2007

 The Orlando Reunion was great, some even went to see Mickey.

We had 22 guys and 17 ladies attend.

The Friday evening dinner was superb everyone had a good time and had plenty to eat.

Some were even able to take some of the food back to the resort. Most everyone said it was the best steaks they have had.

Being picked up by the restaurants bus was a major plus.

If you are ever in Orlando try Charley's Steak House at 6107 So. Orange Blossom Trail .

The service was first class.

Saturday the ladies spent the morning at a Spa and returned to the resort looking like the queens that they are.

They have to be to let us guys stay at the resort and tell our  lies and embellish on our war stories.

The VHCMA  Saturday Evening Dinner/ Dance  was good. The food was good , not as good as Charley's though.

During the VHCMA Raffle found raiser Wendell Brooks did pretty well.

 He won a back pack full of goodies that he and his son Dallas had a ball going through.

Guess we are getting older most of us called it a night a little early.

However a few went to one of the pools and had a nice evening swim.

We had a few first timers for a reunion and they said they will be back.

It's a good time to make new friends and renew old friendships from years ago.

2006

I think this time, before we talk about the reunion, we should talk about the VHCMA (Vietnam Helicopter Crew members Association).  The reason I want to do this is because I realized that there was some confusion about the 117th and the VHCMA.  In some cases, people found it hard to separate the two organizations, so I want to take a little moment to clear up any misconceptions about 'us' and 'them'.

The first year that Jan and I went to the VHCMA reunion, there was no 117th AHCVA, it had not even been thought about.  We had a good time at the VHCMA reunion and the following year a couple of 117th members showed up at the VHCMA reunion.  Oscar Flores (117th in 69-70) asked me why we did not start a 117th organization.  Well, we talked about it for a while, then Jan converted my personal website to the company website, and the 117th elected officers.  The organization has just sort of grown on its own.  At each reunion, it seems there are more and more of us.  The VHCMA has graciously, free of charge, given us our own hospitality room.  Some of you have wondered why we have the reunion at this time of year.  It is because the 117th alone cannot afford to pay for their own hospitality room.  This is not the only benefit.  The VHCMA also secures rooms at a much cheaper rate than the 117th could because of their sheer numbers, numbers that we do not yet have.  So we all benefit from these two things, but also, if any of you went on the trip to the reservation this year, that was also arranged by the VHCMA, another benefit was the nice meal we had on Saturday night for a reasonable price.  All their hard work and the 117th reaps the benefits just by attending and enjoying their function.  A win/win situation for everyone.

This was the first year that the 117th decided to have a dinner of their own on Friday night.  Jan and I were well pleased with the way it worked out.  We hope that everyone who attended felt that it was worth the bus ride and the price for the meal.  From the feedback that we have had thus far, we will probably try to do something like that again, only next year in Orlando.

We arrived on Monday to a temperature of 110 degrees, it went to 115 during the week we were there, and Thursday evening it was 105 degrees at 10pm.   Jan and I went to dinner with Perry and Lila Apking Tuesday night, I don't remember what we did Wednesday night but come Thursday, I was sick, so Jan went off to dinner by herself with the group.  Come Friday, I was up and around and feeling a little better. 

We would like to thank several people for the part they played in the success of this years reunion.  First, a big THANKS to Tony Adolph for scouting out Monti's for us.  Tony lives in Phoenix but is in the National Guard and is gone a lot.  We were sorry that he was unable to attend the dinner with us.

Also, we want to thank Perry Apking for blessing our meals and for the invocation prior to the VHCMA business meeting Saturday afternoon and the VHCMA Saturday night Dinner/Dance.

Thanks to our President,  Bob Hamilton, for his Friday night pre-dinner speech. 

 We were also visited by two guys from D. CO RANGERS who the 117th supported in 1969 KEN  BUSSEY & wife Nancy and BRUCE SHERWOOD.

