Reunion 2003
By Gary D. Harrington
 

Fort Bragg, NC.
Fighting Fifteenth
Fort Bragg Boogie

This reunion started with a sad note, our hosts Ray & Vandy Gatti had a death in the family and were unable to attend the reunion, but their expert planning and attention to detail, lent to a fascinating, rewarding and memorable reunion for all that attended. Our heart filled thinks and blessing are extended to the entire Gatti family.

Reunion 2003 was held at the Fayetteville Holiday Inn on Cedar Creek Road just off I-95 and a short way from down town Fayetteville and Fort Bragg. My Wife and I arrived at around four in the evening and checked into our room. It was a spaces suite with a living room and a bedroom attached, a very countable and relaxing accommodation. The wife was tired after the long trip and wanted to rest up and refresh herself, so I wondered down to the Hospitality Room. Stepping inside was like old home week, there were so many familiar faces. This being the fourth reunion for me, I’ve gotten to know most of the people that have attended in the past and have formed endearing friendships with them. This includes the wives. The wives have become an intricate part of the reunion experience and I was looking forward to sharing this experience for the first time with my wife.

She made it to the Hospitality Room in time for introduction to the people she had been hearing about all these years. Then we headed to the Cracker Barrel Restaurant for the evening meal. We all sat at a long table and wondered at how Tom “Hawk” Griffin had mastered the peg game. The small board game with golf Tees stuck in holds in a demand shape. You jump each pace and win only if one pace is left. Hawk admitted he purchased one and had spent hours at home practicing the game. I sat next to our founder Bob Donnan. Besides the 15th Artillery Association, Bob has been instrumental in many Veterans activates in the Pittsburg area. Bobs a great guy and a caring person.

After dinner we when back to the Hospitality Room for a night cap and good nights for the wife and I were worn out after the long trip and need a good nights sleep.

I was up early and joined Roy Everhart for breakfast. I had known Roy in Vietnam and although he had been trying for years, this was his first reunion. It’s always enjoyable to see the reactions and wonderment of those attending a reunion for the first time. It’s as if one has returned home after a long absence. After breakfast we all gathered to board the Bus that would take us to Fort Bragg, and this is where we were interdicted to Caption Deon Young, Liaison Officer for the 18th Corps Artillery. Captian Young was to be our host and became our friend and guide thought this experience. The Bus took us far out on the firing range to the end of the paved road, from there we were transported by cattle truck down the bouncy dirt trails to the Bivouac Pont. This brought back memories, with its sandy soil and transcending shades of green. Here we were introduced to “MRE’s”, which stands for Meals, Ready-to-Eat, the Today's Army equivalent to C-Rations, they come in a light brown plastic bag and you just add water.

The ground rumbled to the distant drone of diesel engines as the HIMAR rocket launcher moved into position. The officer in charge explained the firing instruction on how the rocket would be guided by radio satellite to it target point. He gave the command and his orders were relayed to the rocket system. With a thunderous roar the rocket spend off into space, leaving behind a cloud of smoke and dust that filled the air and thickened the throat. “There nothing like the smell of napalm in the morning!”

It was great to see the solders of today's Army at work, with them you could fell a sense of pride and commitment that will see us though these troubled times. We were again loaded onto the cattle truck and transported back to our waiting bus. Next we were treated to lunch and one of the Armies modern day Mess Halls. It was more like a Cafeteria. The food was actually very good and there was a salad bar and desert bar. The Army has come a long way since I was last at Fort Bragg in 1968.

After lunch we were given a static display of some of the field cannon and rocket artillery systems used by the US Army today. The technology is astounding and the training, discipline, and moral of the young solders is inspirational.

Saturday began with a Memorial Service in the meeting room and as the ladies left for a shopping tour at Fayetteville's, Cross Creek Mall, the members of the 15th Artillery Association conducted it’s general meeting. It was decided that the next reunion would be held at Fort Drum NY in two years, more will be posted on this in the Newsletter and on the web site. After the meeting and a quick lunch we again boarded a bus and were taken to the Airborne & Special Operations Museum. A part of the U.S. Army Museum System, the museum tells the story of the Army airborne and special operations units from their 1940 origin and movement to the Fayetteville area in March of 1942, through the present.

After our return to the Hotel we had time for a short nap and then freshen up. The Social Hour began with a cash bar by the pool, then to the banquet hall. The Colors were posted and dinner served. After dinner we were entertained by the soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Chorus. This was an outstanding performance by a group of young soldiers who sang and dance thier way into our hearts. This was followed by a talk about today’s Army by Brigadier General Mark T. Kimmitt of the 18th Corps Artillery. As Sergeant Tom “Hawk” Griffin put it. “The Army has change a lot, but it looks like today's soldiers are doing a fine job. I can’t believe that we were that young when we enlisted.”

