Last Updated June 25, 2006

DDMBC 2004

DDMBC

November 2004 

The display case at the Veterans Center Museum is beginning to fill up with Air America paraphernalia.  Maury Meisner, Commander of the Veteran’s Center, took us over to the Veterans Center after breakfast November 12^th to take some pictures by the Huey Helicopter and see the new display case.    The Video, “Air America, The CIA’s Secret Airline”, donated by Stash was on display with a few other items donated by Boyd Mesecher, Steve Stevens, Marius Burke, Maury and Herm Jackson.  So the display is starting to take shape.  I might also mention that Boyd made a monetary donation for the display case.  Maury has collected some documents that he hopes to put into a binder for people to read.  This will go into a library which the Veterans Center is also developing.  I finally located the CD that contains pictures of stamps depicting what North Vietnam claims to have accomplished during the Vietnam War.  The CD was made from the actual stamps that I donated for the Air America display at the University of Texas.  Al Brau obtained these stamps in Hanoi (early 1974) when he went to Hanoi as a crew member to pick up a group of ICCS personnel that had been taken there a week earlier for negotiations with the VC and NVA.  

It is hoped that anyone who may have items they would like displayed in the Air America Case at the center, will contact Maury and make arrangements to get them there.  It should also be mentioned, that you can arrange these items to be displayed on a loan basis.   

The Veterans Center has to depend on donations and outside help for their operations and projects, such as the helicopters on display and museum.  So your donation would be very much appreciated.  Please make your check or money order out to BVMC/Air America, c/o Emma Meisner, Treasurer, Veteran’s Center, 538 Cocoa Isles Boulevard, Cocoa Beach, FL 32931-3032. 

I attended the breakfast meetings of November 6^th, 12^th and 27^th this month.  Ten people attended the November 6^th breakfast; Marius, Don Claire, Bill Hutchison, Geza Eiler (In from Columbia), Herm, Judy, Ben Densley, Steve Stevens, Dickie Elder, and me.  Not a big crowd but a lot of camaraderie.  There were only 9 folks at the November 12^th breakfast; Geza brought his bride Suzy, Maury Meisner, Hutch, Boyd Mesecher joined us from Hollywood, Florida, Herm, Steve, Dickie and of course me.  It was a nice crowd and we finally have the waitress broken in enough to serve our toast in close proximity with our breakfast.  She was also Johnny on the spot with coffee.  We missed 3 of our regulars; Marius, Judy and Don, but they should be back next week.  I wasn’t there though, since the "Gators" were in Tallahassee for the "Noles" last regular season game. Unfortunately, I was disappointed in the outcome, but have to admit that the Gators were there to play and the Noles stayed home that day.  There were 19 at the November 27^th breakfast; Herm, Michie & Steve, Hutch, Judy, Maury, Jim Roberts (first time back since Hurricanes started), Bruce Burke, Marius, Don, Dickie, Ben, John Elben, Jim Kenny and of course, yours truly.  Michie and Steve also brought guests, Kenji and Mari Matsamoto who were visiting from the Far East.  I also brought along my son, Brian and his girlfriend, Molly Schmid.  They were down from Tallahassee to spend Thanksgiving with us.  Due to the Christmas Parade next Saturday, it was decided that the next breakfast would be at the Sunshine Restaurant on US 1 in Rockledge.   

Herm Jackson and Ben Densley became a year older during November, so we all chipped in a little extra at breakfast so they could eat free. 

On November 10^th, Kim and I joined Marius & Vinetra, Judy and Don to celebrate the USMC’s 249^th Birthday Ball at the IRCC in Viera.  Again the folks there went all out to make it a GALA affair.  The color guard was made up of Marine ROTC students from Palm Bay High School and they are one of the best color guards we have seen.  They did a superb job.  After the ceremony and cutting of the cake, the band, made up of older folks played the kind of music us old folks can still dance to.  It was great and they had a packed house this year.

Next week there are several Christmas (repeat Christmas) parties that some of us plan to attend and on Saturday, there will be a Memorial Service for Herb Baker in Wauchula, Florida.  The service will be at 3 PM and those attending plan to drive there after breakfast.  Believe attendees will be Herm, Steve, Dickie, Hutch, Marius, etc.  Kim and I won’t be able to go to Herb’s service since we already are committed to attend a wedding in Orlando. 

Sick Call:  Al Brau is under home care and doing very well.  Minh has gone to part-time work on weekends only and Maurice is staying with his Dad during the weekends.  Haven’t had chances to go see him for a couple weeks, but plan to call him.  If you know Al, I’m sure he’d appreciate your call (407) 330-1722. 

Received an E-mail from OB Harnage and he apparently had a close call.  He was flown to Tucson Medical Center where they determined he had Pneumonia, Infected bladder, ECOLI blood virus, Heart damage, etc.  Main damage appears to be leg manipulation and he cannot walk without assistance.  He added to message that he personally thinks he’s improving, although he won’t be going "trick or treating" this year.  God bless you OB and get well soon.

Well, that’s all I have for this report. 

Walt and Kim

Air America Display Case

DDMBC

October 2004

The display case for display of Air America paraphernalia at the Veterans Center Museum has arrived and Maury Meisner, Commander of the Veteran’s Center, would like to start displaying  items from Air America days in SEA.   Stash Waite was at breakfast this past Saturday and donated the Video “Air America, The CIA’s Secret Airline.”  Eric Carlson of the University of Texas was kind enough to provide me with a CD, showing pictures of North Vietnamese stamps depicting their accomplishments during the Vietnam War; but have been unable to locate it.  Hopefully, I just misplaced it and it’ll show up.  I need to sit down with Al Brau on this one and get details of his trip to Hanoi to pick up a group of ICCS personnel that had been taken to Hanoi a week earlier for negotiations.   As was part of the crew that went to pick up the ICCS folks.   

It is hoped that anyone who has items that they would like to display at the center, they will contact Maury and make arrangements to get them there.  It should also be mentioned, that you can arrange these items to be displayed on a loan basis.    

The Veterans Center has to depend on donations and outside help for their operations and projects, such as the helicopters on display and museum.  So your donation would be very much appreciated.  Please make your check or money order out to BVMC/Air America Case c/o Emma Meisner, Treasurer, Veteran’s Center, 538 Cocoa Isles Boulevard, Cocoa Beach, FL 32931-3032. 

Kim and I have season tickets for the FSU home games and try to make as many of them as possible since our kids are both living in Tallahassee.  Consequently, I don’t get to the breakfast meetings as often.  I was only able to attend the normal breakfast meetings of October 9 and October 30 this month.  I would like to mention however, that the breakfast on October 2 had 17 guests including Jane Mullins and Inez Mulholland, in from Bush Country visiting Judy Porter.  Understand there were several other out-of-towners, but didn’t get their names.  Would have liked to been there for that breakfast, but that’s life.  

There were 8 of us at the October 9^th breakfast; Judy Porter, Marius Burke, Dickie Elder, Steve Stevens, Herm Jackson, Don Clair, Larry Fraser and me.  At this breakfast I was able to pass the word that Phanh Kandt was home from the hospital and doing fairly well.  Kim and I had spoke to Mike and Phanh both on Thursday, October 7.  

On October 12^th, Herm and I drove over to Al Brau’s home for a short visit.  Al was in bed when we got there, but got up and rolled out to the living room for a half hour visit with us.  After about half an hour, he got pretty tired though, so we had to put him back into his bed.  It took both Herm and I to lift him back to his bed and made me wonder just how strong Minh must be to be doing this for him when she’s all alone.  Hang on to those good women guys!  After that, Herm and I left.  Kim and I also went over for a visit on a weekend since then.