 

We also want to thank  those of you who attended this reunion who attended against all odds.  We know that people have busy lives and schedules, so we just want you to know that we appreciate the effort you made to be in attendance.  Thanks, Jan & Al Bennett

JUST SOCIALIZING

(just click on any picture to enlarge it)

Al & Jan Bennett		Bob & Willa Hamilton		Jim & Dee Watkins
	John Domino		Bill Cooper
Lori & Jack O'Malley		Taylor Phillips, neice - Bill Kayfus - Diana Heisi, neice		Bill Sulowski
	Bob & Belinda Garcia		Sharon & Bobby Paik
Carl & Rosie Norris		Dale & Alice Garber		Dave & Anne Holden
	Ed Sakihama		Emerson Brigham
Lee & Candy Malm		Jeff & Barbara Murawski		George DeSerres
	Mickey Hollars		Mike Skyer
Perry & Lila Apking		Ray & Jo Seale		Cooper with Walt & Rosalyn Atwood
	Wendel Brooks		Tom Pesnicak
Dave, Jr., Dave & Yolanda Sullivan				L-Bill Sulowski  R- Mitch Matsuoka
		GROUP SHOT

 

FRIDAY NIGHT 117TH ONLY - DINNER AT MONTI'S

Our bus		Hacienda turned restaurant		Seats about 700

 

 

SATURDAY MORNING, THE GARBER'S HAVE TO LEAVE

 

 

SATURDAY EVENING DINNER WITH VHCMA

 

MELBOURNE, FL 26th-30th of April 2006

     The 117th had another GREAT mini-reunion in Melbourne this year.   The Bennett's arrived somewhere shortly after midnight Tuesday night at the Wickham Park Rangers check in, but the Rangers had closed at 10pm, before our arrival.  Since we planned to sleep in our slide in camper on the back of our truck, it was perfect anyway.  We just snoozed until they opened the office the next morning.  We were able to snag the last four sites that were together for our group.  It so happened they were on the lake.  WONDERFUL! J

     The weather cooperated beautifully. There was a minor sprinkling of rain with no thunder or lightening late Wednesday afternoon. Not a problem because Boyscout (Al) and Bob (Wag) and a couple of others had put up a couple of nice adjoining tarp shelters. I'm sure it must have been hot because we all turned pink, but it was not uncomfortable or sticky because the wind was ever blowing to cool things down. The nights were very comfortable, no A/C needed.  Actually, we started putting on more clothing as the sun went down each night.

     The entertainment was exceptional, the Brevard Veterans have outdone themselves again.  There were several vendor choices to choose food from and the merchandise vendors were there as well.  Jan Bennett went to the Wall and made an etching for her cousin Rick who had lost a friend in Vietnam.

     We would like to apologize to Wendell Brooks because we failed to get a photo of him and his family.  Of all the people there, they really worked hard.  Wendell went to the docks Saturday and bought Mahi Mahi and cooked a superb fish fry for everyone on Saturday night.  IT WAS DELICIOUS! Thank you Wendell, Carmen and Dallas.

     Our days got sort of messed up what with the comings and goings of so many folks, so I may give a little wrong info, but hope not.  On Wednesday, Wendell came alone to set up their canopy and cook table.  Carmen was at home because Dallas was still in school. On Wednesday, Bob Wagner came in with his Kayak and fishing gear.  He enjoyed his trip down from Pennsauken, NJ immensely. Also on Wednesday, Tom Bynum came over from Orlando for a bit, but had to return home that evening.  JJ & Ellen Aretz came in from Montgomery, AL on Wednesday.

     JJ's brother Tom came in on Thursday with Neal from Destin, FL.  Neal was a childhood friend of Tom and JJ when they lived in Pennsylvania.  JJ was with the 334th UTC, Tom was with the 116th AHC, and Neal  was a Marine. The 334th was just across the flight line from the 117th RVN.  Al and JJ met about 1991 in Danielsville, GA at the LZ Friendly campout.

    Friday again brought us Tom Bynum (and Jack O'Malley from Chicago who Tom had picked up at the Orlando Airport).  They were delayed quite a bit by the fires that were raging about 20 miles from the campground.  Some of the roads were closed due to the fire.  Although this particular fire did not affect the campground, the last two did.  The campground lost a building and lot's of underbrush, but the damage was not extensive. 

     We were surprised by Chet and Peggy Fromm Saturday afternoon, they were not able to stay long, but we were very glad to see them. Early Saturday afternoon Tom Rose and his wife Mary came by to join us for the evening.  In the late afternoon, Joe Carlton and his wife Cathy dropped by to say hello.  They were camping on the other side of the campground with another group. 

     Tommy Phillips dropped by Saturday to say hello.  Tommy was with the 116th AHC also.