My wife and I said our goodbyes early as we had a long trip in the morning, but we would like to thank our hosts Ray & Vandy Gatti one more time and we hope to see you at Fort Drum.

 

REUNION 
OF THE 7th BATTALION
ARTILLERY
FORT SILL OKLAHOMA
By Gary D. Harrington


Reunion  2001 7th/15th Artillery, Fort Sill, OK.

     This has been my third reunion with the 7th Battalion, 15th Artillery and each has been a totally different and unique experience.

     Having missed the very first reunion, my first one was at Fort Campbell in Clarksville, TN.  Being my first, it was the most emotional one -- not having seen or heard from any of these people for almost 25 years and not knowing what to expect.

     But my fears and uncertainties were soon laid to rest when I found my old gun sergeant, Tom Griffin. Tom had been a career soldier and commanded the first gun I served on.  He had been my mentor and inspiration during my first few months of combat experience.

     Then there was Bob Payton.  Bob was a quiet and reserved young man back when we had been on the gun.  But he was the kind of guy that was always there to lend a hand and do his part and a pleasure to serve with.

      It was at this reunion that I was also to meet Bob Donnan.  Bob had started the Reunion Association -- beginning with just a list of names he had brought home from the war and spending many hours on the telephone and looking through old army files and records.

      His hard work had paid off when he held the first reunion in his
hometown of Pittsburgh, PA.  There had only been a hand full of guys at that very first one, but with their hard work and persistence the number had almost tripled by this second reunion.

      It was also in Clarksville that I first met David Holdorf.  Davo, as he likes to be called, had been a mechanic with C Battery.  It was at this reunion that he had gotten the "fever", as he likes to call it, and took over the Reunion Association Newsletter for Bob -- and started to help with the
monumental task of searching for those that had served with the unit during its five years in Vietnam.

      There was also Norman Forsythe, who was to be thanked for hosting this second reunion.  Big Daddy, as he likes to be called, brought the unit over and held it together that first year in Vietnam.

      Dan Gillotti also joined the team as Association Historian.  Dan had gone over with Big Daddy, and after completing a career in the Army had dedicated his time to chronicling the history of the Artillery in Vietnam

      It was there, too, that I met Chuck and Susie Alexander.  They were to host the next reunion in Louisville, Kentucky.  The reunion in Louisville was even larger.

      With its tour of Fort Knox, and the hospitality of the City of
Louisville, there were many more old friends to meet and new friendships to form.

      It was here, (at the third reunion (my second)) that I met with Bill and Juanita Goombi.  Bill, a Native American from Oklahoma, served with me in B Battery in 1969.  Also, there was Pete Peterson who was the gunner on gun one.

      "The Family" was growing.

      It was decided on, at the Association meeting, that the next reunion would be at Fort Sill and hosted by Luis and Virginia Cantu.  It was a good choice and over the next three years the Association would spend endless hours looking for lost members, starting a website and branching out to
include all those that served with the 15th Artillery from World War I until the present day.

      About a year before the Fort Sill reunion, I was to experience my first mini-reunion.  I received an Email from a guy named Ron Joseph.  The name, at first, did not ring a bell; we mostly used nicknames over there, and I wouldn't have remembered him by name.  So I asked him if he had a photo.  
He replied that he had one on a web site, Mong-Boys, and gave me the information I needed to look it up.  And there he was, I had pictures in  my photo album of us at LZ North English.  I had even written about him in my book -- A Time of Innocence:  A Time of Confidences -- about how we had been caught taking a can of soda from the battery ice chest late one night -- although the soda had been paid for, they still tried to reprimand us, but we proved our innocence and they let us go.

      I sent Ron a copy of the book.  Ron had told me that he remembered very little about Vietnam except for me -- because I had been the first one to befriend him.  The guy he had replaced had been wounded in action and the impact of that had made the guys on his gun crew reluctant to form a new friendship in fear that this would happen again.  We made arrangements to call each other on the phone, then spent about an hour talking.  Ron only lived about a hundred miles away from my house so we set up a date, and he
and his wife, Cindy, came on over.  I pulled out my slides of Vietnam and we
relived old times.

            About a month later, Ron called and agreed to come along with me to the reunion at Fort Sill, so we contacted the 15th Artillery Association and began to make plans.  About a month or so later we heard from a Captain Duane Geisen.  Captain Geisen had taken over B Battery after Captain Hunter and he too remembered very little about the war.  So he arranged to meet with Ron (because he would be visiting his sons who were living in the same town as Ron) -- and from there more plans were made to meet at the reunion.

      Ron agreed to drive -- and he would come by my house a couple of days early so we could put my slides onto a video tape that we could share with the others at the reunion.  So we had a good time playing with the video equipment and visiting.  

      The day before we were to leave I received a phone call from Dr. Janet White-Mountain.  Janet's husband Michael Mountain had passed away the year before the reunion and she had wanted him to go.  So she prepared a Memorial
Book in addition to his photo album for me to take along so he would be represented at the reunion.  This I gladly agreed to do.

               
               Lt. Michael Mountin at LZ Blackhawk

      So Ron and I set off on the morning of June 27, after loading the video, memorabilia of the Vietnam War, and the Memorial Book for Michael Bruce Mountain LTC, USA, (RET).

      The reunion wasn't to start until the next morning so we drove through to Wichita Falls, Texas about 50 miles from Fort Sill and set in for the night.  The next day we woke early.  Clean and refreshed we set off for our journey to the past.  We arrived around 10 AM at Allin Hall and checked into
our rooms.  Then, it was Up to the Hospitality Room to renew old friendships and begin new ones.

      The Hospitality Room was on the third floor of Allin Hall, part of Fort Sill Lodging Complex, a hotel on Fort Sill that accomodated military and civilian guests to the post.  The Hospitality Room was just off the elevator and Luis and Virginia Cantu, our hosts, had prepared it as a reception area where we signed in and received our name tags and goody bag (with maps of the Fort Sill area and information on attractions, restaurants, and places of interest).  They had graciously prepared a table with snacks and beverages.  
There was a room off to the side, where guys who had brought their photo albums and memorabilia could display them.  I put out the stuff I had brought and the Memorial Book for Lieutenant Mountain, A Battery 7/15th Artillery.  Then, I went to get me a cold one and talk to old friends.

      The first ones I see are old Sergeant Griffin and his wife Suzy.  It's always good to see the old Sarge.  Captain Hunter and his wife Birgit were there, as well as Bill and Juanita Goombi.  Bill told me the sad news that Bob Payton had ended his own life sometime around last Christmas.  Bill had
been talking with Paul Battaglia, who heads up Point Man International Ministries, and acts as our reunion Chaplain.  I told Paul about the Memorial Book for Lieutenant Mountain and we took some time to rmember those that were no longer with us or sick and unable to attend.

      BobDonnan was there and quite proud of this being the "4th" reunion since starting them ten years ago with about ten guys -- this one having more than One Hundred.  Dave Holdorf told me that he'd like to get someone else to do the Newsletter so he could have more time to search for guys that had served in the unit for the next reunion.

      Captain Geisen and his wife Donna came in.  It was interesting to see him and Captain Hunter together, Captain Geisen having taken over command of B Battery from Captain Hunter.  Since the unit stayed in Vietnam for five or
six years -- with the change of command every six months, so went the history and caricature of the unit.

      We got a group together and decided to meet and go out for dinner around 5 PM.  The day had passed quickly for there had been so many people to meet and so many stories to tell and hear.  So about 4:30, I returned to my room to shower and change, then went to the lobby to wait for the others.   While there, I struck up a conversation with a young man who had asked me about my name tag.  It seems he was a Wespoint Cadet and was at Fort Sill for summer assignment and was interested in the Vietnam War and the part the Artillery played in it.  And through this conversation, I could see the importance of this reunion as more than just a meeting of old friends, but a way of conveying and passing on our part in history

      After everybody had gathered, the Goombi's being native Oklahomans, led the way.  We were going to a place called Meers Store and Restaurant and it was way out by the Whichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.  The Goombi's took
the scenic route and I rode with Sergeant Griffin and Suzy.  Sergeant Griffen kept insisting there was shorter way, having been there before.  But, the ride was beautiful, with its winding roads and piercing mountains, reminiscent of Vietnam's Central Highlands.  The restaurant was a hodgepodge of buildings at the foot of a mountain that seemed to be a part of a bygone era.  The specialty was good old fashioned Bar BQ.  The food was wonderful and the conversation delightful and the ride back faster taking Sergeant Griffin's shortcut.



