MESSAGE FROM PAST PRESIDENT, JOE LUDWICK

I would like to join Association President Ray Houghton and the Board of Directors in extending an invitation to each of you to attend the Reunion. Our Association was formed to preserve and foster the camaraderie we had over 30 years ago in Vietnam. Our reunions are an exciting experience of renewing old friendships and acquaintances from our past. There are very few days that go by that you don’t think of someone from that era or an experience that we all had. Come and enjoy the fun times of our experience. I promise you won’t go away disappointed. 

If you are looking for a Vietnam book that tells the story of the good as well as the bad times in the 101st, please buy this book: (RIPCORD SCREAMING EAGLES UNDER SIEGE, VIETNAM 1970). The author, Keith W. Nolan, has written several Vietnam books. This has the story of the day I got shot, and was retired from the Army with 100% disability. If you were in Vietnam around 1970, this book is mandatory reading. 

I have a website with more information about our times in Vietnam, and what fun I am having these days. The address for my website is: http://www.orcacom.net/~joel/. 

I am looking forward to seeing you and yours in Colorado Springs. In Brotherhood, 

Joe Ludwick Ret. Army SSG
GijoeLudwick@home.com 

REUNION 2002 

Thursday-Saturday, June 13-16, 2002. 

Reunion Headquarters will be the Timber Lodge, 3627 West Colorado Avenue, Colorado Springs.  

You can make reservations at 1-800-448-6762.  

Please make your reservation ASAP. We need to fill the lodge to insure our use of all the facilities, including their pavilion.  Be sure to tell the lodge owner that you are part of the Alpha Avengers Reunion.

Fellow Avengers:

As I work on this newsletter, I can’t help but think about the recent attack on the United States by another enemy unseen. Our hearts go out to all affected by these evil deeds and to the soldiers who will respond. God be with them all. 

On July 15th, 2000, the Alpha Avengers Association met during our reunion at the Binion's Horseshoe Hotel in Las Vegas to make plans for our next reunion.  At the meeting, several motions were made and passed. 

One very significant and emotional motion was made by Bob Morris. He proposed that at each reunion we honor a fallen Alpha Avenger with the "Some Gave All" award. Bob has included a message regarding this event in this newsletter and I encourage everyone to consider proposing one of our fallen comrades for this award. At the Las Vegas reunion, Sgt. Victor Zaragoza received this honor. You can find Bob's tribute to Victor also in this newsletter and on the website. 

Speaking of the website, that was another motion that was not only approved but a passed Alpha Avenger hat raised enough money to register the web site, www.alphaavengers.org, and fund it for the first two years. Besides providing a place where we can all keep up-to-date with what's going on in our association, it's also a place where people can find our history. Everyone is encouraged to donate copies of pictures, documents or any other historical material to this record of our history. Bring them to our next reunion where Tex and I can scan them, email them to info@alphaavengers.org or snail-mail them to me at 159 Delaware Avenue, #145, Delmar, NY 12054. Thanks to everyone who has donated the material we have so far.  

Two other motions that were agreed upon after much discussion were to move the reunion a little earlier in the year -- from July to June and to have our next reunion in the Colorado Springs area. Jim Kwiecien (Lt.) who lives in Colorado Springs has agreed to be our Local Arrangements Chair for the reunion. He has been working hard on our behalf, making phone calls, meeting with the Chamber of Commerce and scouting out places to stay and things to see and do. In this newsletter, you can find out more about the Colorado Springs area, our reunion headquarters (we should have the whole place to ourselves) and some exciting activities he's been working on (remember the movie War Games?). 

And yes, there was one other motion passed -- which is why I am writing this newsletter. I was elected president of the association to replace outgoing president, GI Joe Ludwick (please see Joe's message in this newsletter). Bob Morris was elected vice president (please see Bob's message also in this newsletter). I appreciate all the support everyone has given me (which has really made this job a lot easier than I thought it was going to be). One supporter who has always been there is John Fair (Tex), our first president and founder. Thanks to everyone.

See you all in Colorado Springs. Please make your reservations today -- we don't want to share our reunion headquarters with the Golden Agers from Kalamazoo. 

Ray Houghton (Lt.), President 
Alpha Avengers Association
cyhaus@msn.com 

MESSAGE FROM VICE PRESIDENT BOB MORRIS

Time is beginning to wind down on the planning stages of the next reunion with Ray and Jim doing a lot of the leg work. I hope everyone has already made reservations because this is going to be a great trip. 