     We hope you enjoy the pictures - they were the combined effort of Jack O'Malley and Al Bennett.  Thank you Jack.

 

PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE ARETZ & WAGNER		BENNETT & BYNUM		BYNUM, ARETZ, WAGNER & BENNETT
	BYNUM, O'MALLEY, ROSE, WAGNER		ELLEN & JJ ARETZ		FLAGS PROUDLY DISPLAYED
JIM GILLYARD & BOB WAGNER		GILLYARD, BENNETT & WAGNER		L-R IN BACK: O'MALLEY, BYNUM, CARLTON, ROSE, BENNETT L-R IN FRONT: FROMM & WAGNER
	L-R BYNUM, AL & JAN BENNETT, TOMMY PHILLIPS SITTING, ELLEN ARETZ, BOB WAGNER AND BACK OF TOM ARETZ.		JIM GILLYARD		JOE & CATHY CARLTON, AL BENNETT & BOB WAGNER
JACK O'MALLEY		PHILLIPS & FROMM		BOB WAGNER
	BOB WAGNER		WAGNER, BENNETT & BYNUM

 

 

2005

OHIO RIVER LZ CHAPTER

VHPA

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY

We attended the Ohio River LZ VHPA Reunion which was held on Feb. 24-26, 2006 and we had a great time.  A couple of our 117th Pilots were also in attendance.  Bob Hamilton who is the past President of the Chapter, Keith Alleger and Dennis Gartland.

We stayed at The Campbell House, which was recently acquired by The Crowne Plaza.  It was a remarkable experience and quite unusual in it's design.  It resembled an antebellum style mansion, down to it's white exterior and black shutters and black wrought iron adornments. It was filled with stairwells, so many that one could have gotten lost. It was very interesting, historical and unique.  The food was EXCELLENT !  I believe I overheard someone say that they are a four or five star restaurant and we well believe it.  Their prices on lodging and food were overwhelmingly reasonable.  This was a very pleasurable stay.

On Saturday, we went on a tour, by bus, two buses actually.  We first went to the Buffalo Trace Distillery, pictures below, and then to lunch at a wonderful Italian restaurant.  I should have written down the name of it.  It was located in downtown Frankfort and I believe it was called Serafini's.  I would surely love their Lasagna recipe!  Another pleasurable experience.  Our lunchtime companions were Jay and Kathy McAlpine.  Although it was the first time we had met, we had a good visit with them.

After lunch, we toured the Ashford-Coolmore Stud Farm.  It was a beautiful and well taken care of facility. It was highly interesting in the fact that it takes so much human interaction and science to be sure of thoroughbred breeding.  The ownership of the farm is international.

When we arrived back at the hotel, it was time for the business meeting.  Once the business meeting was over, we had to start getting ready for the evenings festivities.  The dinner was an enjoyable, emotional success.

We would like to thank the Ohio River Chapter of the VHPA for extending this invitation to us.

We hope you enjoy the photos.  Jan & Al Bennett

THIS IS ONE OF THEIR TWO MAJOR AWARDS IN 2005	BOURBON BALLS ARE YUMMY !				WRAPPING BY HAND
BOTTLE CORKS				PACKING BY HAND
				AL & JAN BENNETT
	WATER TOWER		THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE DISTILLERY		OLD COPPER DISTILLER
	ASHFORD -  COOLMORE        STUD FARM
60 MILLION DOLLAR HORSE		THIS HORSE COMMANDS A $125,000.00 STUD FEE		AN OLD LOG CABIN ON THE PROPERTY
COMING INTO THE VIEWING/STUDDING BARN		THE ENTRANCE TO VIEWING/STUDDING BARN		BACK ENTRANCE TO STUDDING BARN
	WALKING TOWARD A STABLE		STABLE EXTERIOR		STABLE INTERIOR each stable houses 8 horses.
KENTUCKY IS A BEAUTIFUL STATE		WELL KEPT GROUNDS
	SATURDAY	EVENING	DINNER
	( AND PIX OF THE	MORNING AFTER)
L-R DENNIS GARTLAND - BOB HAMILTON - AL BENNETT - KEITH ALLEGER			KEITH TRYING ON HIS NEW 117TH HAT
		JAY McALPINE TALKING WITH JOE, OUR SPEAKER FOR THE EVENING			GAIL AND WILLA CATCHING SOME TUNES
SAYING GOODBYE TO FRIENDS				HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BOB AND WILLA'S DAUGHTER KARA
		OUR LAST BREAKFAST ON THE PREMISES

DeFUNIAK SPRINGS, FL.

