The Marines of
The Basic School, 1-67
|
Quantico, Virginia was the destination for 181 Marine Corps 2nd Lieutenants (and 4 1st Lieutenants!) in June 1966, for "The Basic School". Almost all newly graduated and commissioned, we knew it would be an interesting and possibly difficult 21-week experience before our "real" active duty assignments. Almost all of us became good friends with one another, whether our term of duty was brief, tragically cut short, or for a full 30 years. 29 years later, after much talk and procrastination about finding everyone and possibly having a reunion, a "TBS 1-67 Bulletin" was published and sent to 11 guys. 10 months later, the list of contacts had grown to more than 80 and there was a tentative plan for a reunion. In June 1996, we had our first reunion, based at the Alexandria, VA Holiday Inn, through the hard work and great organizational skills of Bob Lange. In spite of a brief advance warning, 25 of us gathered with spouses, kids, and friends. On June 13, the "advance group" visited the evening parade at the Iwo Jima Memorial. The next evening, the full crew went to the Marine Barracks Evening Parade at 8th & I. The next day we toured Quantico, the Vietnam Memorial, and got together for a banquet. (Note: This site is moving to TBS167.com - this original page is still working, but the all updates will be on the new site). Our 30th Anniversary Reunion banquet group photo! The next section has a group photo and a link to other pictures from our 35th reunion.
Andy Vaart has copies of the 30th Reunion Cruise Book - contact him at vaart.a@home.com or check the next paragraph to download a copy. This web site will someday tell the story of "Reunion I" and more about our class, but currently we are providing a record of who has been located, who is yet to be found and our classmates who are no longer with us. The "Cruise Book" for the 30th Reunion can be viewed or downloaded (a pdf file*) in three parts, Volume I , Volume II and (of course) Volume III. We have now located 128 guys from TBS 1-67. 24 of our classmates have passed away. We're still looking for 33 more former Marine officers. If you are reading this and know any former Marines, please check these lists and let us know what you know! Thanks! 35th Reunion - It was great, or "Whoops, We Did it Again!" Finally, the 38 of us who made the trek to Alexandria VA are all back at home, making sense of the activities, stories and memories of "Reunion II". And there certainly will be tales on this website very soon. Our Reunion polo shirts were great - although we never agreed on the "color of the day" - and we now have a TBS emblem patch which will also be available for future shirt orders. But on the adage that a "picture is worth a thousand words", take a look at: Andy Vaart reports:
Our 35th Anniversary Reunion - a group photo in the TBS Sand Room! Our planning for Reunion II started on November 1, 2000, when Jack Glasgow announced: "I just had the pleasure of hosting a planning meeting for our 35th reunion. Present were Mike Wholley, Bob Lange, Andy Vaart, and yours truly. I have Hays Parks on the "addee" list, because if he weren't on a trip today, he would be working with our Reunion Committee." As of May 30, 2001, 37 deposits for Reunion II had been sent to Bob Lange - it looked like a great event was shaping up! Bulletin No. 2 2It's under construction and should be done July 4 - Happy Holiday! Much thanks to Mike Wholley for sending more than 100 digital photos from the Reunion, but who are all these people?! Bulletin No. 21 The final alert message on the 35th Reunion was sent out in Bulletin No. 21 on May 17, 2001 to 126 guys on the mailing list. Russ Harrison checked in just in time to get recognized in this issue. Before the end of May, we got a confirmed address for Terry Bache in South Carolina and Ed Eloe also called in from Colorado. Welcome aboard! Bulletin No. 20 Yes, hard to believe, but our Twentieth Issue mailed about the same time as my taxes, April 15. How's that for multiprocessing? It had more reunion news and many updates on our "alumni". Also news that TBS member Number 120 has turned up, Gil Game in South Carolina. Just a few weeks after this issue was mailed, Chuck Vogt had a friend research our list of the "missing alumni" and we made further contacts to 14 "possibles". Five of these contacts have firmed up - Tom Drummond, Ron Laughlin, Ken Shumate, Jim Spinks and Phil Zeman. We're waiting for phone calls or return mail from the other 9. Thanks Chuck! Bulletin No. 19 The first batch of this Bulletin was mailed February 26, 2001 and all 118 issues will be in the mail before March 1! Our "located" count is up to 119 guys with the addition of a current address for Ed Lawrence. Bulletin No. 18 Our apologies to the Post office, but the latest Bulletin was mailed on December 17 to 117 guys to send seasonal greetings and more news on the Reunion. There were also a few new and/or