We need to get our selection for the next "SOME GAVE ALL AWARD" finalized. Any nominations should be sent to me as soon as possible. Anyone who was killed in action is eligible for this award. Just sent a short narration with name and rank and explain why this person deserves the award. We had also talked about trying to help with transportation expense for a family member to come to the reunion to accept the award. 

As all of you know we are not getting any younger. As years go by there will be fewer of us able to come to our get-togethers. Call a buddy. Encourage him to come. Tell him what a good time we have, the lies we tell, and the great memories we relive. Adopt a buddy and get him to the reunion. Hope to see all of you in Colorado.

Bob Morris, Vice President
Alpha Avengers Association 
rocky@bham.rr.com  

MESSAGE FROM PAST PRESIDENT JOE LUDWICK

I would like to join Association President Ray Houghton & the Board of Directors in extending an invitation to each of you to attend the Reunion. Our Association was formed to preserve & foster the camaraderie we had over 30 years ago in Vietnam. Our reunions are an exciting experience of renewing old friendships & acquaintances from our past. There are very few days that go by that you don't think of someone from that era or an experience that we all had. Come & enjoy the fun times of our experience. I promise you won't go away disappointed.

If you are looking for a Vietnam book that tells the story of the good as well as the bad times in the 101st. please buy this book: (RIPCORD SCREAMING EAGLES UNDER SIEGE, VIETNAM 1970) The author Keith W. Nolan has written several Vietnam books http://members.aol.com/KWNolan/Viet.html. This has the story of the day I got shot and was retired from the Army with 100% disability. If you were in Vietnam around 1970 this book is mandatory reading.

I have a website with more information about our times in Vietnam, and what fun I am having these days.

I am looking forward to seeing you and yours in Colorado Springs. In Brotherhood, 

Joe Ludwick Ret. Army SSG

MESSAGE FROM PAST PRESIDENT JOHN (TEX) FAIR

I want to extend an invitation for each of you to attend the reunion.  Our organization was instituted to preserve & extend our camaraderie past our times in Viet Nam.  The reunions are a wonderful way of renewing old friendships & enjoying the brotherhood that will never leave our minds or hearts.  There are very few days that have gone past without thinking of someone or an event that happened 30 some odd years ago.  Come enjoy a fun Filled weekend with your comrades.

JOHN FAIR
ALPHA AVENGERS PRES. 1989-1994

REUNION HEADQUARTERS

JUNE 13-16, 2002

I met with the motel owner again yesterday, per the schedule he and I set up when I first talked to him in May. We now officially (vs the unofficial arrangement I had with him before) have the entire motel blocked off for the reunion.

He asks that when people call to make reservations, they identify themselves as being with the Alpha Avengers Reunion. This will eliminate confusion on his part.

People can call and give him a credit card number. It is a "mom and pop" motel, so if, for example, you called tomorrow and asked that he not charge your card until 10/31 for the deposit, he'd take your card number and then ask that you call back on 10/31 to tell him to go ahead and process the charge for the deposit. 

He has:

• 2 cabins with full kitchens $130/night 
• 4 cabins with fully stocked kitchenettes $115/night 
• 1 cabin with fully stocked kitchenette $95/night 
• 3 cabins with fully stocked kitchenettes $85/night 
• 4 cabins with fully stocked kitchenettes $85/night 
• 6 cabins with fridge and microwave only $72/night 
• 1 small cabin, no fridge or microwave $62/night 
• 2 smaller cabins, no fridge or microwave $59/night 
• 1 tiny cabin (so small they don't give you a remote for the TV), no fridge or microwave, $52/night

The variations are in the number of rooms, number of beds that each unit has.

Prices will probably increase by 10% next year. All the places I talked to said this. It is due to rising utility costs.

If you want to take a look at the place, go to http://www.pikes-peak.com/timberlodge/ 

Jim Kwiecien, Local Arrangements
jimkw@rmi.net 
(Email Messages received 5/19-6/21/2001)

TENTATIVE REUNION ACTIVITIES

Tour of Cheyenne Mountain Friday AM or PM. 

Drive to the top of Pike's Peak (not recommended for people with heart or respiratory problems).

Golfers, Saturday would be the time I could try to set something up for. I would need an estimate of how many players also.

BBQ's/wiennie roasts for dinner -- the Timber Lodge pavilion. 

A more formal dinner, banquet one night -- working on that one.

Other things to do in the area: 

• Air Force Academy
• Ft. Carson
• The Garden of the Gods is neat to visit and hike through. They built a very impressive visitor's center which explains a lot about the park. During the summer parking inside the park (for hiking) can be a problem. The Garden of the Gods Trading Post offers a variety of merchandise ranging from rubber tomahawks made in Taiwan, to rather expensive Indian artwork. 
• The Royal Gorge (highest suspension bridge in the world) is about 45-60 minutes south of here. Close to the Royal Gorge is Buckskin Joe's where several western movies were filmed. 
• Cripple Creek offers gambling ($5 limit blackjack, slots, and poker) -- shuttle bus service is available. 
• Gold mine tour takes you 1,000 feet underground and is not for the claustrophobic. 
• A dinner theatre here in town is in the process of changing locations and will be up and running shortly. 
• Cog Railroad to the top of Pikes Peak (not recommended for people with heart or respiratory problems).
• primo trout fishing about an hour away from here at a couple of different places. 
• The town has ordered two new trolleys to replace the ones currently running. Service on these is free

  Jim Kwiecien, Local Arrangements
  jimkw@rmi.net 
  (Email Messages received 5/19-6/21/2001)

Cheyenne Mountain

OK, I've been talking to the Air Force Folks at Cheyenne Mountain and I think it will be favorable. I'm going to propose that we set up the tour for the afternoon of the fourteenth (June 14, 2002). Unless I hear otherwise real quickly, my official letter to back up the conversations I've had will be in the mail tomorrow. They will only let about fifty people in for security and control reasons. (Please send in your registration for the reunion that appears at the end of this newsletter and register for the Cheyenne Mountain Tour -- we will accept the first fifty registrations in the order in which they are received).

This IS a big deal. They no longer give public tours, but when they did in the past, the waiting list was about a year long. It is a very impressive operation from what I've heard. If you saw the movie "War Games," you know what I'm talking about. During the Cold War (whoops, I guess for us, some of the Cold War was pretty hot), it was -- and probably still is -- the Russian's number one target. I saw an interview with some Russian general on TV and judging by what he said, and my rough calculations, they were going to throw teratons of nukes at it.

Jim Kwiecien, Local Arrangements
jimkw@rmi.net 
(Email Message received 6/21/2001)

"SOME GAVE ALL" AWARD
JULY 15, 2000

We are going to recognize a man who grew up in southern California. As a child he played army whenever he could and dreamed one day of being a real soldier. One day after reaching legal age, while his mother was out of town, he slipped away and joined the army. He ended up in third platoon A 2/501^st. As an E5, he served as a squad leader but he went beyond what is expected of squad leaders. As all of you know, it didn’t take long for us to find out whom we could depend on when it counted most. The man we are honoring tonight is one of those individuals.  Our honoree volunteered for point man, arguably the most dangerous job in NAM. He said it was the only placed he felt comfortable. For that he was awarded the Permanent Point Man Award. Among other awards, he received 2 Bronze Stars with V Device for Valor, Combat Infantryman’s Badge, 2 Air Medals, one for 25 combat assaults and one for going into a hot landing zone, Viet Nam Service and Campaign Ribbons and the Purple Heart. On February 20th, 1970 Victor Zaragoza gave his life for his country and for that we honor him.

Gentlemen, if you will, I’m going to ask you to do something most of us haven’t done in a long  time, please stand and salute  Vic Zaragoza and the 52000 plus who were killed in OUR WAR.

-- Bob Morris

REUNION PLANS, JULY 13-16, 2000

 Fellow Avengers:

 The Board of Directors met in Louisville, KY to decide on hotel selection and discuss plans for our upcoming reunion, July 13-16, 2000.  The city of Las Vegas, NV was chosen by the attendees of the 1998 reunion for the sole purpose of affording the western U.S. members of the Association an opportunity to attend a reunion at a minimum of costs.  All of our reunions have been held east of St. Louis, making it difficult financially for our members from the western half of the nation to attend.  We sincerely hope that all will be able to attend due to the affordable accommodations & flights available to Las Vegas.