NOVEMBER 05-07, 2005

    Al & Jan Bennett's house in FL

just click to enlarge the pix

Les Brusse & Al Bennett		Bob and Charlotte Donnenwirth		Larry Gruhn, Al Bennett, Les Brusse, Bob Donnenwirth
	Barry Nordlof, Les Brusse, Ray Seale
			Bob & Willa Hamilton
Willa Hamilton, Jo Seale, Jan Bennett & Ray Seale		Marsha Gruhn		Barry Nordlof, Les Brusse, Ray Seale
	Jan, Willa & Marsha
			Angie Brusse
Betty Nordlof				Tom Bynum & Al Bennett
		Tom Bynum

	Bob Hamilton		Sunday morning Chef Larry Gruhn
Jan Bennett & Willa Hamilton				Jan, Willa & Marsha
	Jo Seale		Ray Seale & Marsha Gruhn
Willa & Bob Hamilton            Jo Seale		Willa & Bob Hamilton		Willa Hamilton, Jo Seale      Jan Bennett, Ray Seale

San Antonio  June 23-26, 2005

There is only one response for the San Antonio reunion...WOW!  Please don't take our word for it, just ask any one of the men who attended the dinner at Major (Ret. Col. now) David and Mrs. Jane Jayne's house.   (see photo below)  Most of the wives tagged along, so we had a pretty large dinner party, and lots of good food and fun.  WE MISSED YOU!

(click on photos to enlarge)

ABE STICE	AL BENNETT	BILL MEELER	BOB BROWNE
BOB ELLIOTT	BOB HICKEY	BRITT KNOX	DALE GARBER
			**See Footnote at bottom of San Antonio reunion.
DAVE SULLIVAN	DAVID JAYNE	GENE WHITT	GEORGE DeSERRES

GLEN SCHNEIDER	JERRY ADCOCK	JERRY COLDREN	JIM WATKINS
KEN HAYWOOD	LARRY GRUHN	MIKE SKYER	OSCAR FLORES
PERRY APKING	RAY SEALE	RON COLEMAN	RON FIMAN
BILL KAYFUS	SKIP WHITEHILL	TOM BATHEY

		(click photos to enlarge)
Al Bennett - Joanie	Joanie deserves a big round of applause, as does her husband Mark, who took most of the dinner party pix you are going to be seeing,   They gave freely of their time and talents to help David and Jane put this party together for our troops.		Notice the catered food?	Notice the fresh flowers?  Every table had them.
Way to go Joanie!  That's some Margarita you've got there.		Notice the big fan - there was even a mister above our heads, intertwined with lights which kept us cool and kept the bugs away
	What we are trying to say is that the Jaynes', their families and their friends went to a lot of trouble to make us feel welcome.  We can't thank them enough.		THANK YOU AND WE LOVE YOU!
		PRESENTATION TO DAVID
				This plaque was made of melted down Huey parts, proceeds to fund The National Vietnam War Museum which is being built at 12685 Mineral Wells Rd, Mineral Wells, TX and is currently under construction.  Please contact Bob Taylor, VHPA for further info.

SPECIAL THANKS .....

go to the following people for enriching this special evening. 

Naturally, to David and Jane, Mark and Joanie.

To Dale Garber for the purchase and donation of the portable combination 5 CD and home stereo for 117th AHC use.

To Britt Knox for the wonderful job he did as our program director, and for the CD of Vietnam songs which he created, sang and shared and played for everyone's enjoyment.

To Abe Stice for the update on the VA claim information.

To Wendell Brooks for the license plate holders.

To Ken Haywood for the painting which he painted and donated for our drawing.

This evening was enchanted.  It turned out so well, that it will be very hard to create something this wonderful again.

And there is one more 'Thank You' that I would like to publicly acknowledge, although it is unrelated to the dinner.  I would like to thank Jerry Coldren for escorting Jan to downtown San Antonio so she was not alone while I manned the hospitality room.  I appreciate him making sure she did not 'trip over any stones', although I understand that she likes to play in the traffic when taking pictures, Jerry?