On October 23, I went to a rally for President Bush at the Viera Stadium with a few others of our breakfast crowd.  There was a good turnout, and I heard figures of from 14,000 to 24,000, although the latter is probably somewhat exaggerated.  Steve and Michie, Vinetra Burke, Herm Jackson, Ben Densley and Judy Porter were the others at this rally.  We had breakfast at 9 am before proceding to Steve’s place and then on to the stadium.  Dick Elder and Bill Hutchison joined us for breakfast. 

The October 30^th breakfast had 12 people show up.   Marius, Bruce and Rose Burke, Judy, Dickie, Hutch, Stash Waite, Ben, Don Clair, Steve, Herm and yours truly.  Bruce and Rose are again "snowbirds" down from New York for the winter.  Oh by the way, they have some repairs on their winter home due to the hurricanes.  Had to interview Ben since he has gone back to flying Switzer 300 helicopters for Helicopter Ventures.  Flying is in the Titusville area.  Ben mentioned he’s been flying 30 years and now has come full circle with the type helicopter he started out in.  Good luck Ben.                                                       

Sick Call:  Al Brau is under home care and doing pretty good.  Minh has gone to part-time work on weekends only and Maurice is staying with his Dad during the weekends.  Haven’t had a chance to go see him for a couple weeks, but plan to call him later today.  If you know Al, I’m sure he’d appreciate a call (407) 330-1722.   

Received an E-mail from OB Harnage and he apparently had a close call.  He was flown to Tucson Medical Center where they determined he had Pneumonia, Infected bladder, ECOLI blood virus, Heart damage, etc.  Main damage appears to be leg manipulation and he cannot walk without assistance.  He added to message that he personally thinks he’s improving, although he won’t be going "trick or treating" this year.  God bless you OB and get well soon.                                            

Well, that’s all I have for this report.  

Walt and Kim 

DDMBC

August 8 thru September 20, 2004

The dedication on August 14^th for the Cobra Helicopter, displayed at the Veteran Memorial Center, 400 South Sykes Creek Parkway, Merritt Island (Phone 321-453-1776), took place as planned.  This was ^.despite Hurricane "Charley" that had skirted our area by about 50 miles to the west.  Parts of our county sustained some bad damages, but Merritt Island sort of "dodged the bullet" for this one.  It was bad enough however, that the Airports at Melbourne and Orlando had to be closed, and consequently the main speaker for the dedication, General Larry Taylor’s flight was cancelled.  However, the other speakers and honorary guests were able to show up and the ceremony went well.  Boyd and Claire Mesecher were also unable to drive up from Hollywood Florida to attend the dedication. Maury & Emma Meisner were the principals in organizing the function and did "Bang Up" job.  Attendees from the DDMBC and AA group included Steve & Michie Stevens, Bill Hutchison, Marius Burke, Judy Porter, Herm Jackson, Ben Densley, Stash Waite, Charlie and Barry Means, Don Clair and Walt & Kim Ranallo. 

After the dedication, the Veteran Memorial Center Officers held a luncheon at RJ Gators on Merritt Island for those who participate in the Dedication Ceremonies.  Some DDMBC members also attended this event.             

The display case for Air America paraphernalia at the Veterans Center Museum has not arrived as yet.  Seems everything planned has been delayed due to Hurricanes "Charley" and then "Frances", that had an even worse affect on Brevard County.   Some of us in the area sustained damages to our homes and the Huey displayed at the VMC sustained extensive damage.  This is devastating to the VMC membership, since they did not have insurance and damages are estimate in excess of $10,000.  

The Veterans Center has to depend on donations and outside help for their operations and projects, such as the helicopters on display and museum.  So if any of you have any extra change lying around, your donation would be very much appreciated. Please make your check or money order out to BVMC/Air America Case c/o Emma Meisner, Treasurer, Veteran’s Center, 538 Cocoa Isles Boulevard, Cocoa Beach, FL 32931-3032. 

I’m not sure who came to the breakfast meetings after the dedication until September 11^th due to the approach of Hurricane "Frances", which hit us the weekend of September 4^th & 5^th.  Our area got hit pretty hard as did most of Florida’s east coast.  I had damage to the soffitts, roof and patio screens.  Still waiting for an insurance adjuster to come by and give me an estimate.  

There were 14 of us at the September 11th breakfast.  In addition to the regulars, that include Judy Porter, Marius Burke, Maury Meisner, Dickie Elder, Steve Stevens, Herm Jackson, Don Clair, Ben Densley and me, we were also honored with a visit by Jeed Rhyne and her sister, Ning Campbell, who were visiting.  Geza Eiler was also in town and Ben brought along Kippy and his Grandson, Benjamin. 

On September 18^th, we had the usual crowd and in addition, Tom Jenny drove down from Ormond Beach and Stash Waite drove up from Stuart.  Bill Hutchison also showed up and Herm’s friend, Jim Kenny joined us.  Jim worked for SAT in Miami with Herm and has been living in Merritt Island for the past couple months.  We can expect him to join us at future breakfast gatherings.

Sick Call:  Al Brau is still hospitalized, but has been moved to another care facility closer to where their home is.  This is much more convenient for Minh, but still requires her to make visits to see him.  Haven’t been able to get a good update on his status since the hurricanes started, but Kim talked to Minh a few days ago and they survived the Hurricanes with only slight damage to their home.  We have not been able to get over to see them, basically due to Minh’s work schedule.    

As mentioned in my previous update, if you have time, send Al a card or call Minh at home.

Well, that’s all I have for this report. 

Walt and Kim

DDMBC

July 17 thru August 7, 2004

USMC Major General Larry Taylor will be in town to give the dedication speech for the Cobra Helicopter being displayed at the Veteran Memorial Center, 400 South Sykes Creek Parkway, Merritt Island (Phone 321-453-1776).  Larry flew the Cobra being dedicated and he also flew with Air America between stints in the USMC.   Larry will arrive in the evening of Friday, August 13^th and will be housed in the Holiday Inn on Cocoa Beach.  Right now his estimated arrival at the hotel is around 11:15 PM and we plan to have a short welcome get together for him at the hotel.  If he can catch an earlier flight, he will get to the hotel earlier.  If you wish to be there for the welcome get together, please let me know either by e-mail (wranallo@cfl.rr.com) or phone (321)452-3454.  Plan on being at the hotel at 11ish; if he gets in earlier, Maury will let me know and I will call those who let me they want to be there, and tell them new time. 

At 7:45 Saturday morning, we plan to have breakfast for Larry at the Holiday Inn, Cocoa Beach; Maury will need a headcount for the hotel, so anyone wanting to come to that early breakfast should let me know at above e-mail or phone number.  Sorry for the early hour, but Larry has to be at the Veteran Memorial Center by 9:30 to make the dedication which is scheduled to start at 10 AM.  Colors will be presented by the USMC Junior ROTC Unit of Palm Bay, Florida. Boyd and Claire Mesecher, AA Association President, will be driving up on Friday to attend the dedication and hopefully other functions above.  We hope to have a good turnout for this function and hope to have AAA members on the west coast and elsewhere in Florida.

After the dedication, the Veteran Memorial Center Officers are having a 1:30 luncheon at RJ Gators on Merritt Island for those who participate in the Dedication Ceremonies.  Our DDMBC group has been invited for this event also, but it will be "Dutch Treat" for us.  Anybody who wants to attend should let Maury or Emma Meisner know at 321-783-3649 so they can reserve adequate space for us. 

Lastly, Maury advised at breakfast (8/7/04) that he had ordered a display case for Air America paraphernalia and will try to have it set up in the VMC museum at the time of the dedication ceremonies.  If any of you still have any items from your Air America days that you would like to have displayed in the case, please get them to Maury soon as possible.   

