2011 Mar-Apr

MEDEVAC 15th Med\15th FSB
Mike Bodnar
307B N Main Copperas Cove, TX 76522
1704 254-542-1961
E-mail: mbodnar27@juno.com

I received a DVD from photojournalist Bob HUTCHINGS of the 1986 Chicago Vietnam Veterans' Welcome Home Parade. Bob made the DVD from stills he took, and superimposed appropriate songs by various artists. Bob says he was in Vietnam '68-'69 with the 7th Cav attached to the 3rd "Garryowen" Brigade. You can contact him at P.O. Box 53, Milan, PA 18831, (570)772-4707 to get a copy.

MEDEVAC gunner Mike "Smitty" SMITH mvandco@msn.com posted: "Well it has been a good run. I have made all the Reunions up 'till the next one [Apr 7-10, 2011]. I have won a 'Return to Vietnam' trip by the VFW. Sadly it is the same time as the Reunion. I will miss seeing all of you but this is a once in a life time. Will take lots of pictures for Reunion 15. Love ya all, Smitty."

E-mail came in: "My name is Roque TORRES, from Concord, California. A nice lady recently handed a group of items (uniform items, papers, gear etc.) The man passed away and had no children so she saved them from the dump and gave them to me. I am an amateur historian and military enthusiast with an eye toward preservation.

"The 1st Cav Division Veteran's name is Thomas FARIA. He served with the 15th MED Detachment from December 1967 to December 1968. He was your lab tech but also treated many wounded, civilians, and enemies alike. I have an excellent picture of his time in Vietnam thanks to a daily diary he kept from January 1st 1968 until his arrival home in December 1968.

"I have downloaded many of the documents from your Website and will now begin correlating the missions, reports, casualties, to match his diary. He kept nice daily records of his movements, places, times as well as the names of many of you and your 15th MED cohorts. There are many anecdotes, complaints, happy stories, sad ones, tragic ones, and more. I am honored, humbled, happy and sad all at once to have read his combat experience and have committed myself to honor him in the best way I can. I will glean some names and perhaps you can point me to those survivors that knew him. Roque TORRES."

If anyone knows Thomas FARIA please contact Roque TORRES at his e-mail address: toroq64@yahoo.com .

More e-mail: "Dear Mike, You don't know me. I'm the son of a B Troop, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Trooper. My dad was at Quan Loi when he began his first tour in September 1969. He lived through his tour, as a crew chief\door gunner, and extended. He eventually went home in April 1971.

"As such, I've been looking for photos on eBay, amongst other places, for a documentary I'm working on. And, I found some Quan Loi photos for sale last week --- they only went for $4.99. I was very surprised the package had all the negatives too which I scanned on a professional Nikon 35mm scanner taking out the dust and scratches, adjusting tones and color - the negatives were underexposed and faded too.

"What's almost, or maybe just as good --- the names of everyone were on the backs of the faded prints. I'm attaching the photos. The captions of in the metadata (file info) which can be seen with Photoshop or some other editing program.

"You can post these or whatever. A lot of guys owe the guys from 15th MED plenty. They even took care of my dad when he was hit on February 18, 1971.

"Unfortunately, these photos came from an estate auction according to the eBay auction description and I don't know if that means the estate of the veteran or maybe a parent? His name on the back is of course 'Me' and I have no idea who he is. Scouts over, Jeremy HOGAN." Rick GOODSON and Bill WALSH both forwarded notice and links of the 1986 Chicago Vietnam Veterans' Welcome Home Parade video made by a Chicago television station news department which the anchors narrate. You can watch the complete '86 parade in parts at: http://serviveandhonor.org/videos.html . There were roughly 100,000 attendees at that parade and watching the video was a good reminder of all.

Go to: Http://serviveandhonor.org for information on the June 17- 19 2011 Chicago Vietnam Veterans' Welcome Home Parade. Saddle up!.

Always remembering our 1st Cav troops on duty around the world; over and out.

FIRST TEAM!
Garryowen,
Mike Bodnar C 2\7 '69
MEDEVAC 1-7\70
SO THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE