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Inspirational stories posted by veterans, active military, family & friends telling how they successfully found and reunited with their old
friends & family, enjoyed a reunion together, along with the feelings and emotions that were evoked.
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Reunion
Each time someone was found, more info was obtained on others. It had been over 30 years since I had seen any of the 4th platoon, Co. B, 4th/21st, American Division from Vietnam (1971). Thank goodness for the Internet. With the help of the search engines almost all of the members of 4th platoon were located. Each time someone was found, more info was obtained on others. Each 'first contact' was so thrilling and filled with emotion. 15 of us met in the spring of 2004. What a great time we had. We were all a little grayer, a little heavier, but the faces were there...and the voices. Plans are to do it again and many that couldn't come to the first plan to come to the second! Brothers indeed! ' |
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Reunion story
What A Coincidence After attending several of my ships (The USS Leyte CV-32 an Aircraft Carrier) annual reunions. I was talking with this other crew member and found out we were both born and lived in Kingston, New York, a block apart from one another and didn't know each other while serving on board ship. ' ' ' |
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Dustoff Reunion
This was the first time we had seen each other in more than 36 years.Recently attended a Dustoff reunion in San Antonio,Texas. Wow! Hooked up with Sgt Bill Fox. On March 19, 1968, he volunteered to replace my crew chief to allow a well earned R&R. My crew and I had successfully completed 18 sorties, extracting 87 seriously wounded casualties of C Co,3d Bn,187th Reg't of the 101st Airborne Div at Phuoc Vinh in Vietnam. On our 19th sorty out of a hot LZ my tail rotor was shot off, a stabilizer bar in the main rotor was shot off, and a bullet severed the hydraulic line to the flight controls. I became very busy trying to control the helicopter. Glanced in the back to see Sgt Fox falling to the deck with a bullet slicing through his kevlar helmet. He wasn't moving and I reported him KIA as part of my Mayday. We hit the rice paddy, bounced 12 feet in the air and over the second rice paddy, finally came to a dusty stop in a third rice paddy. Sgt. Fox sat up and, happily, made me a liar. We were rescued within five minutes by another Dustoff crew with, of all people, Richard Cunnare, all dressed up in his R&R Uniform. "Major Luce, What kind of trouble have you got into, now?" Sgt. Fox proudly pointed out his helmet, prominently displayed in the AMEDS Museum at Ft. Sam Houston. This was the first time we had seen each other in more than 36 years. He invited my wife, Vivian, and I to attend Church on Sunday. The minister, a retired Airborne Chaplain allowed for me to tell this story to the congregation. Sgt Fox had never shared his experience in 30 years of going to the same church. Instant celebrity. Of course, I cried publicly and unashamedly. A really heart warming experience. ' ' |
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Reunion
30 years after discharge, I got on the internet and decided to look up an old buddy who served with me in the radio dept. of the Enterprise. He was from Iowa or Nebraska and was scheduled to get out about 6 months after I did.(Aug.12,1970) We did everything together when off duty, from riding motorcycles to chasing women. He had a fairly unusual last name, but when I entered a search for his name in those two states, nothing showed up. So, I just did a general search for the entire U.S.! To my surprise, his name came up with an address in Phoenix, AZ, where I am from, and still reside. Not only was he in town, but he lived less than 2 miles from me! He had moved to Phoenix 12 years prior as an employee of the phone co. Not only had he lived nearby, but had passed my house, everyday on his way to work. Since I had a very distinctive vehicle, a motorized stagecoach, he knew immediately where I was! We had lunch together shortly after that, but have gone different directions in life! Not much in common now! But it was good to see him anyway! ' ' ' |
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reunion 2004
I felt I had been reunited with a long lost brother.The 8th annual reunion for the USS William M. Wood DD/DDR-715 was to be held in Jacksonville, FL. We got our committee together and started the process. We contracted with the hotel, got tours lined up, got the banquet set up and turned out to be the best one yet, thanks to our diligent crew of shipmates in FL. This was my first reunion since leaving the Wood in 1974. I had hoped to see several of my fellow supply dept. buddies, especially our supply officer, LT. John T Michel. I had not seen him since January of 1974 when I left the Wood. Well, as it would happen, I was in the hospitality room at the hotel, and was reminiscing with a few of the supply dept. when who comes in but the LT., he came toward me across the room, I was wondering who this is coming toward me with this big grin on his face? When he put his arm around me and said hi Dennis, I knew immediately who it was. We talked back and forth the whole weekend talking about different people that were in the department. I felt I had been reunited with a long lost brother. This man meant a lot to me while on the Wood. I made SK3 while in his division. When I left the Wood in January of 1974, I went to Charleston,S.C. and went aboard the USS Yellowstone AD-27. She was being readied for decommissioning. But I always remembered him no matter where I was. ' ' ' ' |
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After 22 years
Thank You Very Much For all you help, I found him!!!!!!!!! After 22 Years!!!!Thank You Very Much For all your help, I found him!!!!!!!!! After 22 Years!!!! |
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renion
This year in June we are having our reunion and planning on having 52 men from the 574th trans, with their families. Thank you VET FRIENDS for getting me started.I would like to share with you my reunion story. I started looking for my old company after 43 years. Vet Friends is what got me started with their info and help over the past 3 years. Now I have had a reunion at my place for about 10 of us. It has been great. This year in June we are having our reunion and planning on having 52 men from the 574th trans, with their families. If it hadn't been for Vet Friends I would have only kept track of one man in IOWA. Thank you VET FRIENDS for getting me started. We love our vets. God bless you. ' |