I might also remind that the display case will cost the VMC around $1300; donations of $900 have been received from Maury Meisner, Marius Burke, Judy Porter, James Roberts, Don Claire, Bill Hutchison, Herm Jackson and Walt Ranallo, so if you have a few extra bucks laying around for donations it would be greatly appreciated.  The Veterans Center has to depend on donations and outside help for their operations and projects, such as the expansion of their museum.  Please make your check or money order out to BVMC/Air America Case c/o Emma Meisner, Treasurer, Veteran’s Center, 538 Cocoa Isles Boulevard, Cocoa Beach, FL 32931-3032.  Any help will be greatly appreciated.   

Twelve showed up for our July 17^th breakfast; Judy Porter, Marius Burke, Maury Meisner, Dickie Elder, Ron Dixon, Steve Stevens, Herm Jackson, Don Clair, Ben & Kippie Densley, Geza Eiler and me.  Maury provided me an updated list of donors for the Air America display case in Brevard Veteran’s Center Museum.  We can add Jim Roberts to our list of donors.   

Sick Call:  Herm joined Kim and me July 17^th for a drive over to the Semper Care Hospital to visit Al Brau.  The Semper Care Hospital is located at 2250 Bedford Road, Orlando, Florida 32803_Phone 407-303-1766.  Minh Brau arrived at the same time and Al’s son, Maurice was already there.  The Semper Care Facility is in the same area as the Florida Hospital.   

Al was dozing at the time, but when we woke him, he immediately recognized everyone and started talking.  Minh was also very surprised as this was the first time that Al had recognized people.  We stayed about an hour before Al started dozing off and then we decided we’d better let him get some rest.  He is really getting better and for the first time, I feel confident that he’ll pull through.   

Herm and I drove to Orlando again on July 28^th to see Al, but we caught him at a bad time.  They were changing his linens and he was sleeping, so we had to wait about 45 minutes.  When we finally got to see him, he was just waking up and very disoriented.  I tried talking to him, but he didn’t seem to recognize me or Herm.  Anyway, we stayed a little while and left.  Kim and I talked to Minh on Friday night (July 30) about this and she indicated it was the medication Al is on since they removed the tube from his throat and started feeding him by mouth.  She said he was in pretty good spirits when she was there earlier though and seemed to understand everything.  In fact he wanted her to bring some food from home as he didn’t like the hospital food. 

We talked to Minh again on Friday, August 6^th and she was really happy about Al’s progress.  When she visited him earlier, it seemed like he had just woke from a long sleep and was remembering everything, but didn’t seem to remember the times before when he seemed to recognize people.  He told Minh that he now that he is better and ready to get out of hospital he plans to write George Benolken and me and let us know that he’s been sick.  Minh is hopeful that Al will be release to go home around the middle of August. 

As mentioned in my previous update, if you have time, send Al a card or call.  Better yet, if convenient, drop by and say hello in person.  Visitors are welcome at any time in the Semper Center. 

There was a smaller crowd at the breakfast on July 31^st; eight people were there.  I was late getting there and only stopped by for a few minutes since I had to drive to St. Pete’s to see family, and I had several errands to do before getting on the road.  Some of the crowd had gone to Palm Bay for Robin Pickle’s funeral. 

We had 14 at the August 7^th breakfast; Ben & Kippy, Ron, Jim, Dickie, Charlie Means, Maury, Judy, Steve, Geza Eiler, Hutch, Herm, me and Don Claire, who stopped by on his way to a picnic.  We talked a lot about the upcoming Cobra dedication at the VMC next Saturday and Charlie advised he would be there for the early morning breakfast as well as the dedication ceremonies and will take pictures for inclusion with our next letter. 

Well, that’s all I have for this report. 

DDMBC

July 17 thru 7/24/04 

Twelve showed up for our July 17^th breakfast; Judy Porter, Marius Burke, Maury Meisner, Dickie Elder, Ron Dixon, Steve Stevens, Herm Jackson, Don Clair, Ben & Kippie Densley, Geza Eiler and me.  Maury provided me an updated list of donors for the Air America display case in Brevard Veteran’s Center Museum.  We can add Jim Roberts to our list of donors.   

The Veterans Center has to depend on donations and outside help for their operations and projects, such as the expansion of their museum.  So if any others would like to send a donation, please make a check or money order out to BVMC/Air America Case c/o Emma Meisner, Treasurer, Veteran’s Center, 538 Cocoa Isles Boulevard, Cocoa Beach, FL 32931-3032.  Any help will be greatly appreciated.  

Sick Call:  Herm joined Kim and I July 17^th for a drive over to the Semper Care Hospital to visit Al Brau.  The Semper Care Hospital is located at 2250 Bedford Road, Orlando, Florida 32803_Phone 407-303-1766.  Minh Brau arrived at the same time and Al’s son, Maurice was already there.  The Semper Care Facility is in the same area as the Florida Hospital.   

Al was dozing at the time, but when we woke him, he immediately recognized everyone and started talking.  Minh was also very surprised as this was the first time that Al had recognized people.  We stayed about an hour before Al started dozing off and then we decided we’d better let him get some rest.  He is really getting better and for the first time, I feel confident that he’ll pull through.   

As mentioned in my previous update, if you have time, send Al a card or call.  Better yet, if convenient, drop by and say hello in person.  Visitors are welcome at any time in the Semper Center. 

Our breakfast of July 24^th had 16 guests; Ben & Kippie, Herm, Steve & Michie, Dickie, Jim Roberts, Stash Waite, Maury & Emma Meisner, Shirley Antle, Don, Ron, Marius, Judy and your truly.  It was a lively group and lots of different war stories were being told.  We did have a new waitress. In fact, Michie was sure it must have been her first waitress job, because she asked me "How do you want your eggs cooked", when I asked for the Island Omelet. 

I also told everyone about my new website, just in case they want to order anything through the internet.  It has a lot of products in all sorts of categories; i.e. books, electronics, hardware, etc., and you can order and have items sent to your door within just a few days.  I can also have Fundraiser sites set up within the website in case anyone has a group or person they are raising funds for.  The website is at - http://www.themalloftheworld.com/walterranallo.                                         

Well, that’s all I have for this report.  

DDMBC

July 3 thru July 16, 2004

As mentioned in our last letter, Kim and I drove up to Tallahassee to visit with our kids over the July 4^th weekend, but there were 8 or 9 attendees at the Saturday breakfast; Dickie Elder, Marius Burke, Don Clair, Herm Jackson, Steve & Michie Stevens, Maury Meisner, Ron Dixon and Judy Porter.  Not sure what went on, but they must have behaved themselves, because they let us back in the following week.  

We really had a crowd for the July 10^th breakfast; I counted 23 people at three big tables and there may have been a couple more I didn’t see.  I didn’t get everyone written down, so excuse me if I miss you but here are the names:  Judy, Marius, Maury & Emma Meisner, Dickie, John Elben, Ron, Steve & Michie, Herm, Don, Jim Roberts, Phil Peyton, Ben & Kippie Densley, Bill (Don’s computer friend), Charlie Waite (from Tampa Area) and Smokey & Myrna Lee (from Destin, FL area).  Smokey had flown with Steve, Phil and some of others in Guatemala some years back and he and Myrna were house guests of Steve & Michie.  I ended up spending most of my time talking to Michie, Smokey and Myrna, who sat at my table.  Maury and Emma were also at the table and Maury and we talked some about the Air America display they plan to include in the Veterans Center Museum addition.   