Ron Fiman	8th Trans Jacket	CE wings courtesy Ron Fiman	Jerry Coldren	140th Jacket
		HOSPITALITY ROOM
Al - Bob Elliott - Jan		Perry Apking - Al		Back row L-R George DeSerres
				Britt Knox, Dale Garber, Jim Watkins, Bill Meeler, Dave Sullivan. Seated in front, L-R
				Tom Bathey, Al Bennett
	Coleman - Meeler		Dave & Yolanda
Ron Fiman - George DeSerres		Ron Fiman - Oscar Flores - George DeSerres
Front L-R Lila Apking and Margie Elliott		Jerry Adcock - Gene Whitt		Jerry Coldren on right
Back L-R Lenore Flores and Maxine Fiman
	VHCMA	2005	DINNER

** If anyone is interested in returning to Vietnam for a visit, at a reasonable price, please contact George DeSerres at (800) 248-1590 or email him at gdeserres@aol.com

See you in Phoenix next year!

******************************************

MARCH 11, 2005 - MINI - 117TH REUNION

We were in Orlando, Florida for a few days and were able to have a mini-reunion with
some of the guys and wives from that area.
We greatly appreciate our longtime friends, Mr. & Mrs. Paul Barton, and wish to thank them
for graciously extending their home for this
meeting.

Six of us attended and had a good time. If you ever get a chance to attend a reunion
or even a mini-reunion you should. This was the first time two of the guys had
done anything like this and all I heard from them at the end of the evening was
"This was great!" and "We need to get together again!"

The one thing I must say about reunions:
If you have never been please attend.
You don't have to say much, just listen for a while. You'll soon be jumping in
the same as we all were Friday night.
Believe me, Vietnam was not the only topic; we talked of our families, our
jobs, our lives and what we have done.
Maybe we were not in Nam at the same time or did the same jobs, but we were
every one of us there and had many of the same experiences. We went to
Vietnam and we were in helicopters.

Those who attended the Orlando Mini were:

Wendell Brooks 66-67	Tom Bynum 67-68	Tom Rose 63-64
Leon Wozniak 67-68	Bob Hamilton 70-71	Al Bennett 67-68

It took all of us to make up a company.
None of us could have done our jobs
without the other.

2004

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hope to see you at San Antonio in June 23-26, 2005!

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Indianapolis 117th/VHCMA 2004 Reunion

I would like to thank all the guys that attended the reunion and the wives who accompanied them. I hope everyone had a good time. I have to apologize for not being able to spend more time with each of you. The best part for me is meeting up with the four other guys who served with me in 67.  Lendall Barnes, Jim Grissom, Jeff Murawski and Larry Gruhn thanks guys you made my weekend.

Others who attended were: Ray Seale, Ken Haywood, Bob Hamilton and Tom Joyner.

I had a couple of friends join us at our hospitality room. They are the Aretz brothers Jim and Tom both are Vietnam Vets and served as crew chiefs. Jim was with the 334th Armed Helicopter Co and was across the flight line from us(117th) while we were at Bien Hoa 1968. Tom was with the 116th AHC. 1969. They have a story to tell that in 69 Jim was back in RVN as a Tech Rep. and flew with Tom on a so called milk run. Ended up getting shot down, what a story.

D Company Rangers (LRRP) 151st Infantry ( Indiana Army National Guard )was supported by the 1st Platoon while they were in RVN. Several of them stopped by to visit and thank us for being there for them. D Co. was featured on the CBS program Sunday Morning.  Thank you  Zita Moore  for helping to put this reunion together. Also for getting Josh Aaron to paint the Annie Fannie on the Avionics Nose door  and bringing it by for us to drool over. She never looked better. I hope to be at the D Co. reunion next year to see Annie fly again . I also hope some of you from the Annie Gang can make that reunion. Also while we were  with the guys from D Co. there was a TV News report that featured some of them from an earlier interview the afternoon. It was neat to be able to share with them while they watched the broadcast.

One of the nice things about having the reunion with the VHCMA is you get to run into guys that served in sister companies or went through AIT  with you. The next thing is to say thanks to the VHCMA for providing us with a Hospitality Room this was the fourth year that they have helped us out.  They do a great job putting the Reunion together each year. THANKS.

 See you in San Antonio!

 

INDIANAPOLIS 2004