OT...old memories brought back about military service

[donw]

the postings of the active thread about the 1st air cav jolted me.

piller made the statement about the CO he had in korea...the very same man (?) commanded div arty of the 2ad when i was in it at ft hood.

geeeee...

a few years ago, actually...quite a few...i picked up a 'parade' magazine and lo and behold, there on the front page was Maj Ivan Slavich...my former CO; he was being honored at the time for his daring-do of hitting seven hot LZ's in one day in the 'nam...i still have that article.

around the same time frame of the 'parade' article about Maj Slavich, a friend, fellow workman and fellow veteran of the 'nam, told me of a plt ldr in 'nam in the 9id (cookie cutter)...thaddeus t. black, who was KIA there...thaddues t. black had been the batt 1st sgt i was in at ft hood...

some things never go away...you never know when and where and why they may surface.

[BigSky56]

Don,its a small world you never know who or when. I got in touch with a gunner of mine 8 years ago and then 2 years ago he passed from cancer the VA said it was agent orange he was a grunt and WIA then posted to the air cav, RVN finally killed him. Maybe they will list him on the wall, danny

[jeepnik]

The small world thing never ceases to amaze me. A few years back, I stopped in at a gunsmith shop / indoor range. Did a bit of shooting and BSing. On another trip, I noticed the photo of an F-105 Wild Weasel. I ask the smith about it. It was the last squadron he had commanded. We were both at George AFB at the same time. But we knew we knew each other. We finally put it together. One night the vice commander of the squadron was killed in an auto accident at the main gate (one of too many). I had responded that night. We spent a couple of hours just talking, a bird colonel and an enlisted guy. He needed to talk, and I was an available ear. I hadn't seen him after that until that day. To add to the smallness, when my nephew was going to college, he worked on a small horse ranch for the fellow that took over command of the Weasels from him when they transitioned to Phantoms.