On Wednesday July 14^th, the Brevard Veterans Council had their Annual Installation, Awards & Appreciation Luncheon at 10 am.  After the installation of officers and presentation of youth program scholarships, a BBQ lunch was served.  The lunch had been donated, as had been the custom, by the Island BBQ (our breakfast nook) and the owners were there to serve an excellent fare of BBQ Chicken, baked beans, coleslaw, garlic bread and several desert choices.  Food was plentiful and several of our group had seconds.  Bill Hutchison had come early and was there for the whole show which was hosted by Maury and Emma.  The rest of us, Judy, Don, Herm and me only got there in time for lunch, but enjoyed the table talk afterwards.  Of interest, one of our state representatives, Bob Allen, was there and he and wife, Beth, joined our table for a few minutes.  He talked with us about our quest for Veteran’s Status and mentioned he would look into supporting our cause.  Judy is going to follow-up with him.  I found Bob to be a very pleasant family orientated person and he’ll have my vote this coming election.   

As previously mentioned, the Veteran Center is expanding their museum and will include a real nice display of Air America items. They recently put a Huey on display in front of their center; this Huey had been used by Air America when they provided air services to the ICCS (International Commission for Control & Supervision) during the so-called ceasefire in "Nam".   The Center has also obtained an Army Cobra helicopter, and work will be complete and the helicopter on display in front of the Center is scheduled to be ready for the dedication presently scheduled Saturday, August 14^th.   Maury advised that he plans to have an Air America display in the museum at the time of the dedication ceremony.  So anyone who may have items they’d like to donate for display at the museum, please contact Maury. In addition, Maury is still looking for display cases for the Museum.   

Maury has donated $500 out of pocket for the Air America Display and had received donations from Marius, Herm, Hutch, Judy, Don and me so far.  The Veterans Center depends on donations and outside help for their operations and projects, so if any others would like to send a donation, please make a check or money order out to BVMC/Air America Case c/o Emma Meisner, Treasurer, Veteran’s Center, 538 Cocoa Isles Boulevard, Cocoa Beach, FL 32931-3032.  Any help will be greatly appreciated.   

Steve received a thank you from the Marines in IRAQ that he sent the case of hot sauce to.  They were very appreciative and sent a nice little note along with the thank you to let us know how things were going in IRAQ.  As Steve mentioned, you don’t get any better than our guys in IRAQ.  Steve will be glad to arrange further shipments to our boys in the field; just contact him.   

I’m still pushing to promote a program to entice our siblings and down the line to participate in the AA Association.  As you are award, Kathy and Terry Bruner did and excellent job in hosting the Dallas reunion and I feel their talent is only the tip of the iceberg.   We have other youngsters in our ranks with similar skills that should be utilized.  Anyway, my feeling is that we need to keep the organization going for as long as there are those children who were born in SEA during our tenure.   

Sick Call:  Kim and I talked to Minh Brau July 15^th and have some good news for a change.  Al has been moved to the Sempler Care Hospital (2250 Bedford Road, Orlando, FL, 32803_Phone 407-303-1766) a rehabilitation center.  Minh said he has started talking, not too clear yet, but it's a start.  They will keep him there until he can function; i.e. walk, talk, etc.  Then, hopefully, he'll go home.  

It's been a hard struggle for Al, but things are looking up and he's back to being his old cantankerous self.  Understand he tried to pull the tubes off his arm and wanted Minh to give him his car keys so he could go home.  Guess he got pretty rambunctious, so they tied his hands to the side of the bed.  Now he wants Minh to get scissors so he can cut the damn ropes.  This is the Al I know. 

If you can find the time, please send Al a card or call Minh and have her express your best wishes to Al.  You could call Al, but not sure it's a good idea just yet.  If you're close enough, you may want to drop by and say hello in person.  Understand he can now have visitors.  Kim and I and Herm Jackson are going to see Al after breakfast this Saturday.  Anybody want to join us? 

PS - Understand the Sempler Care Facility is in the same area as and very close to the Florida Hospital.                                         

Well, that’s all I have for this report.  

DDMBC

June 20 thru June 26, 2004

 We had sixteen attendees at the June 20^th breakfast; Dickie Elder, Marius Burke, Don Clair, Herm Jackson, Steve & Michie Stevens, Bill Hutchison and son Wes, Judy Porter, Geza Eiler, Ron Dixon, Maury Meisner, Tom Jenny, Charlie Means and son Barry, and of course, me.  This was Ron’s second week in a row since his heart attack.  It was nice to meet Barry Means, he’s moved back here from California and has recovered fully from his ailments.  Charlie took a bunch of pictures and I’ve put names with pictures.  Charlie would have done this, but had to leave town for a family reunion up in West “By Gosh” Virginia.  Told us there would be eighty some cousins there on his wife’s side, many whom she had never met.  Hope you have a good time, Charlie.     

The Brevard Veterans Council had their Annual Picnic Sunday, June 20^th from 11:45 am to 2:30 pm.  Marius, Don, Hutch, Herm and me all joined them and enjoyed the FREE hot dogs, hamburgers and Sodas.  Maury and Emma Meisner as always did excellent work in supporting the function.  As previously mentioned, the Veteran Center is expanding their museum and will include a real nice display of Air America items. They recently put a Huey on display in front of their center; this Huey had been used by Air America when they provided air services to the  ICCS (International Commission for Control & Supervision) during the so-called ceasefire in “Nam”.   The Center has also obtained an Army Cobra helicopter, and work will be complete and the helicopter on display in front of the Center is scheduled to be ready for the dedication presently scheduled Saturday, August 14^th.   Maury advised that he plans to have an Air America display at the reunion at the time of the dedication ceremony.  So anyone who may have items they’d like to donate for display at the museum, please contact Maury.   In addition, anyone in the area, that may have surplus display cases should let Maury know.  They can use them for the Museum.   

We had a nice turnout of 12 good people at the June 26^th breakfast; Marius, Don, Hutch, Steve, Judy, Ben Densley, Dickie, Jim Roberts, John Elben, Boyd Mesecher and me.  It had been awhile since John had been to breakfast, so it was nice having him.  Boyd and Claire had come up from Hollywood for a meeting with Judy and Marius.  They had this meeting at a Friday luncheon at the Olive Garden in Merritt Island.  As far as I could tell, a lot of different items were discussed during our breakfast.  Seems we had several groups each developing their own conversation pieces.   

Steve mentioned that he had sent an e-mail to the Marine Unit in Iraq where we had sent the hot sauce to see if they had received yet, but as yet hadn’t got an answer.  He plans a follow-up message this week.  I talked some with Hutch and Boyd about getting our kids involved more in the Association.  The original members are not getting any younger and unless we plan on disbanding when the original employees can no longer handle the reunion activities, we’d better start thinking about bringing the second generation on board.  I have two children and a son-in-law that I’d like to get involved, Hutch mentioned he has a son who is not at this time an Association member, Boyd has a daughter and son-in-law, and of course there are many other offspring who I’m sure could be talked into membership.  Then there are quite a few who are members, not the least who were our sponsors at the recent Dallas Reunion, Kathy and Terry Bruner.   Although I wasn’t there, many feel this was the best organized of all our reunions.  In addition, I understand that Kathy has volunteered to help with any reunion within a reasonable distance of her home in Texas.  Time to harness all this young energy and talents.  When you have someone with organizing skills like Kathy has, it makes the jobs of those working the reunion much easier.  We have other youngsters in our ranks with similar skills that should be exploited.   Anyway, my feeling is that we need to keep the organization going for as long as there are those children who were born in SEA during our tenure.   

Sick Call:  Had an update from Minh on Al Brau.  He continues to improve and they continue to wean him off the respirator for longer and longer periods.  He is being given therapy in the ICU and seems to understand most everything, continues to try talking, but not much sound coming out yet.  His color is good and he has good movement in hands and feet.  Circulation is good.          

Kim and I will be visiting our kids in Tallahassee over the 4^th, so we won’t be at the next breakfast.  However, there will be a breakfast next Saturday for those who would like to be there.                 

Well, that’s all I have for this report.  

Walt and Kim

DDMBC  

June 1 thru June 19, 2004

Due to the Air America Reunion, only three of us showed up for the June 5^th breakfast; Bill Hutchison, Don Claire and me.  We did have a nice quiet discussion, but missed Steve’s hot sauce for our eggs.  We did hear a lot about the Reunion in the following weeks though and it must have been a real BLAST.  Everyone from our group who attended had nothing but praise about it.  I spoke to Boyd Mesecher over the phone and he particularly enjoyed the rodeo and Texas style bar BQ.  One of Judy Porter’s comments was, "It was really well organized".  Our thanks to the Bruner’s for a job well done.   

We had sixteen attendees at the June 12^th breakfast; Dickie Elder, Jim Roberts, Ben Densley, Larry Fraser, Marius Burke, Don Claire, Herm Jackson, Steve Stevens, Bill Hutchison, Judy Porter, Geza & Suzie Eiler, Ron Dixon, Ken & Suzie Hansen and of course, me.  Geza comes to breakfast whenever he’s home from his job down south, but this was the first appearance of Suzie in quite some time.  She’s still that "happy person" as always.  Good to see her.  Ron had a  heart attack some months back and this was first we heard about it.  He had moved to Melbourne and we sort of lost touch with him the past year.  Hopefully, he will stay in touch now though.  Ken and Suzie Hansen were in town from Salt Lake City, Suzie is Marius’s daughter.   

Steve took up a collection for a case of Mile High hot sauce that he had his friend M. P. Cooper send to the troops in Iraq.  He sent it in the name of our breakfast club and hopes to have a confirmation that they received by breakfast June 19^th.  He hopes to set something up to send more items over to the troops in the name of the breakfast club and we’ll probably be hitting our attendees up for a couple bucks again in future.  Maybe we can start a trend for Air America groups in other areas, such as Tampa/St. Petersburg, Las Vegas, Seattle, Dallas, etc., to follow.     

Just a reminder, but the Brevard Veterans Council is having their Annual Picnic Sunday, June 20^th from 11:45 am to 2:30 pm.  They’ll be FREE hot dogs, hamburgers and Soda for those of us who are members.  And those of us who are not members, may go join and then they too can eat free.  Let’s support our Veterans Council.  They are expanding the library and will put in a real nice display of Air America items and also, they now have a Huey, that was flown by several of our local members, displayed in front of their building.  Soon there will be an Army Cobra helicopter on display.     

Well, that’s all I have for this report.  Breakfast will be at the Island BBQ this coming Saturday.  Cheers.

 Walt and Kim

DDMBC  

April 25 thru May 29, 2004

I couldn’t attend the breakfast gatherings between April 25 and May 22, due to out of town commitments, but they were held and there were substantial crowds even without me.  Kim and I made weekend trips to St. Petersburg and Miami to visit family members and from May 14 thru May 20 were in Reno to celebrate Brother Bob’s 50^th wedding anniversary.  He’s the 3^rd brother in 4 years to celebrate his 50^th.  I’m next in line, but that’s 17 years away, so doubt my older brothers will be able to attend.  Anyway, we had a hell of a good time.  Bob & Loretta’s children arranged this one and did a superb job; they had a celebration luncheon in the rooftop restaurant at the Golden Phoenix Hotel.  About 60 or so attended and included their friends and relatives from the western NY area as well as other parts of the country, i.e. Texas, Florida, Arizona, California, etc.  Two of their friends made video tapes covering their 50 years of marriage; one was made based on his home town days (Olean, NY) and the other covered his years with Bell Telephone and friends he knew from the Buffalo area.  I hope to have a copy of both videos.  My son, Brian, joined us in Reno and we were pretty busy for the entire week.  I had planned to get together with Gary Edwards and talk about next years reunion, but we weren’t able to hook up.  He did mention that the reunion would be in the Silver Legacy Hotel, where we had arranged to pick up our rental vehicle from Hertz.  As I understand, it is the newest hotel/casino in town and, at least, the layout is absolutely beautiful.  Didn’t have time to check out any of the rooms, but sure they must be nice.  Good job Gary.  We also made a one-day side trip to Lake Tahoe, Donner Pass and Truckee, California.  The mountain views were spectacular, but due to it being too cold and windy, they had canceled the boat ride on Late Tahoe.  Anyway, we’re looking forward to next year’s reunion and I’m hoping that my children will join us there. 

There was a good turnout at the May 22^nd breakfast; the eighteen attendees were Dickie Elder, Jim Roberts, Ben & Kippy Densley, Larry Fraser, Marius Burke, Don Claire, Herm Jackson, Steve Stevens, Hank & Billy Glindeman, Charlie Harvey, Maury Meisner, Bill Hutchison, Rex & Helgo Walters and a daughter and of course, me.  Charlie was a C-123 Captain in Vientiene 1965 – 1968.  He had come to one of our breakfast meetings quite some time back, so he wasn’t a stranger.  Hank has attended quite often, but hadn’t been for a few months.  Rex & Helga showed up a couple months ago and this was their 2^nd breakfast.  Good to see all of them again.   

This morning (May 29^th) we had 13 show up; Maury & Emma, Marius, Hutch, Don, Herm, Steve, Judy, Ben & Kippy, Dickie, Hank and yours truly, me.  Hank is Chairman, Board of Directors, for the USS Ranger Museum Foundation and mentioned that he’d like to establish and area in the USS Ranger’s Museum for an Air America display.  He is writing a letter to the AA Association President about this and will include a Executive Summary telling about the Aircraft Carrier and Museum.  I believe that an Air display in the museum, telling the Air America story, would be great and give us some positive publicity for a change.  Hank won’t be at our reunion this year due to other obligations with the Ranger, but hopefully the item will be discussed during the general meeting or maybe the preliminary director’s get together before the general meeting.    

After breakfast, Herm and I stopped by the Shore Lanes Bowling Establishment to get some information on their leagues.  It appears there are two mixed (4 per team) Senior leagues that started in May.  They both bowl at 1 PM, one on Wednesdays and the other Thursdays.  I know that Marius, Herm and I are interested, but not sure about anyone else, so please let us know if you like to bowl and we’ll try to arrange for a team or two.  They’re mixed leagues, so may have to have 2 boys and 2 girls on each team.   

I’d like to introduce Maurice Meisner and his lovely wife, Emma, who incidentally will be guests at our Dallas Reunion next weekend.  Maurice (Maury) & Emma Meisner, have been married 20 years and they have a son, a daughter and two granddaughters (ages 16 & 13). Maury and Emma owned and managed Kentucky Machine and Tool Co, in Louisville, Ky. for over 30 years.  Emma was the office manager and accountant, and Maury the President.  Their son, Thomas, now operates the company.  Maury is a licensed industrial engineer in the State of Kentucky. He has been designing and building special manufacturing equipment for over 45 years, first for General Electric and later for all types of industries.  He was Chairman of the Apprenticeship Training Tool & Die Makers in the Louisville and Southern Indiana area for 25 years, and National Chairman of the Apprenticeship Committee for the National Tooling and Machining Association. 

Maury was in the Navy four years during the Korean War as an Aviation Machinist Mate Petty Officer 3rd Class. His most memorable experience was flying into West Point, picking up the Army football team, taking them to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for summer training, then picking up the Navy football team and returning them to Annapolis, Md.  Maury is a member of the Korean War Veterans Association, Chapter 210. 

