to break bread with her family, husband B. C. (Beezy) and son, Barney.
If you’ve never had “pull pork BBQ”, I suggest you try it
sometime. It was delicious, and the company was fantastic, even if they
didn’t care much for my beloved “Noles”.
Based on weather reports that it was going to turn very windy on
Wednesday, we decided to drive to the mountains on Tuesday. It was a very interesting and hilly drive and the leaves gave
the mountains a beautiful array of colors.
We toured the Blowing Rock Preserve and then stopped in the
mountain town of Blowing Rock for lunch (actually ice cream cones).
Afterwards we drove on up to Boone which is close to the Tennessee
border. Since it was getting
late, we decided to head back to Charlotte.
On Wednesday, we visited the Biltmore Estate, which rivals anyplace
I’ve ever visited in the past. The
architecture and landscape is without equal and we enjoyed especially the
tour through the Vanderbilt Mansion.
We had a late lunch in “the Stable” restaurant and then drove
around the Estate, stopping by the Winery.
We had planned to taste the wine, but the line to get in was so
long, and it was getting pretty late, so we decided to head back to
Charlotte. On Thursday
morning, we left Charlotte and drove down through South Carolina and
Georgia to Tallahassee to visit with Brian, Chris and her husband, Drew.
While there, we watched the “Noles” whoop-up on the “Demon
Deacons”. Enjoyed the
Tailgate Parties before and after the game.
Sunday, we all packed and returned to Merritt Island. SICK CALL: Larry Fraser is in the hospital recovering from a ruptured appendix. As I understand, it happened Thursday (October 30). I called him yesterday and he seems to be doing OK now, but is in some pain. He’s at the Holmes Regional Hospital in Melbourne (telephone 321-434-7000, Room 601) and will be there a few more days if you want to call him. Larry was planning a trip to Argentina, but guess he’s going to have to delay pending recovery. The
Marine Corp Birthday Ball is coming up this coming weekend and several of
our group plans to go. Kim
and I will go with Marius and Vinetra, who are presently vacationing in
Aruba. It will be my first
time at one of these affairs since leaving the Corp in 1956.
Marius hasn’t been to one in quite some time either.
I expect some of our other DDMBC members, such as Charlie Means and
Mac McLenon will also be going to this affair. Received an e-mail October 27th from O. B. Harnage advising he completed the proof of his new book, A Predator in Our Streets, and it is available for purchase by going on line to http.//www.Trafford.com/robots/03-0986.html. You may order by title or ISBN 1-55369-745-9. The book may also be available through Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Baker & Taylor and other major distributors and may be purchased on line. To preview the book and contents go to www.trafford.com and click on Bookstore and then on Search desk. The book is 235 pages of intrigue and dangers of a narcotic undercover agent. O.B. will supply signed copies at the purchase price of $19.95 US. Sorry, no credit cards At
breakfast Saturday, Judy had 3 documentary Video Tapes received from Mica
Lentz of Lone Wolf Pictures. I
took a National Geographic Documentary, “Pearl Harbor: Legacy of
Attack”, home with me and it is an excellent documentary about the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor as well as the search going on for the
Mini-sub that was sunk by an American Battleship a little before the
attack. Hopefully, I’ll get
to see the other tapes Mika sent. Would
like to see the documentary Lone Wolf did or was doing on the ACA, and
hopefully someday they’ll do one on Air America. That’s all I got for now, so take care. Walt Ranallo DDMBC Although I just reported for weeks August 23rd through September 27th, I decided to do a report on the the October 4th breakfast since it had such a good turnout. Fifteen people showed up; Jim Roberts, Judy Porter, Marius Burke, Steve & Michie Stevens and friend Anne Worley, Bill Hutchison, Don Clair, Dickie Elder, Herm Jackson, Tom Jenny (down from Ormond Beach), Marius Burke, Herm Jackson, Tom Jenny, Walt Ranallo, Larry Fraser and Jead Rhyne was down from Aberdeen, NC. It was a nice gathering and everyone was happy to see Jead and Larry together. Larry has recently moved down and is setting up his home in Satellite Beach, so we expect him to show up quite often. Hopefully we'll all be able to have a get together while Jead's in the area. Kim and I will be heading up to Tallahassee again this Friday to watch the Miami/FSU game, so won't be reporting on the Saturday breakfast. Probably won't be too many there anyway, since quite a few of the group are heading up to northwest Florida for the Air Commando Association Annual Reunion at Hurlburt Field near Ft. Walton Beach. Steve & Michie, Herm, Tom, and Judy are going and probably some others, but they're the ones I know for sure. That's all I got for now, so take care. Walt Ranallo DDMBC It's been some time since my last DDMBC summary letter; 5 breakfast meetings to be exact. Although I missed a couple of these meets due to football weekend trips to Tallahassee, I can report on August 23rd, 30th, September 6th and September 27th. On these dates, 26 different people showed up; eight of which came from outside the area, and the average attendance for the 4 weeks was 13 plus. Regulars were Jim Roberts (over from Orlando), Judy Porter, Marius Burke, Geza Eiler (home from work in Columbia), Ben & Kippy Densley, Steve & Michie Stevens, Bill Hutchison, Don Clair, Dickie Elder, Herm Jackson, Tom Jenny (down from Ormond Beach), Buz Pheasant, Charlie Means (who has retired again and should make more of our meets) and Walt & Kim Ranallo. In addition, Ben's brother David (from Utah), joined us for his last weekend in town. Other non-regular guests included Jim & Mary Hyder, Jack Knotts, Boyd & Claire Mesecher, John Bollinger (Marius's brother-in-law), Anne (Michie's friend) and Mika Lentz from South Portland, ME. Marius was out of town for part of the period; he and Vinetra went to Zurich for a week. Herm (BuJack) returned early from his trip and I picked him up at Orlando International. As I mentioned above, I was in Tallahassee for FSU Seminole football on September 13 and 20; the "Noles" played and beat Georgia Tech and Colorado. They are now 5 & 0 going into the big game with Miami on October 11th. Dickie has been visiting out west the past few weeks; understand he hooked up with his old buddy, Dick Hamilton, and they drove around terrorizing the West. Dickie's back now and looking forward to receiving all the e-mail he missed while away; so load it on my friends. Not sure if there has been further plans regarding having a luncheon where Mac McLenon could attend. Will check with Steve this Saturday regarding the restaurant he mentioned that has a wheel chair ramp. Anyway, sure hope Mac will be able to join us soon. We all miss him. SEMPER FI. Mika Lentz is a producer for Lonewolf Pictures, a documentary film company. Mika was gathering information for a possible documentary about Air America. She interviewed quite a few folks and particularly Marius and Boyd about the evacuation of Saigon. Many other AA folks on hand were also interviewed. Kim & I, as well as Boyd & Claire, Bujack, and Marius joined Mika and Judy for dinner & drinks at the Pig'N'Whistle in Cocoa Beach on Friday, September 26th. There was also some kind of a get together on Saturday evening, but I couldn't attend. It was good seeing "90 Knotts" over for our August 30th breakfast. Jack has done a very good job representing the AAA during his tenure. Look forward to seeing him more during the next year. Larry will be making more of our meeting now that he has relocated to the area. He now lives in the Buccaneer Condominiums (#602) on Satellite Beach. Welcome to our part of Florida Larry. Judy is still looking for a place for permanent settlement in the area; Tom Jenny is also. Judy has her motor home parked on Patrick AFB, but Tom has a 70+ mile drive when he comes for breakfast. Need for him to get settled closer. We'll all keep looking for them both. That's all I got for now, so take care. Walt Ranallo DDMBC Twenty-two different attendees joined us for the last four breakfast meetings. The average attendance was about 12 people at each of our gatherings. Regulars were Jim Roberts (over from Orlando), Judy Porter, Marius Burke, Geza Eiler (home from work in Columbia), Ben & Kippy Densley, Steve & Michie Stevens, Bill Hutchison, Don Clair, Little Dickie Elder, Phil Peyton, Herm Jackson, Tom Jenny (down from Ormond Beach), Charlie Means (joining us again after a long absence) and yours truly. In addition, several members of the Densley family broke bread with us; Ben's brother David (from Utah), daughter Lisa and grandson Benjamin. We even had the pleasure of several non-regular guests; Frank Ricchi and Jim & Mary Hyder. Geza was able to join us August 16th and is retuning to Columbia this coming week Herm and Marius both were out of town for part of the period; Marius went to Salt Lake for a week and is back now. Herm (BuJack) took off for the Coeur d'Alene and parts unknown for about 3 weeks. He hooked up with Mike Seale and Porter Pearce and they drove all over hell's creation, ending up in the Seattle area. I received a call from Herm last night (August 16) and he had been partying the past couple days at Meri Fountain's place with the likes of Willie Utterback, Mike, Porter & his new bride Peggy, Meri, Bob Noble, Arden & Nitaya Davis, and I'm sure others I don't know about. Anyway, they were having a hell of a good time; wish I could have been there. Herm was planning on a three week tour, but he's returning this coming Tuesday or Wednesday, which is about a week early. I'll be picking him up at Orlando International. Steve had some information regarding Mac McLenon. He's apparently doing better and wants to join us one of these Saturdays. Mac's wife, Monique, advises they have one of those vans that has a lift and they're able to get around that way. Steve mentioned finding a place that has a wheel chair ramp. Might have a little bit of problem at the Island Bar BQ, since the seats are all immovable wooden benches. Anyway, sure hope we Mac will be able to join us soon. We all miss him. SEMPER FI. Charlie Means was at breakfast for the first time in several months. Was good to see him. His wife, Marcie, is just recovering from knee surgery and wasn't able to make it. Hope she can join Charlie for the next one. Charlie also mentioned that his son, Berry, is doing great out in California. He has made a full recovery with no after affects. Dickie mentioned that Helen Wight is out of the hospital and home again. She has suffering from Arthritis, but as Dick mentioned is able to walk again. God bless you Helen and best of health for the future. Haven't heard much about Dickie's golfing since he mentioned that John Elbin had knocked 5 balls in a murky pond on the golf course and found all 5 of them???? Don't ask. The Air America Foundation (C-123 Fix-up) had a hangar party August 16 on TICO airport and invited some members of the DDMBC and Air America Association. Steve Stevens reports that Neal Hanson came in from South Carolina and spoke at the function. The subject matter was his experiences while flying 123's for Air America, including his crash and rescue in Laos. Bill Huchison flew one of the helicopters in Neal's rescue. There were 40 or 50 people at the event that included Steve & Michie, Marius & Vinetra, Don and Judy. That's all I got for now, so take care. Walt Ranallo DDMBC We’ve experienced very good turnouts for the past two weeks. Guess everyone had a good time at the reunion and wants to talk about it. On June 28th, attendees were Buz Pheasant, Bob McCormick, Larry Fraser, Marius Burke, Steve Stevens, Herm Jackson, Little Dick Elder, Bill Hutchison, Big Ben Densley with Kippy and daughter (Lisa), Don Clair and yours truly. Larry drove all the way from Georgia and Bob was visiting from Illinois. For the July 5th breakfast, the following showed: Marius, Steve, Herm Little Dick, Hutch, Big Ben, Don, Judy Porter, Charlie Means, Tom Jenny, Jim and yours truly (again). Tom drove down from Ormond Beach and Jim came over from Orlando. Don turned 80 on July 4th and got his free breakfast. In the previous week, Larry and I received our free birthday breakfast. We also had 16 people show up at the July 12th breakfast; 4 of these were Liza Densley, her friend Sally from Texas and Sally’s daughters Natasha and Jessica. Others that showed were Little Dick, Ben & Kippy, Steve & Michie, Judy, Marius, Herm, Hutch, Don and of course, me. Little Dick made a financial decision which is now an official rule for the DDMBC; free birthday breakfast will only be given to those people who attend our breakfast at least twice a month. Determination of this will be at the discretion and is the sole responsibility of our illustrious "Breakfast Payment Manager", Little Dick. Bob McCormick got to fix a whole lot of computers when he was down from Michigan. Mine included when my hard drive blew. He replaced it with a new 120 GIG HD. Herm bought a new computer and Bob set it up for him. Judy also had some work done and I’m sure there were others. Bob hopes he can get back here and we all hope he can too. Judy brought in an article about Bob Rousselot being selected for the Aviation and Space Hall of Fame. This honor was bestowed at the Kirkpatrick Science and Airspace Museum in Oklahoma City. It further stated that Bob had been honored two years earlier by the CIA for distinguished service. Judy has requested that the article be put on the Air America Website and hopefully it will be there by the time this letter is posted. R.I.P. Tony Poe passed away recently and Steve Stevens took up a collection from DDMBC members attending breakfast. Steve sent the proceeds to Tony’s daughter for disposition. We also lost Jennifer Peyton, Phil’s wife, to cancer. The DDMBC sent flowers, and quite a few of us attended her funeral and wake. Our prayers go out for the families of Phil Peyton and Tony Poe. Kim and I drove over to Lake Mary