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40th reunion (1st)
Just a fantastic reunion, I am putting together our 2nd one nowWell it had been 40+ years since any of us 590th Transportation (1961-64) buddies had ever gotten back together. A couple of us had talked a time or two by phone and all I ever heard was we need to have a reunion, but nothing ever happened, so, one day I decided it was past time for a 590th reunion so I started searching for all I could locate after 40+ years . It is really much tougher than I thought but I finally located about 15 of us. So I set up a reunion place in Branson, Mo. and set up a few shows to attend. Out of the 15, 12 did attend the reunion and let me tell you it was just like going back in time 40 years. We all had a wonderful time rehashing the old days and getting reunited after such a long time apart. Even the wives got along very well, probably because of having seen the old Army pictures of us in Army and hearing about us numerous times throughout the years. Well needless to say Branson, Mo. is a great place for a reunion with numerous activities and great eating facilities. But, we mostly stayed around the motel and sat around and talked in our comp room until it closed then we sat around the pool or parking lot till 2 or 3 in the morning. Just a fantastic reunion, I am putting together our 2nd one now and hoping to locate at least a few more attendees this year. ' ' |
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Reunion
In the past 6 months 24 living and 3 deseased Troopers from the 63-64 9th Cav, Vets from the Korean DMZ group have been located.In the past 6 months 24 living and 3 deceased Troopers from the 63-64 9th Cav, Vets from the Korean DMZ group have been located. ' |
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The Miracle of the Internet
We were reunited after 59 years! In time time for the dedication of the World War II memorial.The last thing I remember saying to him was "switches off, and gas off" as we crash-landed in France on August 26, 1944. We were part of a Troop Carrier crew which consisted of Lts. Ralph Curtis, pilot, Leonard Greiner, co-pilot, Sgt. Adolf Fronczak, engineer, and Sgt. John Penning, Radio Operator. We were on a re-supply mission, providing General Patton and his armored columns with much needed gasoline. We had unloaded the gas at a forward location near Paris, and were returning to home base at Ramsbury, England, when suddenly both engines quit. We frantically hit the wobble pump and auxiliary gas supply. We got a slight sputter, but at 3000 feet there is not much time for recovery, so we prepared for the crash that was to follow. The crash report absolved the crew of any blame, and the C-47 transport was 85% destroyed. I, the pilot, and the two enlisted crew members incurred no injuries, and in a couple of days following the crash were returned to the 437th Troop Carrier Group, our parent organization. I was never told anything about the condition of my crewmember, but I did learn from the two enlisted men that Greiner had suffered severe injuries in the upper portion of his body, and probably would be unable to return to England and rejoin our Group and our crew. Leonard and I had become close friends since we had endured a lot of challenges together. On D-Day, we participated in the invasion of France, and as all other troop carrier pilots will attest to, it is not a pleasant experience to fly low and slow, towing gliders, or dropping paratroopers. The eeriness of this is compounded on nighttime missions when it seems that every bullet in the sky is aimed right at you, and the tracer fire dances up and down the glider tow lines. Our second D-Day mission was equally exciting. Again, we dropped gliders in the St. Mere Egliese area of France. Right after dropping the glider I descended rapidly in an arc in order to pick up speed and to clear the area. As I remembered it, we dove towards a Church steeple in the town from where we took heavy fire, but Leonard seems to remember it a little different. He is of the opinion that we were under fire by a gatling gun. In any event whatever hit us meant business. Leonard's right rudder pedal was shot completely off, with the shot then ricocheting up through the throttle quadrant, and then slammed into the Command radio set right above my head, dropping the radio into my lap. That truly caused some excitement, but no one sustained a scratch. You must know that our Lord was looking out after us. We also participated in other missions, including the Southern invasion of France, which was launched from Italy, but that was a milk run, compared to the Normandy missions. Combat missions bond crewmembers together, and I certainly felt lost without Leonard. I had heard that he was very seriously injured and it disturbed me, but the subsequent missions that followed temporarily removed those memories from my mind. After the war I started to try and locate him, and to determine if he was still alive. I knew he was from Iowa, but I had forgotten his middle initial. I made it a practice almost to call the Leonard Greiners in Iowa every time I got in the vicinity of the State. It is amazing how many Leonard Greiners there are in Iowa. One old codger once told me, "Hell Man! you have called me three times". While on leave in 1942 and while awaiting an opening for flight training I returned to Cheyenne, Wyoming and married Frieda Magill. Together we made the Air Force a career and engaged in many interesting assignments overseas. Our family consisted of two sons and a daughter. In 1945, and following his recovery, Leonard returned to civilian life in Hudson, Iowa, where he resumed a farming career. He married Mary Hermann in 1946, and they had three children, two boys and a girl. We still had not made contact with one another, and in fact, neither one of us knew if the other was alive. One day in April 2003, while sitting at the computer, and having no thoughts about Leonard, I said to myself "What would happen if I put my name, Ralph R. Curtis, in the search engine". I did and the first thing I noticed was "Accident report of Aircraft crash August 26, 1944". It seems that someone had the bright idea to collect all the data on crash reports and sell it for a reasonable fee. I got the data and soon learned that Greiner's middle initial was A. Through the miracle of the Internet and VetFriends, we found each other. The rest is history, we were reunited in Iowa about 59 years later, and met again in Washington D.C. in time for the dedication of the World War II memorial. ' |
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