MARCH 2018 Greetings Ghost Riders, Avengers, Caretakers, family and friends. Well Marchis here. So it is time to prepare for Spring. As most of you know I am very lucky to be writing this Newsletter. They tell me that I had a stroke at 30,000 feet somewhere over Colorado or Kansas. Anyway we were forced to land at Memphis, TN and am I glad we did. Memphis is one of eight locations that they have a Mobile Stroke Unit and it was waiting just for me. They did all the testing and gave me the TPA right on the tarmac before heading to Methodist hospital where they immediately removed the blood clot. Was I ever so lucky. I was up walking on Wednesday and Thursday I was interviewed by several news outlets. Yes I am very lucky and Memphis was the correct place to go. Various unit and Organizational reunions are listed below. VHCMA: June 13 - 17, 2018 Nugget Casino Resort Sparks, Nevada 89431. For more information check out their website http://www.vhcma.org/reunions.html
VHPA: The 2018 VHPA national reunion will be in Atlanta, GA 3 - 7 July 2018 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, 265 Peachtree Center Ave NE, Atlanta, GA. For more information check their web Site. https://www.vhpa.org/news.htm
119th AHC is being held in Branson, MO. September 18-20, 2018.
For more information contact: Spencer GardnerSpencerhgardner619@gmail.com817-629-3155
155th AHC October 3 - Monday, October 8, 2018.Atlantis Casino Resort and Spa. Reno, Nevada. For more information: Rod Waddell rodwaddell@155-th-ahc.org
No other units are listed:
189th AHC: "The Last Great Reunion" will take place October 3-7, 2018 at The Hilton Washington Dulles. Rates are $119 and include breakfast with no parking fees. The link will be on the 189th Web Page soon. The team has been working and continues to work planning for this reunion. Make your plans now. Do not wait. The agenda for the reunion Will also be appearing on the 189th Website soon. http://www.189thahc.org/The application is attached along with a portion of the agenda..
Check out the 189th Web site for The Vietnam Helicopter Pilot and Crewmember Monument Dedication Ceremony scheduled for 4:00 PM, April 18, 2018 at the Arlington National Cemetery Memorial Amphitheater. http://189thahc.org/VN_AIRCREW_VETS.html
JUST FOR THE LADIES: Ladies, you’re going to love the reunion hotel. Just before you enter the beautiful curved glass front of the hotel , there’s a delightful area with multiple warm fire pits surrounded by comfortable seating that invite you to sit down with friends and share a drink, a snack or a laugh. Then walk into the enormous glass and granite registration area, where the friendliest hotel staff in Herndon will greet you with care. And you know you’re home --for part of a week, anyway! If you’re a spouse who has never been to a 189th reunion, let us personally invite you to come along and join the happy, crazy, talkative crowd of wonderful spouses who come with their hubbies. It’s fascinating to listen to the many conversations going on, especially those that involve your spouse. The things you learn by listening! Of course, then you have to ask if what you’ve heard is BS or not! It’s a lovely hotel. The hospitality room (where we meet, converse, view pictures and eat) is unusually pretty –open and airy, yet functional-- and will be an exceptional room for our meetings. Be sure to check out Emily’s Gift Shop on the 2nd floor; they have nice apparel and fantastic jewelry at reasonable prices. They sell tourist-type shirts, too, for generally lower prices than you’ll find at attraction sites, especially since they’ll offer us a nice discount. Oh, and just in case you have a bad hair day while you’re there, Emily also has a salon/spa where you can get your hair done, have a massage, or relax while having a mani/pedi.
So come along and join the fun at the 189th AHC reunion!
Bobbye, Pat, and Melba
THE PILOT'S PERCH: By Steve Schmidt Hello to all! Here is another quick memory check: What is the first helicopter Tail Number that comes to mind of the 189th AHC helicopters that you flew in Vietnam? Without a doubt mine is 66-16158. It’s not the first helicopter I flew for the company but it is the one I got shot down in. Those memories don’t seem to fade. UH-1H Helicopter (Tail Number 66-16158) is the helicopter that was shot up in an area north and west of DakTo airstrip. I was the Instructor Pilot that day and WO Thompson was the pilot who was being evaluated for A/C Commander. Mr Thompson was seriously injured in that event; after visiting with him in the Pleiku Military Hospital before he was evacuated to Japan I then lost contact with him. Even with the wonderful contact list the 189th AHC Association has and the semi-annual reunions, I have not been able to re-establish contact. I flew this helicopter many times and the assigned Crew Chief was Larry Kimball. To this day he has not forgive me for getting “his helicopter” shot up. Lester Hayes was the assigned Gunner. Neither of them was aboard the helicopter the day we were shot up. However, we were extracting troops from the LZ and two soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division were also seriously wounded. The helicopter was retrieved back to Camp Holloway by a CH-47 Chinook Helicopter. We thought that helicopter would be patched up and returned to service, but it wasn’t. An armor piercing round passed thru one of the main fuselage beams causing significant structural damage. The helicopter was not repairable at Camp Holloway; it had to go back into the Bell assembly fixture for repair – which of course was impossible. So it was decommissioned and I’m sure every undamaged part found a use on another helicopter as our maintenance people kept every available helicopter flying. Once again you get the idea: Thanks to Gerry and Bobbye, and Lonnie and Pat, and now T.O. and Melba Gillis, we Ghostriders, Avengers, Caretakers, and all the rest who were assigned to the 189th AHC have been given the great gift of “friends who we could hardly live without” at one time. Today they are “friends” in the dearest terms. God Bless America! And God blessed Gerry & Bobbye one more time – Gerry is still with us after his stroke. Regards, Steve Schmidt (“Silver Lead” – 1st A/L Plt) Gerry's Travels: Well you now know that we recently flew to Oregon and back as far as Memphis before I got carried off the plane. But the highlight was to see our NEW great granddaughter. She did beat us into the world the day before we left Alabama. It was wonderful to see our other grandchildren and of course our son and his wife, but my highlight was to hold, love and yes feed the Sweet Pea. I named her before she was born and it is a very fitting name for such a little darling. Hopefully our travels will take us to Washington and Florida before the reunion and then afterwards to San Diego for a conference for the Stroke Mobile. I will know more about that at the reunion. As of now I am kind of dependent upon Bobbye who has been a real trooper the last few months. I am going to be ok, just have to take it easy. See you in Washington at the reunion. Gerry Brothers forever