yesterday and spent the day with Al & Minh Brau, their son Maurice and grandson, Noah. Al had just retired and was ready for a celebration. So we sat around and drank wine all afternoon. Al is feeling pretty good and really enjoys his grandson. He and Minh take care of the boy several days every week and I have to say he is one of the most active and intelligent children I’ve ever met. What an imagination. Anyway, we invited Al over for next weekend and hopefully he’ll be at our breakfast this coming Saturday. We had a very good turnout for breakfast on July 19th with 15 people showing up. Our regulars were Jim Roberts (over from Orlando), Judy Porter, Geza Eiler, Ben & Kippy Densley, Steve & Michie Stevens, Bill Hutchison, Don Clair, Little Dickie Elder, Phil Peyton, Herm Jackson and yours truly. In addition, Judy’s daughter Allyson was visiting from Chapel Hill, N.C. and Al Brau came over from Lake Mary, Florida. This was a first time for both of them. Allyson told us that she enjoyed the breakfast and was planning to come down with her family at Christmas time. It was like old home week for Al, who retired from Universal Studios last week. He hadn’t seen many of the people since leaving Saigon on the fateful day during May 1975. Al was Operations Manager for AA during the evacuation of Saigon and has some pretty good tales to tell. He mentioned that he’s like to write a book and even mentioned a name for it, "Gentlemen, Don’t Go There". According to Al, this is based on an experience he and John Melton had in Seoul, Korea, but I’ll leave the details for his book. Marius was off to New York for a niece’s wedding and to visit some of his family. This was Geza’s 2nd week in a row and he will be retuning to his job with DynaCorp in Columbia. Expect we’ll see him again in a month or so. Dickie had the best score in the golf match with Ben and John Elben this past week, so looks like he’ll have to give strokes in their next outing. Marius should be back by then. Judy brought in an article on Tony Poe’s funeral and it was passed around for all to read. Michie brought up the subject of Kobe Bryant and was wondering where he got the name "Kobe". We determined that it was because his dad had spent time in Japan when in the military. Apparently, they liked the steaks there so much, that they named their son "Kobe". Just kidding. I know there’s more to talk about, but just can’t think what it is right now. After I close this letter and send it to Steve Maxner, I’m sure I’ll remember. Got to go. Walt Ranallo DDMBC Breakfast Meetings The regulars at the June 14th breakfast meeting were Herm Jackson, Dickie Elder, Steve & Michie Stevens, Judy Porter, Ben & Kippie Densley, Marius Burke, Walt Ranallo and Bill Hutchison. We also had Tom Jenny, who drove down from Ormond Beach. Geza Eiler was home from down range and brought Suzie. Don Clair showed up for the first time in several months; he's had some medical problems, but looked pretty good for an "old fart". Bob McCormick is back from Michigan and glad of it. He's presently visiting the Stevens. Judy still hasn't been able to buy a condominium in the area she has chosen, but hasn't given up either. Tom Jenny however, seems to have lost interest in the area due to the high prices for housing. Our golfers didn't play this past week. But Ben mentioned that he had played in JAX when at the reunion last Friday morning. REUNION NOTES In my estimation, the reunion turned out to be a huge success. Although we had some tense moments, everything seemed to fall into place. Kim and I (along with quite a few of the Central Florida Group) were there on Wednesday for a planning meeting at which time Larry Fraser set up work assignments for volunteer workers. Norma Greene couldn't make the reunion due to illness, but Charlie was there for a couple days, and got things set up for registration and check-in. Charlie had to return to Texas on Friday morning as Norma took a turn for the worse, but the other helpers took up the slack and did a superb job. The volunteers included Kim and Walt Ranallo, Marius & Vinetra Burke, Boyd & Claire Mesecher, Steve Stevens, Herm Jackson, Tom Jenny, Carol & Jerry Toman, Dee & Michelle Lister, Happy Parker, Patty Sherman, Joe Hazen, Ben & Linda Van Etten and Judy Porter (Hope I didn't miss anyone). The main events of the reunion were the visit to the USS JFK Carrier on Saturday Morning, the riverboat Cruise Friday night and the Banquet on Saturday night. The tours on the carrier went well, even though the carrier was under heavy renovation. We had eight volunteers to assist the "swabbie" tour guides by rounding-up and keeping each tour groups moving in the right direction; this worked out well. The Riverboat cruise had a capacity crowd and was a success, despite a rainstorm that night. Everyone I talked to said they really enjoyed themselves. I must compliment our host, Larry Frazer, on the banquet. After everyone settled into their seats, a superb Marine Honor Guard presented the colors and some patriotic music was played. The buffet was excellent and there was plenty of food for everyone. In fact, many people were able to go back for 2nds and even 3rds. Claire Mesecher and my wife Kim did a good job in assigning seats at the banquet. For the first time in all the reunions that I've attended, people actually sat at the table they were assigned, at least through the meal. Afterwards, there was plenty of time to move around and socialize. The one-man band did an excellent job of entertaining and the dance floor was big enough for plenty to dance; and plenty did dance. Lastly, we chose one of Air America's own, USMC Major General Larry Taylor, to speak and he did a superb job. It was a short but to the point speech and kept everyone's attention; at our age, most of us don't have that long attention span anymore. All in all, I rate this the best banquet of any reunion I've attended, food wise and everything else. I would also like to talk about the general meeting on Saturday afternoon. It seemed longer than most meetings we've had in the past, but there seemed to be a lot of information communicated to the membership. Jack Knotts did a good job of keeping things moving, as there were a lot of items to cover. Ed Adams was introduced as our newest Board Director. Steve Maxner of TTU summarized his activities in archiving the history of the war in SEA. Steve has been super helpful to the Air America Association and also in posting my DDMBC letters to the AA Website. Eric Carlson of UT also gave a nice presentation with regards to the AA Archives at the University of Texas. Next year, the 2004 reunion will be in Dallas, and those attending will have a chance to see the AA display at UT. Terry & Kathy Bruner will host the Dallas reunion and I must compliment them on an excellent slide show presentation of what will happen at their reunion. Hope Terry will consider running for the Board of Directors again; I think he would make an excellent board member. We've got to start promoting the 2nd generation if we expect the organization to last much longer. For 2005 