      After returning to Allin Hall and taking a short nap, I returned to the Hospitality Room where I ran into Bob Donnan.  Bob introduced me to Ronald B. Frankum, Ph.D. of Texas Tech University Vietnam Archive.  The Texas Tech University Board of Regents established The Vietnam Center in 1989.  Its principal function is to encourage study of all aspects of the American Vietnam experience.  The holdings of the Vietnam Archive include a variety of subjects related to the political, military, cultural, social and economic
nature of the Vietnam War.  Along with a collection of documents and memorabilia related to the Vietnam War, are the collective experience of those affected by the war and its aftermath.  They employ a full-time Oral Historian to collect oral histories from veterans and others whose lives
paralleled the War in Vietnam.  For more information, you can call (806) 742-9010. Website: www.ttu.edu/vietnam

      Friday morning, 29 June, 0800.  We loaded onto the buses for our tour.  Ron and Captain Geisen stayed behind to play a few rounds of golf.  The first stop was the Old Post Quadrangle to attend a retirement ceremony.  This was done with real military flair and style.  Lead by the Fort Sill Marching Band, the soldiers of today's Army passed in review, followed by the Fort Sill Half Section, the Army's last horse-drawn field Artillery unit.  And with the distant sound of Artillery on a far off firing range, those that had served our country were honored.  Many of those among our group had already served this distinguishment and one could see a sense of pride about them.

      Our next stop was to see the Artillery of today.  These systems were high tech and modern with improved speed of firing and propulsion.  But, it was the men behin the guns, who have carried on the tradition of "Artillerymen" that impressed me most.

      That brings me to our next stop.  The Guns and Rocket Cafe -- what we used to call the Mess Hall, is now a dining facility, with an assortment of good food and comfortable seating areas -- a far cry from the box of "C" Rations and "Sandbag" that we had in Vietnam.  But today's Army has a renewed sense of professionalism that I felt we lacked during the Vietnam War.

      After lunch we were off to the Fort Sill Museum.  There, we strolled among rows of old cannons dating back to the First World War and on each I could picture a gun crew, now long gone.  And at the end of the walk was The Pride of America, a 175 mm self-propelled howitzer -- the kind we of the 7/15th fired in Vietnam.  There we paused for one last look and to touch our own past for one last fleeting minute.

      We boarded the bus one more time, and were transported back to the time when buffalo roamed the plains.  The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, a 59,020-acre reserve set aside by President William McKinley in 1901, is now teeming with buffalo, elk and prairie dogs.  We returned to Allin Hall, tired yet invigorated by all we had seen and done.

      That night, I stayed up in the Hospitality Room until almost one o'clock in the morning just listening to the stories -- one person would start it and another would finish it.  Stories of long ago yesterdays would come alive again through rekindled memories and take on the image of a hologram as one teller would relate his part of the event.

      Saturday, 30 June, 0900.  Bleary eyed, I made my way to the Observation Post Restaurant.  This was on the first floor of Allin Hall, as was my room.  I found a cup of coffee and made my way to a table to sit with Sergeant Griffen and Captain Hunter.  

      It was time to start the meeting.  Paul Battaglia gave us a splendid sermon on how we as Vietnam Veterans had stood in a time of great opposition and had defended an unpopular cause -- and for this, perhaps history will look upon us as true patriots.  Then he asked us to remember those that fell
for this cause.  We read the list of names of those that fell in the line of duty and we remembered those that have passed on since.  Bill Goombi stood and remembered Bob Payton and I remembered Michael Bruce Mountain for his wife and comrades.

      Next, we voted to keep the Association "informal" -- as opposed to a large, formal organization.  I think, as Vietnam Veterans, we tend to shy away from large, formal organizations and trust in the power of the individual.  But this meant that somebody would have to help take over some
of the duties.  So I volunteered to take over the Newsletter from Davo so he could spend more time searching for "lost survivors".

      We also voted to hold the next reunion in two years instead of three as we are all getting older and would like to meet again while we're all still around.  And we voted that the next reunion would be at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and hosted by Ray and Vandy Gatti.

      We Hope You Plan To Attend!

      That evening we held our Banquet.  The colors were presented by the Buffalo Soldiers, an organization, started by a group of guys like us, who got together for their own reunion.  And now that they are all gone, their "tradition" is being carried on by their descendants.

      We took time to thank Luis & Virginia for their kindness and hospitality, Davo for his steadfastness, Bob Donnan for starting the whole thing, and all the others for making this the memorable event that it was.

      That night we said our good byes and hopes to meet again in two years at Fort Bragg.

      At 0600, 1 July, Ron and I loaded up his car and headed home.  But we will always remember the home of the Field Artillery.

      For more information on the 7/15th Artillery see our Website at
      http://www.landscaper.net/reunions.htm

                        
 

 

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