We selected BINION'S HORSESHOE HOTEL & CASINO in Las Vegas they presented the best overall proposal for our group.  Their location being downtown, as well as their competitive rates were the deciding factors for our selection.  We booked a block of 50 rooms for our group.  We need your input as to how many of you will be attending the reunion.  This information is vital due to the large number our group, that live on the west coast.  Please take time to email me the answers to the questionnaire as soon as possible, even if you think you might attend.  I can't express the importance of this enough.  If you have any questions, please email me at gijoe@telepath.com.  I will be glad to help.  Hotel reservations # is 1-800-622-6468.  Tell the reservation clerk at the hotel that you are with the ALPHA AVENGERS, 101st AIRBORNE GROUP, and you will receive the group-discounted rates for the rooms, etc.  All AVENGERS must provide a method of payment to guarantee their individual reservations.  THE RATES FOR THE REUNION ARE $29.00 FOR THURSDAY NITE, $45.00 FOR FRIDAY & SATURDAY NITES.  This rate does not reflect taxes or gratuities for the bellman of $3.50 per person, covering luggage handling.  The hotel will release all remaining unbooked rooms June 1, 2000.  Please book as early as possible to assure that you will have a room at the discounted rates for our group.

We will be having a BUFFET DINNER, SATURDAY NITE.  THE COST WILL BE $9.95 PER PERSON.  We decided that it would be less expensive to have a buffet style dinner instead of a banquet.  The restaurant is large enough to handle a group of up to 200 people.

We will have a large HOSPITALITY SUITE, FOR MEETINGS & GENERAL GET TOGETHERS.  ASK FOR ITS LOCATION WHEN YOU CHECK INTO THE HOTEL.  WE WILL HAVE SOMEONE THERE TO GREET YOU!  The hotel has an outdoor swimming pool on the 25th floor with a view of Las Vegas & nine other casinos, within a short walk.  When arriving at the airport, there is not a free shuttle to the hotel as in the past.  The cost for transportation from the airport to the hotel is $5.00 per person.  If you are thinking of visiting Hoover Dam, which is only 23 miles from the hotel, you might want to rent a car at the airport to save shuttle fees.  None of the hotels provide free shuttles as in the past.

We sincerely hope that all of you can start the new millennium out with us at this reunion.  The camaraderie experienced is unimaginable & we guarantee you will want to attend all the upcoming reunions, after attending just one of these events.  Hope to see all of you in Las Vegas!!!

I WILL JOIN THE OFFICERS & BOARD OF DIRECTORS IN WISHING EACH OF YOU & YOURS A HAPPY THANKSGIVING, & A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS.  TAKE TIME TO REMEMBER THOSE LESS FORTUNATE!  AND FINALLY IF YOU'RE TRAVELING, TAKE SPECIAL CARE TO GET THERE SAFELY!!!  WE WANT TO SEE YOU & YOURS IN LAS VEGAS, JULY 13 -16,2000

IN BROTHERHOOD,
PRESIDENT, ALPHA AVENGERS RET.  ARMY SGT.
JOE E. LUDWICK

MESSAGE FROM PAST PRESIDENT

I want to join President Joe Ludwick & the Board of Directors in extending an invitation for each of you to attend the first reunion of the new millennium.  Our organization was instituted to preserve & extend our camaraderie past our times in Viet Nam.  The reunions are a wonderful way of renewing old friendships & enjoying the brotherhood that will never leave our minds or hearts.  There are very few days that have gone past without thinking of someone or an event that happened 30 some odd years ago.  Come enjoy a fun Filled weekend in Las Vegas with your comrades.  HAVE A HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON!!

JOHN FAIR
ALPHA AVENGERS PRES. 1989-1994

I can be contacted at my email address <jtexfair@bigcountry.net>. We will have golf shirts, tee shirts, & embroidered caps for sale at the reunion.  We will put the prices for these items as well as an order form in the next newsletter that will be mailed sometime around May.  You must fill out this order form & return it to me if you want any of these items as we will only have made, as many as we have orders for, from you.  We will try to include pictures of items for sale.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PLEASE EMAIL THE ANSWERS TO THIS QUESTIONNAIRE TO jtexfair@bigcountry.net :

I PLAN ON ATTENDING THE REUNION?  (YES)                             (NO)

TOTAL NUMBER ATTENDING FROM YOUR FAMILY?

NUMBER OF KIDS ATTENDING UNDER AGE OF 12

DOES ANY MEMBER OF YOUR FAMILY REQUIRE SPECIAL DIETARY NEEDS?  LIST:

DOES ANYONE REQUIRE HANDICAP ASSISTANCE OR SPECIAL ROOM NEEDS?

 ANY COMMENTS?

Fellow Avengers:

Well our search for former members of "A Company, 2/501st, 101st Airborne Division, Viet Nam, 1967-1972 has completed its first phase. We have run over 1000 names through our locating procedure and have actually located over 500 of these men. There were just over 1000 men that served with the Company from 1967 through 1972 that we can find records on. In our second phase, we are starting over on the ones we were unable to locate the first time and do a little more detailed search for them.

If this is the first newsletter you have received, I will briefly attempt to explain our organization to you. We first organized in l990 after locating a few men for a reunion in Washington, D.C. and have since grown to have a roster of 531 former members of our Company. We have had two reunions and we are currently planning our third one to be held in Kansas City, Mo., July 21-23, 1994. We are expecting this reunion to be the largest one yet. We anticipate having over 100 veterans from "A" Company in Kansas City. We know for about 150 of you this is the first you have heard of our group, but we sincerely hope you will be able to attend the reunion on such short notice. At our last reunion in St. Louis, Mo. we had 35 men attending, but we only had located I 10 at that time in 1992. 1 can personally guarantee you will meet someone there you served with over twenty years ago, that is just as eager to meet you. Families are also urged to attend and become a part of our reunion.

Our Association has an annual dues structure of S20.00 payable in July of each year to help locate former members of our group. We do need your support to keep this process operating. Postage costs, locating fees, telephone costs, and printing costs all add up. I urge all of you today to please send in your dues to help locate your former comrades and friends. The Alpha Avengers of Viet Nam Association has a Non- Profit Tax Exempt status from the IRS and recently obtained our Bulk Rate Non-Profit organization postage rate from the Post Office. These items will greatly help our group save on expenses.

For those of you in the Nashville, Tn. area that will not be able to attend our reunion in K. C., the

101st Airborne Association is having their annual reunion, July 6-9, 1994 at the Stouffer Nashville Hotel. 'Mere will be a few of us there. I would invite all of you to this reunion also. Call me for details at 915-573-2194.

1994 REUNION PLANS

The Board of Directors met in Kansas City in August 1993 to decide on our hotel selection and to discuss plans for our upcoming reunion, July 21-23, 1994.

We selected the Kansas City Airport Hilton as they presented the best overall proposal for our group. Their locations as well as their competitive rates were the deciding factors for our decision. Since that time they have changed their name to Doubletree Inn. The director of sales assured us that nothing other than the name changed. He is the person that we negotiated with originally.

We booked a block of 150 rooms for our group. We will need your input as to how many of you will be attending the reunion. This information is vital to us for planning, due to the increased number of members that we have found since our last @on. We want this reunion to go off as smoothly as our last two have, but we have increased our membership fromllOmento53O. About a third of our members attended our last reunion in St. Louis. If the same percentages hold true we will be dose on our room block reservation. We want to assure each of you that there will be rooms available, but we definitely need your input if you think you will be attending. Take time and return the questionnaire to me this week if you think there's only a possibility you will be attending. I can't express the importance of this enough. You will also need to call in your hotel reservation to the hotel as soon as possible.

This reunion we are looking into having a BBQ picnic instead of going on a tour of the city. We feel that we can do this at less cost to everyone as well as affording members to decide what sights they might like to individually take in while in Kansas City. There is a lake about 15 minutes from the hotel that has pavilions and facilities for groups like ours that we are currently checking on for this event. Kansas City is well known for it's BBQ and we have spoken with one of the best caterers in the area about putting this function on. It will be a day of fun at the lake with horseshoes, volleyball, and any other activities we can get together!

Our tentative schedule for this reunion at the present time will be: registration and hospitality room Thursday, July 21: BBQ picnic Friday, July 22: hospitality room and free time for everyone as well as the evening banquet Saturday, July 23. Our banquet buffet will be $16.00 per person / kids under 12, $8.00 per person.

We sincerely hope each of you will attempt to make this reunion the best ever by attending and joining in the camaraderie that we all experienced over twenty years ago.