we take our act to Reno, Nevada. Our host is Gary Edwards. Kim and I are really looking forward to that one since I have a couple brothers there. Got to go so take care. Walt Ranallo DDMBC Breakfast Meetings The regulars at the May 24th breakfast meeting were Herm Jackson, Dickie Elder, Steve Stevens, Judy Porter, Ben & Kippie Densley, Marius Burke, Kim Ranallo and her spouse. Tom Jenny also drove down from Ormond Beach, which is just north of Daytona. Tom, like Judy, is still looking to buy a home or condominium in this area. Judy has found the exact location where she wants to live, but so far hasn't been able to buy a condo there. For the 31st breakfast, 14 showed. The regulars were Jim Roberts, Bill Hutchison, Judy, Phil Peyton, Dickie, Steve & Michie, Marius, Herm and me. Larry Fraser drove down from Brunswick (Georgia), and we had some long distance visitors; Wayne and Lai Knight from Australia stopped by on their way to Reunion 2003, and Mike Seale from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho came with Herm. It was a nice group and as usual, Mike had memorized a whole lot of jokes and told them throughout breakfast. But they weren't too bad, nobody vomited. After breakfast, Marius had the Knights over to his place, and invited those of us who knew them to come by also. I picked up Kim and we got there a little late, but Lai & Wayne, as well as John Elbin, who also knew Wayne and Marius from his days in the Marine Corp and with Air America. Kim got together with Lai and Vinetra and the ladies enjoyed each other's company, while I sat in on the conversation going on with Marius, Wayne and John. Since I never crossed paths with any of them in either the Marine Corp or while with Air America, I relegated myself to the role of being mostly a listener. It's too bad they didn't record some of their experiences. Just the sort of thing that Steve Maxner could use for his TTU historical data. Our golfers had pretty fair games the week ended May 24 week; Marius had a 76, Dickie a 92, Ben an 85 and John Elbin had 86. As you can see, Ben and Marius were the victors. For the week ending the 31st, Dickie reported that they played twice and split wins. Received the following from Marius's brother, Bruce: Tom Kravis, a member of AAA, is getting married June 15th! Although it's a little late to get him a Congrats wedding card from those who know him here, thought I'd mention it in this newsletter. Then anyone who knows him can send him a card at his address: 2735 Benson Road, Northville, NY 12134. If you'd like to call him, his phone # is 518-863-4988. He was one of the younger guys and so is still working fire fighting when needed! Be COOL! Bruce Larry Fraser reports that that the Radisson has assigned us a few more rooms. Regarding shuttle service from the JAX airport. There is now a shuttle service. Taxi fare is about $25 while the shuttle is $21 for up to about 4 passengers and $6 each for six or more. The shuttles are not too apparent if you don't know about them. I have asked them to put up an Air America sign or something; but, in the meantime, everyone please pass this on to those friends you specifically know will come by air. I REMIND YOU ALL THAT THERE IS ONLY A FEW DAYS BEFORE OUR REUNION, SO IF YOU HAVEN'T MADE RESERVATIONS, SUGGEST YOU DO SO NOW. This is the last report before our reunion. Hopefully, will find the time afterwards to continue writing them. Walt Ranallo DDMBC Breakfast Meetings Since I'm a retired senior now, I can forget things without penalty. With regards to the May 10th breakfast, that's what happened. I forgot who was there and can't find my notes. However, I took pretty good notes at the 17th breakfast. Beside myself, there were 13 other retired people and nobody remembers anything except me, and that's only because I took notes. Our regulars were "Catfish" Manecke, Herm Jackson, Hutch Hutchison, Dickie Elder, Jim Roberts, Steve & Michie Stevens, Phil Peyton, Judy Porter, and Ben & Kippie Densley. We also had a couple guests, Annie Worley came with Steve & Michie and Joe Knobel came with "Catfish". Annie lives in the area and her and Michie are very good friends. Joe was visiting the area between job assignments; he works for Carson Helicopters. Joe has rental property in Palm Bay, Florida and as I understand is on his way to his home in Angeles City, P.I. (near Clark AFB). In the past, Steve, Phil, Hutch, Catfish, and the late Lee Genz all worked with Joe on Andros Island. Our goofers (oops!! Golfers) had pretty good games this past week; Ben led the pack with a 76, Dickie had an 80, Marius an 83 and John Elbin had 87. Dickie provided the above details, but failed to mention the fact that Ben and Marius were the victors. Although these scores sound pretty good for this group, I'm just not sure how their handicap system works. Seems they explained it to me in past and seemed to be quite different from the norm; since I'm a retired senior now, it's not required that I remember. Judy is still looking to buy a condo a little north of Cocoa at Port St. Johns. Steve can't understand why anyone would want to live in a town named after a toilet. REUNION NOTE REPEATED Larry Fraser reports that there are no more rooms at the Radisson. However, there are 3 other hotels within 3 blocks of the Radisson. The Hilton (nicest and most expensive), the Hampton (800-426-7866) is about a block or so away and has reasonable rates, and the Extended Stay Hotel (800-398-7829), It is the closest to the Radisson and has about a $60 rate. NEW - ONLY A COUPLE MORE WEEKS BEFORE OUR REUNION, SO IF YOU HAVEN'T MADE RESERVATIONS, SUGGEST YOU DO SO NOW. SICK CALL About a week ago, Don Claire reported that Mac McLenon had Surgery on the 6th and at the breakfast, Catfish reported at breakfast that he had called and talked to both Monique and Mac. Although Mac isn't up to joining us for breakfast at this time, he seemed to be in good spirits and he hopes to be able to join us in a couple months. Our prayers are with you Mac. I talked to Bob Caron to get an update on Joe Kerch; Bob said he would try to call Joe and get back with me if any change to report. You may recall in my last report, Joe was not doing great, voice a little weaker then usual, but nowhere near checking out. Last time Bob called the hospital, Joe was out walking the halls. If you know Joe, I'm sure he would appreciate your call at 203-932-57ll (As soon as you hear the machine answer punch in 7555). Let it ring several times in case Joe is not in his bed. According to Bob, despite his condition, Joe still has his sense of humor. Please search your memory and see if you can help Chau Mai know more about her Dad. Her dad was Bang D. Mai who apparently worked out of the Saigon Chief Pilot's Office. I've included Chau Mai's e-mail address so you can send any information you may have directly to her. I am a former Vietnamese
refugee and was rescued by the Helicopter on top of the Pittman building.
I am extremely grateful for what your organization did for my family and
me. I was a very young on that historical day, not even four years old.