Maury and Emma dedicate their spare time to the Veterans Council and Center, where Maury is currently Vice-Chairman of the Brevard Veterans Council, Co-Chairman of the Veterans Memorial Center, and Chairman of the Helicopter committee, which has acquisitioned a Huey and a Cobra.   The Huey, which was flown by the Army in Vietnam and also by Air America (under ICCS) is presently displayed on a pedestal in front of the Veteran’s Center; the Cobra will soon be similarly displayed.  Emma is treasurer for the council and center in addition to several other voluntary functions she performs.                  

Well, that’s all I have for this report.  Breakfast will be at the Island BBQ this coming Saturday.  Cheers. 

Walt and Kim

DDMBC

March 13 thru April 24, 2004  

At the March 13^th breakfast there were 10 attendees; Hutch Hutchison, Dickie , Steve & Michie Stevens, Judy Porter, Herm “Bud” Jackson, Tom Jenny (down from Ormond Beach), Ben Densley, Roman “Ski” Olkowski and yours truly.  The following Saturday (March 20^th) we had all of the above except for Tom and Michie, but several others attended; Marius Burke, Kate & Don Claire, Maury Meisner, Phil Peyton and Kippy Densley.  I was out of town Saturday, March 27^th, but Herm advised that about 7 or 8 showed up.  On April 3^rd, twelve (12) showed up; Dickie, Hutch, Ben, Bruce Burke (Marius’s brother down from Hillary country), Marius, Don, Tom, Judy, Herm, Steve, me and Mike Seale, who is staying with Herm for his annual visit.  Did a lot of talking about the Air America Radio Station, not a pleasant subject. 

On April 10^th, 13 showed; Herm, Marius, Don, Hutch, Steve, Judy, Maury & Emma Meisner, Phil, Ben, Dickie, Mike and me.  Herm, Marius and I would like to get a bowling team started, but couldn’t seem to interest any other DDMBC members.  Maybe mentioning here in news letter will spark some interest.  If we can put together a team, we will join a league at Shore Lanes in Merritt Island.  Maury brought up the Vietnam Veterans Reunion that will be held at Wickam Park April 19 thru 24.   

Our breakfast of April 17 had 12 in attendance including new guest, Lt. Gen’l Maurice “Mo” Casey (retired).  Also there were Hutch, Marius, herm, Geza Eiler, Dickie, Judy, Don, Ben, me and Charlie Means (who took some real good pictures which are included with this letter).  General Casey checked out “Earthquake McGoon” McGovern in the C-119 he flew into Dien Ben Phu.  General Casey is in his late 80’s and spent close to 40 years in the service.  The following Saturday, April 24, General Casey showed up again and we also had another distinguished guest, Colonel Ray Roberts.  Also attending that breakfast were Don, Marius, Steve, Bruce, Hutch, Buz Pheasant (Welcome back Buz), Herm, Judy, Phil, Ben, Dickie and me.  Colonel Roberts was the Project Test Pilot for the F-111 Program.  Colonel Roberts is considered an extraordinary aviator.  He retired in the seventies but continued flying for many years afterwards.  He is now 82 but only 2 years ago, flew a replica of Orville Wright’s 1911 airplane.  It was a real treat having “Mo” and Ray join us for breakfast and they are most welcome to join us at any time. 

Well, that’s all I have for this report.  Breakfast will be at the Island BBQ this coming Saturday.  Cheers. 

Walt and Kim

Latest Pictures of the Breakfast Club

DDMBC
February 21 thru March 11, 2004

     The press conference with Nevada Senator Reid, March 15-16, was cancelled. However, the folks from this area that were planning to attend the event decided to make it a fun trip and mini-reunion, since they were unable to cancel their tickets. Marius Burke, Steve & Michie Stevens, Judy Porter and Herm Jackson will be in Vegas this coming Sunday for a few days of hell-raising with Ward, Mike and the rest of the Nevada contingent. Maybe we can get Mike Kandt to give us a short report on Mini-reunion activities that take place during this trip.

     At the February 21st breakfast 14 showed up; Judy Porter, Herm Jackson, Dickie Elder, Hutch Hutchison, Steve Stevens, Phil Peyton, Ben & Kippy Densley, Marius Burke, Kathleen Clair, Geza Eiler, Rex & Helga Walters and daughter Karen Cody, and of course "me". Rex, who was visiting the area, had worked as an airplane mechanic on Andros Island with Phil, Steve and Dickie.

     On February 28th, Herm, Dickie, Maury Meisner, Ben & Kippy (with grandson Benjamin), Steve and Michie, Phil, Judy, Marius, Hutch, Don Clair with sister Kathleen, and of course yours truly. It was Don Clair's first breakfast since being hospitalized and he was in rare form and as usual very talkative. Herm made an announcement that Mike Seale would be coming in for a two week visit starting March 30th, so if anyone would like to take a vacation to get out of the area, better start planning now. Think I'll stay this year, since Mike didn't POOP in my car last year.

     At the March 6th breakfast there were 18 attendees; Hutch, Dickie, Phil, Steve & Michie, Judy, Herm, Jim Roberts, Don & Kathleen, Marius and son Will (visiting from California), Tom Jenny (down from Ormond Beach), the Tampa contingent consisting of Jack "90" Knotts and Jim & Mary Hyder, and yours truly with son Brian. It was like a mini reunion and everyone enjoyed the morning. Too bad we don't know in advance when people plan to join us from afar; otherwise we could try to plan something more for the day or weekend.

     Hutch advised me that I goofed when I gave him a plug regarding his new line of work. According to his card (which I couldn't find before), he is with Showcase Properties & Investments, not Heritage Realty. If anyone is in need for real estate in the area, they can get in touch with either Hutch or Gary Clark now. That is unless you have your own favorites. Hutch can be reached at his office, 321-690-0700. By the way, don't misspell his last name or he will kill you - Hutchison?

     The Navy League is having get together to support the Marines who will be in Port Canaveral, Thursday the 18th. Hopefully some of us who are members will be able to attend this function. The annual Navy Submarine Birthday Ball will also be held on Saturday, April 10th. This is a formal occasion and some of us will probably attend that celebration also.

     Video producer, Mika Lentz's documentary about the Ravens was shown as scheduled on Discovery Times (Discovery and New York Times) Channel March 9th at 8 pm and replayed at 11 pm and 4 am. It was re-aired March 10th at 7 am, 12 pm and 3 pm. That's six showings in two days, and guess what, I missed it! I only hope someone was able to tape it or that maybe it will be shown again sometime in the future. Hope so.

     Well, that's all I have for this report. We'll be at the Island BBQ this coming Saturday. Cheers.

Walt and Kim

DDMBC

January 31 thru February 18, 2004

Before I get into the periodic DDMBC letter, I’d like to remind everyone that Nevada Senator Reid is having a press conference in Las Vegas, March 15-16, to announce introduction of legislation for Air America civil service status.  Quite a few folks from this area are planning to attend this event and along with the Nevada group and others, there should be enough for a mini-reunion.  Anyone interested in attending or learning more about this event should contact Ward Reimer, Jesse Walton or Judy Porter.  Arrangements are being made for discount hotel rates and the more attendees, the better the rate.  So if you can’t wait or can’t make the June reunion, this is a good chance get together with some of your old buddies.   

We had Herm, Dickie, Dick, Maury Meisner, Ben & Kippy Densley, Steve and Michie, Phil Peyton, Judy, Bruce Burke with friends Tom & Emma Kravis, and me at the February 7^th breakfast.  Turns out that Tom had flown for Air America between 1968 and 1974 and was stationed in Vientiene and also Saigon for a short time.  He had also flown with SAT out of Miami. Tom & Emma are headed for NC where he will be flying helicopters as a “water bomber pilot”.  Our snowbird member, Bruce Burke, advised that he and wife would return to NY State on Wednesday, February 11^th. 

