709th Maint Bn & 99th CSB Assoc.
2014 Reunion Photos &
2014 Reunion After Actions Report & Commets
2014 709th & 99th Reunion Photos
Click the link above to view
2014 709th & 99th Reunion Photos
Click the link above to view
2014 709th & 99th Reunion Photos
Click the link above to view
2014 709th & 99th Reunion Photos
Click the link above to view
2014 709th & 99th Reunion Photos
Click the link above to view
2014 709th & 99th Reunion Photos
Click the link above to view
2014 709th & 99th Reunion Photos
Click the link above to view
2014 709th & 99th Reunion Photos
Click the link above to view
2014 709th & 99th Reunion Photos
Click the link above to view
2014
709th/99th
President's Reunion Recap
We had
our 10th successful reunion at the lovely home of Dean and Kathy
Ayres. Sadly a number of our
regulars were not able to attend this year and were missed.
Col. Ben Albert, Col George
Berg, Kenny and Carol Foss, were
unable to attend and were missed. Hope to see everyone back next year.
The trip to Ft McHenry and Baltimore Harbor
went off with only minor problems. After much concern the night before as the US
Parks Dept kept changing the rules .after our VP Chuck Gallinger had spent
months getting all the details arranged.
Besides the date being Sept. 11th, it was also the 200th
anniversary of the battle of Ft
McHenry, and Baltimore was going all out making it perhaps the busiest weekend
since the battle of Ft McHenry! So
we had to walk a little further then planned which was a strain on some of our
members. Chuck and I apologize for
that. We did get to see the National 9/11 memorial Flag and many Military
members, Police and Fire personnel and re-enactors who were at the fort for a
9/11 memorial ceremony. After the
fort we had some time to tour the harbor area. There were a number of tall ships
as well as current Navy ships in the harbor for the celebration.
It would have taken the entire weekend to see them all.
The Blue Angles were flying overhead in preparation for an airshow on the
weekend.
Someone on the
Coast Guard training ship the Eagle thought it would be a good idea to fire it's
cannon after docking! All of us old
Nam Vets and nearly everyone else in the area had a few heart stopping seconds
of , what the BLANK was that? Was
not the smartest idea on 9/11 and in a crowded area!
:)
Howie Monheit
our bus driver for all our trips was a trooper as always, guiding the bus thru
all the security and
road blocks getting us as close to the fort as possible before police finally
said, NO FURTHER!
Back at the
Ayres Compound we all enjoyed the fine meals and extras Mr Ayres and crew serve
up each year. Wed. was Deans famous
chicken dinner, Thurs. was melt in your mouth roast beef, Fri. another fine hog
was turned into delicious pulled pork, ending as always with a Sat. night steak
dinner. Plenty of sides and snacks
were provided. Plus just in case
anyone did not have enough to eat, each night was capped off with ice cream and
all the fixins!
The Blue Grass
band played for us Fri. night and on Sat night a new band named Miss Moses
played Americana music for us.
Miss Moses Band
also worked up a solemn version of
Taps I had requested, to play after I gave a Memorial Speech for our fallen
brothers, who never got to attend a reunion, but gave their lives so we have the
freedom to meet each year! We must
never forget those whose names are etched on The Wall.
Of course the
reunion ended with the amazing fireworks display, which each year seems to get
bigger!
Many of the
usual faces were there this year along with a few new faces. Everyone had a
great time, except for a shower Sat. afternoon, the weather was mostly good and
did not hinder us in any way.
The members
meeting on Sat. was brief. There
were no elections needed this year. Next year we will need a new VP as I step
down and Chuck Gallinger becomes our next President. We did vote and pass two
motions.
One was to make
Dean Ayres a lifetime member of the association dues free. Thanks for everything
Dean!
We also made
Deans' grandson Travis, our first Youth Associate! An idea
Judy Francis and Les Haley came up with to help make Travis feel part of
our group. We presented Travis with a 9th Division hat and Always
Able pin. I think we embarrassed
him a little having him in front of the group.
But his mom Beth said later he wanted her to make sure his hat was hung
where it could be easily seen in the house.
As always the
reunion was a great success. 10 years and still going strong. So a big thanks to
all that attended.
Again as each
year this all was put together and run perfectly by Dean and Kathy Ayres. With
LOTS of help from Beth Ayres, Tony Stubinsky, Roy Francis ( on KP duty)
and many others who helped out.
THANK YOU ALL for doing this every year and putting your heart and soul into it each year. We can not say THAK YOU enough!
MIKE Palmeri
President.
Page Last updated 2/12/2015
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