Now, my family lives the American dream of having freedom and
opportunities that those who could I am supporting your proposal for a stamp commemorating that fateful scene. Also, my father worked for AV from '74-'75. His name is Bang D. Mai. He has never told my siblings or me much about his time there. I have his old "Gray House" membership card and it says that his job title was "AFD" in the "CP" Dept. Can you tell me what he did based on those acronyms? The name of the manager on that card is J. R. Barnhisel. Do you have any records of what happen to that person? Thank you in advance for your response and most of all for trying to help an ally fight for freedom. Chau Mai Ward Reimer's Advice Regarding Credit Reporting Agencies Just wanted to let everyone know who hasn't already heard, the four major credit bureaus in the US will be allowed, starting July 1, to release your credit info, mailing addresses, phone numbers, etc., to anyone who requests it. If you would like to 'opt out' of this release of your info, you can call 1-888-567-8688. It only takes a couple of minutes to do. Once the message starts you'll choose option #2 (even though option #1 refers to this E-mail) and then option #3 - Be sure to listen closely, the first option is only for a two-year period. Make sure you wait until they prompt for the third option, which opts you out forever. Walt Ranallo Special Message Regarding Generic Drugs Since the cost of prescription drugs is so outrageous, I thought everyone I knew should know about this. Please read the following and pass it on. On Monday night (July 22), Steve Wilson, an investigative reporter for Channel 7 News in Detroit, did a story on generic drug price gouging by pharmacies. He found in his investigation, that some of these generic drugs were marked up as much as 3,000% or more. Yes, that's not a typo..... three thousand percent! So often, we blame the drug companies for the high cost of drugs, and usually rightfully so. But in this case, the fault clearly lies with the pharmacies themselves. For example, if you had to buy a prescription drug, and bought the name brand, you might pay $100 for 100 pills. The pharmacist might tell you that if you get the generic equivalent, they would only cost $80, making you think you are "saving" $20. What the pharmacist is not telling you is that those 100 generic pills may have only cost him $10! At the end of the report, one of the anchors asked Mr. Wilson whether or not there were any pharmacies that did not adhere to this practice, and he said that Costco consistently charged little over their cost for the generic drugs. I went to the Costco site, where you can look up any drug, and get its on-line price. It says that the in-store prices are consistent with the on-line prices. I was appalled. Just to give you one example from my own experience, I had to use the drug, Compazine, which helps prevent nausea in chemo patients. I used the generic equivalent, which cost $54.99 for 60 pills at CVS. I checked the price at Costco, and I could have bought 100 pills for $19.89. For 145 of my pain pills, I paid $72.57. I could have gotten 150 at Costco for $28.08. I would like to mention, that although Costco is a "membership" type store, you do NOT have to be a member to buy prescriptions there, as it is a federally regulated substance. You just tell them at the door that you wish to use the pharmacy, and they will let you in. I am asking each of you to please help me by copying this letter, and pasting it into your own email, and send it to everyone you know with an email address. Regards, DDMBC Breakfast Meetings Well, it's been a month since I last reported anything about the breakfast group. We still meet each week, but just haven't felt much like sitting down to write. Our breakfast of April 5th had 15 guests. The regulars as usual were Steve Stevens, Herm "Bud" Jackson, Dickie Elder, Buz Pheasant, Judy Porter, Phil Peyton, Ben Densley, Jim Roberts and me. Ben brought along Kippy and their grandson, Benjamin. Tom Jenny drove down from Ormond Beach and brought Paul Severson, who was visiting from Thailand. Stormy Coleman came over from Clearwater and brought her friend, Doris Destin. Doris was a lady wrestler that Herm met at the PAFB Officer's Club. It was an enjoyable breakfast, but I can't remember what war stories were told. On April 12th we had another good showing with 15 attendees; Marius Burke, Geza Eiler, Bill "Hutch" Hutchison, Phil, Dickie, Bruce Burke, Buz, Judy, Herm, Ben & Kippy, Steve and me. Judy brought along a friend, Bruce Edner, who some of you may remember as being in Udorn (Customer type). Hutch brought along a friend, Ron Davis, who he had worked with on Kwajelin. Again we all enjoyed, but I don't know what everyone talked about. Doesn't matter though as long as nobody started fighting. I missed a couple weeks so don't have anything to write about them. We had only 8 show up for the May 3rd breakfast; Jim, Herm, Judy, Hutch, Steve, Ben, Dickie and me. Steve held the podium for most of the meeting, but eventually we got onto a few other topics. Dickie talked about his golf game and we all talked a little about computer glitches. There were a couple member birthdays during this stretch, Dickie and "Catfish" Menecke. Only Dickie took advantage of the free breakfast. Too bad Catfish, come around next year. Several of us have been able to get together for either lunch at least once a week. Normally it's Herm and me, but Dickie and Hutch joined us a couple times and Judy and Marius other times. These little get togethers keep life interesting. I'm finding that retirement can be as busy as you want to make it and really enjoying it. NEWS FLASH News reports have filtered out early this morning that US forces have swooped on an Iraqi Primary School and detained 6th Grade teacher Mohammed Al-Hazar. Sources indicate that, when arrested, Al-Hazar was in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a setsquare and a calculator. US President George W. Bush argued that this was clear and overwhelming evidence that Iraq indeed possessed weapons of math's instruction. REUNION NOTE Larry Fraser reports that there are no more rooms at the Radisson. However, there are 3 other hotels within 3 blocks of the Radisson. The Hilton (nicest and most expensive), the Hampton (800-426-7866) is about a block or so away and has reasonable rates, and the Extended Stay Hotel (800-398-7829), It is the closest to the Radisson and has about a $60 rate. For more information, visit the Reunion Web Page. SICK CALL Still no current news on Mack McLenon, maybe someone will contact Monique and find out Mac's status. Judy talked to Bob Caron who had been in contact with Joe Kerch in late
March. Bob reported that Joe is not doing great, voice a little weaker
then usual, but nowhere near checking out. He just called the hospital and
Joe was not available - out walking the halls - according to the nurse who
answered his phone. Bob did ask that all concerned give Joe a call at
203-932-57ll. As soon as you hear the machine answer punch in 7555. Let it
ring several times in case Joe is not in his bed. According to Bob he