At the February 14^th breakfast there were 11 attendees; Hutch, Dickie, Dick Ford, Steve, Judy, Herm, Jim Roberts, Maury, Ben & Kippy, and yours truly.  Marius & Vinetra Burke were still in route on their way back from Bangkok.  They arrived home late Saturday night.   

Don Clair has been absent for several weeks now due to illness.  He advised he would not be able to be at breakfast for a few more weeks.  We all send our prayers to Don and hope he will recover and be able to join us for Saturday breakfast soon.   

On Tuesday, February 17^th, we had a going away dinner party at the Olive Garden Restaurant for Dick Ford.  It was attended by Marius, Judy, Steve & Michie, Dickie, Hutch, Ben & Kippy, me, and of course, the guest of honor Dick.  It was enjoyable and the food was pretty good.  At the end, several food servers came out and sang a lullaby for Dick.  Of course, Dick claimed he couldn’t hear.  But it turned out nice anyway.  Marius took Dick to the airport the 18^th, and I would guess he’s secluded in his warm “Hutch” for the rest of the Eden Prairie, Minnesota winter.  Our next visitor from the “Hinterland” is Bob McCormick who is due in on the 19^th.    

Hutch wanted me to remind everyone that he is now employed selling real estate.  I lost his card, but think he’s with Heritage.  So anyone needing real estate in the area can get in touch with Hutch or Gary Clark now.  That is unless you have your own favorites.  

The Navy League is having recognition get together Friday the 20^th in Satellite Beach, which is about 10 miles south of here.  Several of us plan to attend this function.  Quite a few of the DDMBC members have joined the Navy League and at least one of our members is a board member for the local chapter.  We have a special on memberships for anyone interested.  Let us know and we’ll get you an application.  

Video producer, Mika Lentz’s documentary about the Ravens has been posted on the Raven web site.  This documentary, “The Ravens: Covert War in Laos” is scheduled to air on Discovery Times (Discovery and New York Times) Channel March 9^th at 8 pm.  It will be replayed at 11 pm and 4 am.  On March 10^th, it will re-air at 7 am, 12 pm and 3 pm.  That is six showings in two days!  I hope you will catch the premier at 8 pm or at least one of the repeats.  Please note that Discovery Times is an upper cable channel; it might be known as Discovery Civilization on your cable box.  If you only have basic cable or no cable, you cannot get the channel.  Please find a friend with digital cable or equivalent and plan to view the program at their home. I have Digital Cable and Discovery Times is channel 143 for this area. 

Well, that’s all I have for this report.  We’ll be at the Island BBQ this coming Saturday.   Cheers.

 Walt and Kim

DDMBC

January 10 thru January 24, 2004

We had several Air America Association VIP’s visit for the January 10^th breakfast.  Jack Knotts, Jim and Mary Hyder and Terry Turner were over from the Tampa area and Jesse Walton, Marko Island, was visiting George & Boon Benolken.  Stash Waite also came up from Stuart, Florida.  Regulars in attendance included Hutch, Marius and brother Bruce, Judy, Phil Peyton, Steve & Michie, Ben & Kippy, Herm, Dickie and me.  John Elbin also paid us a visit; he doesn’t come that often, so it’s always a pleasure to see him.  It was a good turnout and a good crowd. The Tampa group has come over several times now and we really enjoy their company.  After breakfast, the Tampa group followed Judy’s to her new condo for a look see. 

We had breakfast of January 17^th at the Cozy Corner Café again and 18 people showed.  However, our beloved Dickie continues his boycott in favor of the Island BBQ and his girlfriend “Shorty”.  It’s too bad, because he missed an excellent tour of Reed Knight’s internationally famous gun collection.  Steve showed up with Bob Moore, who was in the area.  Bob left during breakfast.  Boyd and Claire Mesecher were up from Hollywood, Florida visiting with Kim & me for the weekend.  Stash Waite came up from Stuart and brought along an old Friend, Barbara Stoner.  Barbara is the widow of Eugene Stoner, designer of the M-16 and many other guns.  His guns were the main collection at the gun tour most of us went to later.  Jim Roberts drove over from Orlando.  Marius was there with brother Bruce, down from New York.  Others who showed were Herm, Judy, Maury Meisner, Ben & Kippy with grandson Benjamin, and Liz Hartman.  It was Liz’s first breakfast in quite awhile and everyone was happy to see her.  Hopefully, she’ll be able to join us more often.

 After breakfast, Steve, Boyd, Marius, Bruce, Ben, Kippy, Benjamin, Maury and I followed Stash and Barbara up to The Knight Armament Company at 701 Columbia Boulevard, Titusville, FL 32780 for a tour of the manufacturing facility and Reed Knight’s gun collection.  Reed and his VP-COO, Gary Perry, gave us a brief rundown of the manufacturing operation, which is rather unique.  They can manufacture guns one day and reprogram their machines instantly to switch over to some other product; bicycles, etc.  They purchased the property from Boeing a year ago and are operating on a one-shift schedule.  They also have a plant in Vero Beach, Florida, which will eventually be shut down when the Titusville plant is in full operation. After the briefing, we were given a tour of the manufacturing facility and then taken to a huge room which contained over 1,000 guns, neatly displayed on the four walls and on the floor within the room.  The collection included guns from major gun manufacturers both here and abroad.  Reed walked us through the collection and told stories about the various models, how they evolved and how he came to acquire them.  We were there around 2 hours and believe me, we all found it most interesting and would have stayed longer except that Reed and Gary had other commitments and had to cut it short.  When we did leave, Gary mentioned that should we be interested in having  another tour, we can contact him and make arrangements.  Our thanks to Reed, Gary and especially Stash for setting everything up.

Since we were next door to the TI-CO Airport, some of us decided to visit Dr. Paul Vasconi at the C-123 facility.  Steve, Marius, Bruce, Boyd, Maury and I went there and they seem to be making some progress on the original C-123 they salvaged from TI-CO and also have another C-123 purchased more recently, which is already flyable.  Paul explained that progress is slow because of funding.  They have considered applying for a grant, but so far haven’t.  Marius may give a hand in this area.  After getting Paul’s briefing, we all went our separate ways.  Later, I took Boyd and Claire to visit Judy’s new condo.  They got to meet Ed Burke, Marius’s son, who is doing some work for Judy.  Judy’s place is right on the Indian River across from the Kennedy Space Center.  It has an excellent view for launches from KSC.  In fact, you can watch the Shuttle from liftoff.   As mentioned in my last letter, Judy now has a very nice Motor Home on the market, in case anyone may be interested.  Now we have to get Tom Jenny moved into the area so he doesn’t have to drive 70 miles drive to join us for breakfast.  

Dick Ford arrived in the area January 21^st to spend a few months; he’s presently staying at the Burke’s home.  Dick was also in time for the Navy League’s annual installation of Officers’ dinner meeting held at Patrick AFB Officer Club.  Others in the DDMBC group attending were Don and Kathleen Claire, Kim & me, Judy, Herm and Marius, who was installed as a director with the Navy League.  The guest speaker was retired Admiral Pickavance, now the VP United Space Alliance at Kennedy Space Center.  

At our January 24^th breakfast we had 21 people show up; Geza Eiler was in town from Columbia, Judy, Herm, me, Dickie, Phil Peyton, Maury & Emma Meisner, Don, Marius, Dick Ford, Hutch, Tom Jenny, Steve & Michie with friends Ann, Jerry & Nora Worley, Bruce Burke brought along an old friend, Bob Auchenbaugh, who was visiting from New York and Gary Clark, who brother Herb was shot down while flying a C-46 for Air America.  Gary is a Real Estate agent in the area in case anyone is interested in moving here.   