ALPHA AVENGERS OF VIET NAM ASSOCIATION

OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT:  JOHN FAIR

VICE-PRESIDENT:  NED KINTZER

SECT.-TREAS:  ANDY CUP

67-68:  JIM LANNING, CHARLES QUASH

68-69:  DENNIS MANGUILLI, TOM JOHNSON

69-70:  BOB EVANS, PEYTON MULLINS

70-71:  PAT RUNEVITCH, MIKE SHANNON

71-72:  DELBERT JOHNSON

 Fellow Avengers:

Well for many of you, this will be your first newsletter.  I will briefly explain our group, it's goals and a short history.  We were organized in 1990, after our first reunion in Washington D. C. The association started out with locating a few men from one year group) and later to include all Viet Nam veterans of "A" Co. 2/501, 101st Abn.  Div., 67-72.  As of today we have a roster of 380 men located from our company.  We are currently attempting to locate mi additional 295 names that we have recently acquired.  We have already run over 700 names through our locating process and we have had excellent results.  As best as we can tell at this point, there were just over 1000 men went through our company from 1967-1972.  We have had two reunions thus far and are currently planning our third one to be held July 21, 22, & 23, 1994 at the Kansas City Airport Hilton, Kansas City, Mo.  Our last reunion was held in St. Louis, Mo. in 1992.  At that time we had located 110 members of A company and 35 attended the reunion.  We are expecting the upcoming reunion to be attended by approximately 125 - 150 former members of our group based on past percentages.  We have over tripled in size since our last reunion and expect to have over 500 men located with your support, by July 1994.  Make your plans now to attend.  I can personally guarantee you will meet someone there you served with over twenty years ago.  Families are also urged to attend.

As the rest of you should have noticed by now, our format for the newsletter has changed.  We have spent the last several months working on what I feel will be a great asset to the association.  We have recently been notified by the, IRS that our Nonprofit, Tax Exempt Status has been approved.  The Alpha Avengers of Viet Nam Association is now a nonprofit group that can accept charitable donations.  We also applied for and received a bulk rate, nonprofit postage rate from the Post Office, after IRS granted us nonprofit status.  The postage on our last newsletter cost us over $200.00. To send out the same newsletter now will only cost $38.00. This is why we decided to apply for these items.  We will be able to better our group with these savings. 

Mrs. Jerry Prigmore informed me that her husband, former "A' Co. 2/501, 70-71 platoon sergeant, Jerry Prigmore died of injuries sustained in an auto accident, caused by a diabetic blackout May 9, 1993.  He is survived by his wife, Renae, daughters Marie Simonton and husband Reuben, and Jennifer Fannin.  Also surviving are four grandchildren, his father Jonah Prigmore, and one sister Ella Rose Leisner.  Jerry was buried in the Houston National Cemetery, Houston Texas.

If any of you had friends in Delta or Bravo Companies, we have association that have been instrumental in helping locate former members of Alpha Company.  We all work together using orders that were sent out of Battalion to help each other.  At this time we are trying to find someone from Charlie and Echo Companies to start locating their groups.  Today, between Alpha, Bravo, and Delta Associations, there are over 900 men from 2/501 that have been located.  We can continue this effort if all of you will take a moment and join our company association.

FELLOW ALPHA AVENGERS:

WE HAVE MADE GREAT STRIDES IN LOCATING FORMER MEMBERS OF "A" CO. 2/501 IN THE PAST THREE MONTHS, THANKS TO A ROSTER FURNISHED BY THE 67-68 MEN FROM THE REUNION, AND BOB EVANS, WHO SENT ME A ROSTER FROM 69-70.  WE HAVE SPENT THE GREATER PART OF THIS TIME ON THE PHONE, TRYING TO CONTACT ALL THESE MEN.  WHEN WE WERE IN ST.  LOUIS, WE HAD 110 NAMES OF FORMER "A" CO.  MEN ON OUR ROSTER.  AS OF TODAY, WE HAVE 278 MEN ON THAT SAME ROSTER.

 FOR MANY OF YOU, THIS WILL BE YOUR FIRST NEWSLETTER.  I HAVE SPOKE WITH MOST OF YOU ON THE PHONE, BUT SOME OF YOU HAVE LISTED PHONE NUMBERS OR HAVE NO PHONE.  I WOULD BRIEFLY LIKE TO EXPLAIN OUR ORGANIZATION TO YOU.  WE ARE COMPOSED OF FORMER MEMBERS OF "A" CO 2/501st, 101st AIRBORNE DIVISION, VIET NAM 1967-1972.  WE KEEP IN TOUCH WITH FORMER MEMBERS BY MEANS OF THIS NEWSLETTER, AND PLAN OUR REUNIONS, TO PROMOTE FELLOWSHIP AMONG THE MEN YOU SERVED WITH IN VIET NAM TWENTY-SOME YEARS AGO.