hasn't lost his sense of humor and appreciates hearing from all. DDMBC Breakfast Meetings The last three Saturdays, we had good crowds at our breakfast meetings. Bruce & Marius Burke, Steve Stevens, Dickie Elder, Phil Peyton, Buz Pheasant, Ben & Kippy Densley, Bill "Hutch" Hutchison, and yours truly showed on March 15th. Hutch advised he has moved into his Rockledge mobile home; his wife has taken her mother to live in Tennessee. Talked with Steve and Bruce about irrigation systems and pumps, and was thoroughly confused at the end of breakfast. At our March 22nd breakfast attendees were Geza Eiler, Marius, Hutch and a friend - Ron Davis (who he worked with on Kwajelin), Phil, Dickie, Bruce, Buz, Judy Porter and her friend, Bruce Ebner, who was with the customer in Udorn, Herm Jackson, Ben & Kippy, Steve and yours truly (again). This morning, our attendees were Geza, Michie & Steve, Dickie, Judy, Marius, Herm, Jim Roberts, Ben & Kippy, Admiral Don Clair, Charlie Means, Hutch, Sam Randolph, Harold "Catfish" Manecke and me. It’s been a while since Sam and Catfish had joined us. Catfish was up from his job in Columbia. Admiral Clair and I talked a little about a couple software techs working for him; they are available to come to your home for about $25 first hour & 15 minutes if any of you have computer problems; afterwards initial time they charge $25 per hour. On Thursday of this week, I had lunch with Judy and Herm. Judy is very busy looking for permanent quarters in the area and has found a pretty nice place off US 1 just north of Melbourne. She is thinking of making a bid on the place, but wants to know a little more abut the area before deciding. She talked after breakfast with Marius, and got more data on housing in area. SICK CALL Nobody had current news on Mack McLenon, but Catfish (who worked with Mac down south) said he was going to call and will send me a note if he finds out anything. Got a call from Tom Jenny and he plans to make breakfast next week and bring along Paul Severson. He also has some information for Larry on a discount for the shuttle boats on the St. Johns at the 2003 reunion. He will contact Judy and/or Larry this week. Tom just got back from a 2-week ski trip to Wyoming, so should have some interesting stories to tell. Looking forward to seeing them both. That’s about it for now, so take care and see you all at the Island Bar-B-Q on April 5th. Walt Ranallo DDMBC Breakfast Meetings We had a good crowd at the February 22nd breakfast; Herm Jackson, Steve Stevens, Dickie Elder, Buz Pheasant, Judy Porter, Bruce Burke, Geza Eiler, Ben Densley, Bill Hutchison, and yours truly with wife, Kim. Geza was on a home visit from his job down south. Geza also made the breakfast of March 1, which also included Michie & Steve Stevens, Dickie, Judy, Marius, Herm, Phil Peyton, Jim Roberts, Stormy and friend, Doris, and me. There were 17 at the Breakfast on March 8. At one table there were Marius, Judy, Herm, Hutch, Buz, Steve, Charlie Means, and me; at the other were Don Clair and his sister, Kathleen, Ben & Kippy Densley with grandson, Benjamin, Phil, Dickie, and Bruce Burke brought along an old friend, Bob Auchenbaugh, from New York, now living in Tennessee. Judy is moving her RV back to the Patrick AFB RV Park on Monday, and will be driving (car) to North Carolina on Tuesday to visit with her daughter and granddaughter. She just doesn’t seem old enough to have grandchildren. I have to correct a statement I made in my last letter wherein I said that Kathleen Clair had been secretary to Air America’s Mr. Velte, when he was with Pan Am. Actually Kathleen was secretary to Juan Trippe, the Founder of Pan American. She was acquainted with Mr. Velte when he was with Pan Am. Steve didn’t mention anything more on the DDMBC cups we talked about in the last letter. I’m still procrastinating about setting up a DDMBC website, and as mentioned, will need help with this. Herm’s working on developing an AA License Plate. Judy, Steve and Dickie drove to St. Petersburg this past week and attended a luncheon with Jack Knotts and a group of AA people in that area. Understand they had a pretty good time and will be getting together every couple weeks. As I understand, this is the 3rd group of AA people having regular get-togethers. Mike Kandt and some of the Las Vegas group have also organized regular get-togethers. SICK CALL We didn’t get any news on Mack McLenon, so presume he coming along OK. Charlie Means has returned from California where he was helping his recover from a sickness. The boy is doing well now. All I have to report at this time. The following received February 27th from Larry regarding the reunion. As of today the hotel has 511 room nights registered. 140 for Fri and Sat, 119 for Thurs and a few others from Mon through the next Fri. I'll get a print out of names pretty soon. The USS Kennedy people have not yet decided how to handle us. Charlie Means took some pictures during breakfast and have included along with this letter. That’s it for now. You all have a good day and cheers. Walt Ranallo DDMBC Breakfast Meetings We had a good crowd at the February 8th breakfast; Herm Jackson, Marius Burke, Steve Stevens, Dickie Elder, Buz Pheasant, Judy Porter, Jim Houle, Wally Smith, and yours truly with son, Brian & daughter, Chris. In addition, Liz Hartman and Stormy Smith joined us. It was good to see them both after such a long absence. They are always welcome, so hopefully they stay away so long next time. Judy is still in the area and has moved her RV to the Space Coast RV Park in Rockledge. It’s really nice having Judy come to breakfast; she keeps us abreast of things going on within the Association. This was sort of a special breakfast for me since my kids came, and I was able to introduce them around to everyone. They were in town for my retirement and our 32nd Anniversary; had a little family party Saturday evening. As usual, Dickie’s favorite waitress "Shorty", a diminutive beauty, waited on us. Shorty wears earrings on her tongue and navel. For awhile she had a hard time talking, but is in control again now. Our February 15th breakfast had a rather large crowd; Steve & Michie came with another couple, Marius brought his son Greg and grandson Mathew, Don Clair brought along his sister, Kathleen and Ben & Kippie brought Ben’s mother, Ruby. In addition other regulars in attendance were Dickie, Buz Pheasant, Herm Jackson, Tom Jenny, Bill Hutchison, Jim Roberts and of course, your truly, Walt. Kathleen was a long time Pan Am employee and at one time Secretary to the Pan Am Historical Foundation. She still maintains a seat on the Board of said foundation. At one time she was also a secretary to Air America’s Mr. Velte (when he was with Pan Am). Interesting lady, maybe she’ll join us at another gathering. Greg and Mathew were visiting Dad/Grandpa from San Diego. They’re both avid Charger fans and we had pretty lively discussion about the Buccaneers, Chargers and the NFL in general. Enjoyed talking with them both. At breakfast Steve and I got talking about the possibility of having DDMBC cups made for our club as well as for sale. Steve says he has or is buying a computer program that will allow us to make our own cups. Not sure what we would put on them, but had thought that we could mention on cups some sort of affiliation with the AAA. But the AAA may not want this since it’s not a requirement that you be Air America for our breakfast club. Although most of us were with Air America, some joined us because they were military and in SEA during the war or were associated with AA in other ways. I would also like to set up a website for the DDMBC, but need help with this. Do we have any members who are computer literate enough to help with this? Judy Porter couldn’t make the 15th breakfast as she had to go over to Tampa for a meeting with “90” Knotts. As I understand, Les Strouse was also there visiting his relatives. Les if you’re still around this coming Saturday, drop over for breakfast. We’d all like to see you. I about gave up on the AAA Log ever arriving and finally called Jane on February 11th (after receiving my letter thanking me for membership renewal). Jane mailed me a Log the same day and I received it on Friday the 14th, along with the first log mailed to me back in January and another mailed around February 3rd. Can’t say too much for our postal folks. SICK CALL Mack McLenon is recovering from an operation and his wife Monique is requiring some hospice care. All I have to report at this time. The following was received February 12th from Larry regarding reunion planning: There is a new banquet manager at the hotel. I'll try to get acquainted with her before I bring up the idea of changing from table seating of 10 to table seating of 8 at the banquet. Coffee will be served at the tables. The standard published charge for wine at the tables is $5.50. I'll work on getting it for $5.00. As of Monday there were 422 room nights reserved; 126 were for Saturday and 125 for Friday. If 75% are double occupancy, that is about 218 persons so far. Almost that many for Thursday too. I'll see about getting our room allotment increased. That’s it for now. You all have a