Video producer, Mika Lentz’s documentary about the Ravens has been posted on the Raven web site.  This documentary, The Ravens: Covert War in Laos is scheduled to air on the Discovery and New York

Times Channels March 9th at 8pm.  It will be replayed at 11pm and 4am.  On March 10th, it will re-air at 7am, 12pm, and 3pm. That is six showings in two days!  I hope to be able to catch the premiere at 8pm or at least one of the repeats.   Please note that Discovery Times is an upper cable channel.  It might be known as Discovery Civilization on your cable box.  If you only have basic cable or no cable, you will not be able to watch the program.   Please find a friend with cable and plan to view the program at their house.

Well, that’s all I have for this report.  We’ll be at the Island BBQ next Saturday.   Cheers.

 Walt and Kim 

DDMBC

December 10, 2003 thru January 3, 2004

The Brevard Veterans Council had their Christmas Party, Wednesday, December 10^th at the Veterans Memorial Center.  Festivities started at 10 am with the Call to Order. Presentation of Colors was performed by the Cocoa High School JRROTC.  The Invocation was given by Chaplain Nevin Snyder, followed by the Pledge and Introduction of Color Guard by Paul Spescia.  Minutes of the last meeting were read by Fran Baker and the Treasurer’s Report was given by Emma Meisner.  After the meeting was adjourned, the Hot Cocoa Quartet entertained us with Big Band Music & Jazz Sounds from the 40’s & 50’s.  Hazel Toomey, Judi Josepas, Jerry Horowitz and Joyce Morin make up this quartet, and believe me, they area entertainers.  The music brought back memories of my youth and they sang songs I hadn’t heard in over fifty years.  Very, Verry, Verrry enjoyable group.  In fact, I enjoyed the music so much that I bought their Christmas CD.  After the entertainment we ate, and quite a feast it was.  The $7 per head was a real bargain.  The DDMBC was well represented by Marius (and guest, Rob Zwink), Judy, Herm, Don Claire & his sister Kathleen, Steve & yours truly.  Thought of the week – The difference between beer nuts and deer nuts is that beer nuts are a buck and deer nuts are always under a buck.

 At the December 13 breakfast, we had 13 guest that included Judy, Steve & Michie, Don & Kathleen Clair, Dickie, Herm, Walt, Marius, Jim Roberts, Buz Pheasant and Betty and Rob Zwink.  Hutch also dropped by, but got an emergency call and left right away.  Ben Densley hasn’t shown for several weeks and Dickie advised that he had gone into some sort of business with his brother Dave.  Understand they are promoting and selling some sort of golf game that teaches you how to play golf.  Good Luck Ben.  Speaking of golf, understand Marius and Rob squared off against Dickie and John Elben.  They were doing OK until Marius blew it on the 18^th.  Oh Well.  This weeks thought – Men find it difficult to make eye contact with women since breasts don’t have eyes.

 Our breakfast of December 20^th at the Cozy Corner was very enjoyable, and everyone was very happy with the food and service.  Due to Christmas though many folks were out of the area and e only had ten show up; Marius came with his son Ed, Steve, Don Claire with his sister Kathleen, Judy Porter, Tom Jenny and Kim and I.  Dickie showed up to join us for coffee as he had a date with Shorty at Island BBQ.  We did have a bit of a problem when we first arrived as it appears that there was another party occupying the banquet area and they had booked under the name “Walt” also.  The owner was really confused when I and the other “Walt” called on Friday to confirm our reservations; his group for 8 AM and ours for 10 AM.  I called George on Friday to give George (Owner) a count and confirming time of 10 AM.  He argued at that time that it was 8 not 10, but I finally convince him.  Then apparently, an hour or so later, the other “Walt” calls and this really blew the owner’s mind.  Later on, I reconfirmed and almost had to argue with George to convince him the time was 10 and not 8 AM.  When Kim and I arrived for breakfast the next morning, the owner was completely faked out and his only comment was “Oh Shit, I Fxxxxd Up!”  However, the other group was about to leave, and we just filled in after them, so everything worked out.  George promised never to take reservations by first name (only) again.  We plan to go back to the Island BBQ next week, but will probably reserve the room in the Cozy Corner for certain future events; perhaps for January 17^th. 

 Judy closed on her new condominium on the 19^th, so you can imagine how happy she must have been after all the searching she’s done over the past several months.  In fact, after breakfast on the 20^th, most everyone followed her to Titusville to see the new home.  Judy now has a very nice Motor Home on the market, in case anyone may be interested.  Now we have to get Tom Jenny into a nice place in this area so he doesn’t have to make that 70 mile drive whenever he gets the urge to join us for breakfast.  We’re expecting Dick Ford to be in the area soon to spend a few of the winter months, but nothing firm on that. 

 Our last breakfast of 2003 was held December 27^th and a great crowd showed up; Don & Kathleen, Jim Roberts, Marius, Judy, Larry Fraser with his son David, Geza Eiler, Herm Jackson, Steve & Michie, Ben & Kippy, Harold “Catfish” Manecke, Dickie and me with  son Brian.  It was the first time that Ben & Kippy had joined us in quite awhile.  Hope to have them back more often.  For many of us, it was the first time meeting David Fraser, and most those who did know him hadn’t seen him since SEA days.  He’s an impressive young man with the ruggedness of his dad and good looks of his mother.  “Catfish” hadn’t been around for some time either, so it was good seeing him also.  My son Brian was in town from Tallahassee and since he hadn’t been to one of our breakfast gatherings for some time, he decided to join us.  Brian knows many of our group and enjoyed seeing and talking with them.  

 Stash Waite is arranging for our group to see Reed Knight’s private gun collection in Titusville on January 17.  As mentioned previously, this gun collection is in the 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.  Stash will arrange a group tour for those of us interested in seeing the collection.  Stash plans to bring Reed to our breakfast that Saturday and then we can all head up to see the collection afterwards.  From Stash’s directions, I’m not sure where the place is, but perhaps we can locate it over the next couple weeks and put out a map, just in case.  Judy is living in that area now and maybe she can help.  I feel we should have a pretty good turnout for that week, so I will try to reserve the banquet room in the Cozy Corner again.  That will hold up to 24 people.  It would be appreciated if you all could let me know if you’ll make it so we can give the restaurant manager a headcount for his planning.  E-mail at wranallo@cfl.rr.com or phone me at 321-452-3454; leave a message if I don’t answer. 

 We had a very good breakfast turnout on January 3^rd.  Geza brought Suzanne who hadn’t joined us in ages.   The two of them sat with Herm and Steve & Michie, who brought along their friends Anne and Jerry.  Phil Payton was back from Georgia and he sat a table with Dickie, Ben and Larry, who brought along his daughter-in-law, Elana, and granddaughter, Karina.   Maury Meisner, who just came off a cruise brought his lovely bride, Emma, and sat with Don Claire, Marius and me.  It was a nice group and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.  Maury had a book full of articles about Air America that he has been putting together for the Veteran’s Memorial Center Museum on Merritt Island.  He is looking for information about the history of Air America. The Veterans Memorial Center plans to have an Air America display in their museum.  Anyone wishing to provide artifacts or informational articles about Air America for the museum is requested to contact Maury direct at 321-243-3587 or e-mail him at cocoakyme@juno.com.  You can also pass any items through either Marius Burke or me and we’ll make sure Maury gets them. 

 Sick Call:  Quite a few people came down with either bad colds or the flu over the holidays.  This included Michie, Herm and my wife, Kim.  There were probably others, but I’m not award of them. 

 Well, that’s all I have for this report.  We’ll be at the Island BBQ next Saturday, but Kim and I may be in St. Petersburg to visit my brothers.   Cheers.

 Walt and Kim

Photographs from the Brevard Veteran Council Museum

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Air America Association - 1913 Coralino Drive ~ Henderson, NV 89074