good day and cheers. Walt Ranallo DDMBC Breakfast Meeting A crowd of 18 showed up at the February 1st breakfast; Ben & Kippy Densley, Herm Jackson, Marius and Bruce Burke, Steve Stevens, Dickie Elder, Buz Pheasant, Judy Porter, Jack “90” Knotts, Terry Turner, Phil Peyton, Charley Harvey, Larry Fraser, Geza Eiler, Jim Hyder, Bill Miller, and yours truly. Terry Turner and Jack had again made the trip over from Tampa and area and believe they may have brought along Jim and Bill, but not sure. Judy, as mentioned in my last letter, has parked her RV on Patrick AFB, which is about a 20-minute drive from the Island Bar BQ. Her month on Patrick AFB will end soon, but she is moving about 25 miles north to a RV Park in Mims. Larry came down from Brunswick, Georgia to meet with Judy and Jack about the reunion and look for a house in the area. He’s staying with Charlie Harvey while in the area. It was a good gathering and Larry was able to give a brief rundown of the status of several activities being planned for the reunion We must have a pretty nice area as lots of people are moving here. There was a lot of sadness also at this breakfast meeting for the Shuttle catastrophe earlier in the morning. All seven astronauts on-board were killed and I am especially sad over this. On Thursday, my office had a retirement party for me at one of the local establishments. It was a very special time for me and about 45+ show up to bid me adieu. Even got a couple nice shuttle mementoes. I still have another week of work at United Space Alliance and will officially retire on February 7th. Although it was mentioned last week that the AA Log is in the mail, some of us here in Central Florida haven’t received their copy yet; me being one of them. Guess I’m included in one of the latter 3-a-day mailings. There’s supposed to be information for registering for the reunion in this issue, but if they don’t get it distributed soon, not everyone will be able to respond before the reunion. It also has the two candidates for the director job being vacated at reunion time. Please – EVERYONE - vote for the candidate of your choice. Let’s have a 100% vote and get the right person in there. Wayne Knight sent the following note from Down Under Land: “We are making our plans to travel to the JAX reunion. We are going to Bangkok for 4 days, then to England for two weeks to visit Tracey & family, then direct to Orlando to catch what we missed the last visit, before driving up to JAX, then on to Phoenix and then home over the Pacific. We plan to arrive in Orlando at around 3 pm on 30 May. We would like to get together with some of you guys who live in the area. Can you give me your home phone number? I would like to make one of your Sunday Breakfasts. Will you be having one on 1 June?” YO WAYNE: Not sure we’ll breakfast on Sunday June 1st, but will probably do so on Saturday, May 31st. Can you make that schedule. If you have a problem meeting the Saturday date, let us know, I’ll arrange for a special breakfast Sunday, just for you and the Missus. You have a lot of friends in the area, so may want to stay a few months. Cheers. SICK CALL The following message was received from Charlie Means, one of our DDMBC members whose son is hospitalized somewhere in California: I'm sorry about the delay in talking to you guys but when I got here, Barry's computer was down and we just got it up today. Barry did not have a stroke but an infection on the brain stem. That’s bad enough but the damage is not permanent. Some R&R is what he needs so I will stay here with him until he can do for himself. Maybe a month or so. I will need to drive him around. Thank you and all of the guys for your prayers and for caring. It really helped. Semper Fi! Charlie If anyone would like to contact Charlie, his e-mail address at his son’s place is chiefbarry77@sbcglobal.net Bob McCormick’s sister in Michigan informed us that Bob was in the VA hospital with a respiratory problem. His hospital number was provided and quite a few of us called to wish him well. Following is latest news received from him. FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST Well they cut me loose yesterday afternoon and the first thing I went for was hot food. I don't know what they do to make sure that your food is never hotter than a warm soda but I'm sure they just set outside your room until it's the right temp. I would also like to find a doc that would tell you up front just what happened rather than making it like solving a mystery. After talking to no less than four doc's, here is what happened to me. The short version "I was using more ox than I was taking in". My lungs didn't have enough energy to expel all of the carbon dioxide so you no longer can take a full breath and it will go like this until it puts you into a very deep sleep. This is only life threatening if you are in a situation that through shallow breaths you can not replace enough ox to regain consciousness (like outside in the fridge air or a dust filled room things like that) I would have been asleep a lot longer than I had planned. I would have survived without their intervention but, they had just signed for me to stay for tests and get more meds and they don't like it when you don't respond to them right away. So they decided to intervene. I woke up a day later with out a clue what happened and my dick sewed to my leg. What's the deal here I have never heard of this before. Have any of you? I don't think this is a good idea!!!!! I get to go back on the 7th Feb and the 14th so it seems to be easier to get appt. here that in FL. I want to thank all of you for your calls and concern. Bob McCormick Well, that’s about all for now. Wanted to get this out this week since will be busy next couple of weeks and don’t expect will be able to write much. Take care and enjoy. Walt
DDMBC Breakfast Meetings We had a good crowd at the January 18th breakfast; Ben & Kippy Densley, Herm Jackson, Marius Burke, Steve & Michie Stevens, Dickie Elder, Buz Pheasant, Jim Roberts, Hank Glindeman, Stash Waite, Judy Porter and yours truly. This was the first time that RAD Glindeman and Stash had shown for quite some time. It was good to see them both and we all brushed up on their current activities. Hank is still working on getting the Aircraft Carrier Ranger a permanent berth in the Seattle/Puget Sound area. This has been taking up most of his time. Stash is still working and just can’t get up to our area as much as he’d like. He’s about an hour or so south of here. Judy is visiting the area and has parked her RV on Patrick AFB, which is about a 20-minute drive from Merritt Island. It was a good gathering and Judy was able to update our group on some of the more important items being coordinated by the AAA. Especially the progress being made on the Veteran Status for AA personnel. This is an item some in this area are very interested in, especially those who may qualify to receive retirement benefits, if the status is approved. On Saturday afternoon, Boyd and Claire Mesecher drove in from Hollywood, Florida. He needed to see Judy while she was here, so we had them meet at our house. Since Kim and I had a medical appointment in Miami on Monday morning, we drove to the Mesecher’s home Sunday and stayed the night. We returned to Merritt Island Monday afternoon. Jack Knotts came over from Tampa with Terry Turner to join us for breakfast on January 25th. Judy Porter also was there and we were honored with Dick Ford, who drove down from Atlanta. Dick was visiting with Marius and Vinetra Burke. Also at breakfast were Ben and Kippie Densley, Dickie Elder, Buz Pheasant, Steve Stevens, Herm Jackson and this old guy. A couple of Terry’s friends, Claude Williams and Joe Travis, both with Pan American also joined us. I sat pretty close to Steve and someone commented on how much weight he had lost; about 25 pound in past couple months. Steve looks pretty healthy and gave us a rundown on how to reduce Cholesterol and lose weight at the same time. Verrrrry interesting diet and one I hadn’t heard about before. It was mentioned that two DDMBC and AAA members have not been well the past few weeks. Frank “Mac” McLenon, one of our most dedicated regulars, hasn’t been to a breakfast for a couple months now. Steve, who has known Frank for many years, is going to call Monique and see if he can get more information on his illness. Ron Dixon had a heart attack a couple months ago. Just finished talking to him and he advised that he had heart surgery, but they didn’t have to open him up. Now they can go up through the groin and take care of business. Anyway, this all happened back in November. Ron says hello to all and he’ll try to get back to a breakfast one of these weeks. Ron also advised he had signed a contract to go to Jordan on an L-1011 contract until this heart attack happened. Guess he won’t be going anywhere for awhile. We hope to have another good showing at next week’s breakfast. Larry Fraser will be coming down from Brunswick, Georgia and Terry and Jack may try to come over again also. I’m sure that means that Judy will honor us with her presence again. Boyd and Claire Mesecher may also be here if they can stay over after attending my retirement party on the 30th. Would be nice if they could stay through Saturday breakfast to chat with Jack, Judy and Larry. We’ll see what happens. I’m turning in my computer at United Space Alliance on February 7th. Twenty-four years with Lockheed is enough and I’m ready to enter a better life and like my brothers keep telling me, “do whatever to hell I feel like doing.” Not saying I’m going to die, as just the opposite, I expect to be a lot busier after I leave USA, than I am now. Only, I expect to be enjoying myself more. “90” Knotts mentioned that the AA Log is in the mail and there is a voting sheet for electing a new board member. Let’s all take the time to put your vote in and elect the person you feel is best qualified to take care of business on the AA Board. There are at least two good candidates for the job who deserve the 5 minutes it will take you to vote in one of them. Let’s have at least a 100% vote and get the right person in there. I don’t have an update on the reunion plans, but may have something for our next letter. That’s it for now. You all have a good day and cheers. Walt Ranallo DDMBC Breakfast Meetings This is a report on the DDMBC meetings of December 14th & 28th, 2002, and January 4th, 2003. On December 14th, Ben Densley, Herm Jackson, Marius Burke, Bill "Hutch" Hutchison, Steve Stevens, Dickie Elder, Buz Pheasant, Jim Roberts, Walt Ranallo and Bruce & Rose Burke showed up. Bruce and Rose were returning to New York, so this was their last breakfast for awhile. For the December 28th breakfast we had Sam, Steve, Ben & Kippy, Buz, Herm, Marius and son Will, Doris Walton, Dickie, Phil Peyton and me. Will and his family were visiting with Marius & Vinetra; they left during the holidays. At breakfast January 4th were Steve, Ben, Buz, Herm, Dickie, Marius and yours truly. It was a lively group and we heard all about Dickie's disastrous golf match the previous day; he and John Alban tried to take on the younger set of Marius and Ben and got their tails whipped. Dickie is threatening to take some lessons from a Professional, but Ben says "not to worry" since Dickie's too old for it to do any good. We sort of expected Judy Porter and Jack Knotts to show up at our breakfast on January 11th, but they didn't. However, Judy e-mailed me this morning and advised she will be in area for about a month and would like to join us next weekend. Eight of us showed for breakfast on 11th. Dickie, John and Marius had another golf match a few days ago and although Marius won again, this one was a squeeker and Dickie showed some improvement. A lady joined their threesome. She was initially a bit tweaked at their taking 3 Mulligans a side, but at the end of her game took her 3 free shots on the last 3 holes and went away happier than hell. Kim and I had were in Miami Beach on the 20th and stayed the night with Boyd and Claire Mesecher. Had an enjoyable visit and left after breakfast the next morning. Outside of having to spend too much time in medical care, our Christmas Holidays were very enjoyable. Our children visited through Christmas. Chris and Drew recently bought a beautiful home, so they were anxious to return to Tallahassee to work on furnishings. Brian is staying in the Ranallo wing of their home. Both our children are working and doing well, and we thank God for all the good luck we have had as a family. Marius and Vinetra had a party New Years Eve at their new home. Some regulars from the DDMBC Breakfast meetings attended. Kim was not feeling well so we couldn't be there. Herm updated me and said that Vinetra outdid herself again in preparing the food. She does an excellent job in preparing and her and Marius are really terrific at hosting parties.
Due to the liability involved, it has been decided that the hotel will be operating a cash bar at our reunion this year. Jerry Toman is finalizing a contract with Tim Rippie to provide our banquet entertainment. Those of us who heard him were well impressed. We hope to have him do a short entertainment show followed by his own dance music routine after which he plays recorded music for listening and dancing into the wee hours. Jerry is also arranging for at least one golf outing during the reunion. Carol Toman has been dealing with the JAX Visitors Bureau and has arraigned to have their January Visitors Magazine sent to our membership in the near future. You will recall that it gives a good summary of the restaurants, attractions, cultural events, sporting events, golf courses, etc. in the Jacksonville area. The aid to Senator Graham has assured me that the Senator will be our speaker if his schedule permits. He will not know the congressional schedule, however, until February. If he is unable, I intend to contact our own Maj. Gen. Larry Taylor (retired but now activated) and ask him to address us. With regard to Sen. Graham, note that he is the only prominent politician, that I am aware of, that feels that the president is being too soft and accommodating to Iraq. Additionally he has been on the Senate Select Intelligence Committee for a long time - is the outgoing Chairman. I'm still waiting for the USS Kennedy people to decide whether they will handle us as 50 person or 30 person tour groups. Will figure out the bus needs then - Tom and Dick, please help me follow through on this. As you know, Dick, Ben, Debbi Pirkle, Tim and Kathy, and others have found some discount fares and airline ideas. The details will be in the next Log. When we met last summer, we decided to have a Jacksonville reunion cup with an H-34 on it as the reunion gift. Several persons have since stated that they have not been happy with past cups and think that we should consider something else. I like the cups, however, and want to suggest that we have the cups, but have them available in the store for those who do like them -- and give away something else. I have asked for suggestions on this and the one I like best is Dee Lister's suggestion of a tote-bag. I envision a sturdy canvas tote bag similar to those given to attendees by Flight Safety and Simcom. It would have Air America on the side in our traditional letter style, along with Jacksonville Reunion 2003 in smaller letters (maybe a dragon logo?). It appears that the cost would be under $5.00 with painted lettering and under $9.00 with embroidered lettering. The bags would be given to the attendees at registration with reunion and other informational materials in them. Feedback, please. The hotel had 238 room-nights reserved as of a few weeks ago. There are still rooms available for those who plan to make the reunion. If you're not sure, but think you will be attending, suggest book a room. You can always cancel the reservation up to 3 days before the reunion, if you determine you can't make it. Best regards and happy new year. Larry Click here to send comments and suggestions to Larry through email. O. B. Harnage's book, A Thousand Faces, has been published. You can order copies at the following website: http://www.trafford.com/robots/02-0548.html That's it for now. You all have a good day and cheers. Walt Ranallo
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