changed addresses. And here is the first page - A Proper Marine Corps Christmas. Just after this issue was put in the mail, I heard from Tom Pierpan with an address for Jim Orr, so his Bulletin is now heading to Kansas! Bulletin No. 17 It was mailed to 115 guys on November 6-7 to announce that the Reunion will happen! We heard from Tom Thomson, who sent along an address for Ed Michael and confirmed that Tom Crew, Walt Horsfall and Ed were in NROTC at Northwestern U. Thanks for the updates, Tom! A short time later, Bob Lange sent contact data for Dick Esler and he is now among our "located". Bob, Dick & Russ Harrison are all Southern Cal alumni. Bulletin No. 16 The "all data, summer special" Bulletin was sent by mail during the first week of August, 2000. Thanks to some great tips from the guys with email, we added four more guys to the "located" list - and the lists linked below have been updated with miscellaneous bits of info about the guys located and still not found. Since the initial mailing of No. 16 Bulletin, three more addresses have turned up - for Richard Daerr, Bob Hawks, and Lance Zellers. Welcome to the "active" list! Bulletin No. 15 Volume 4, No. 1 was mailed to 108 guys in early July, 2000. This issue was primarily news about TBS 1-67 members, with only a few email addresses and other updated contact information. The next issue (see above) was planned to be an updated roster, with addresses, phone and email for all known "B" Company members. In this issue, the concept of "Reunion 2001" was surfaced. It's hard to believe that four years have passed by since our 30th reunion. Because the Reunion depends so much on leader(s)/coordinator(s), the location, date and events will probably be entirely up to the volunteer(s) who step up to this task - we have no organization, formal or otherwise! However, contributions for the Bulletin and Reunion are welcomed! Just a few days after this Bulletin was sent, Tom Wall was "re-located"! The count is up to 109. Bulletin No. 14 Volume 3, No. 2 was sent to 94 guys during the last days of December, 1999. This issue was primarily news about TBS 1-67 members, including updated contact information. There was also a story about Kevin Trainor's acquaintance with Earl Smith's young cousin, Joel Bate, and the family interest in hearing from those of us who remembered Earl. His roommate in TBS, Cam Smith contributed his thoughts, as did Andy Vaart. Kevin later wrote that the family appreciated our memories and writings. Six weeks after the Bulletin was mailed, John Kaheny of "A" Company sent a note. Through him, Chuck Vogt was located and we have a lead on Ross Reeves. Thanks, John! Right after that, we heard from Rich Hodory and were able to add 10 more names to the TBS contact list! The Bulletin was then mailed to check addresses for the following - if they pan out, that's 106 guys contacted, 55 to go! The new contacts were:
We later heard from Glenn Hill and Jim Turse. Glenn is at the Marine Military Academy and reports that Bill Johnson is in Pennsylvania, so we hope to hear from him. Jim is in New England, after many years in Honolulu. Although we don't have a current address for Tom Wall, I've heard he's in Orange County (CA) and on the El Toro development committee. Finally, in June, just as we started Bulletin No. 15, we heard from Mike White, now running a business in Thailand. I must visit to scout locations for Reunion 2001! Bulletin No. 13 Volume 3, No. 1 was mailed to 91 guys in July, 1999. This was an "all addresses" issue that provided contact information for TBS 1-67 members. Since mailing No. 13, we received updates to the data in that Bulletin by e-mail and from the USPS. Dave Taylor reported in by e-mail with a current Florida address and speculated that Pete Millichap is in Atlanta and Bob DeLuca in Texas. We confirmed addresses for both. We also have updated contact info from Larry Karch, Dick Hulslander, Walt Walsh, Ed Hinkle, Rich Hodory and Jim Henderson. The web tables have been updated. Nice to hear from and about you guys! Bulletin No. 12 We published a Bulletin in December, 1998. As a result of this issue No. 12, Dan Kuhn was located in Cincinnati and John Wegl in Alexandria. Tom Nequette has sent some promising leads for a few other guys. Just after the 11th "B Company Bulletin" (the newsletter) was printed on April 3, 1998 another classmate was added to our roster, Rev. Alan McLean in Pine Bluff, AR. He and Jim McClung attended the 30th Anniversary Siege of Khe Sanh tour, March 10-23. Soon after, Bob Lange forwarded John Oppenhuizen's current address in Yorktown. Great news! 94 copies of Bulletin No. 12 were sent out and three issues came back with outdated addresses. We don't have a current location for Tom Wall, Ed Lawrence or Richard Daerr. In General Please send me any news of TBS 1-67. It will be in the next - July 2001 - issue. A personal story - I had a strange experience in August, 1999 while browsing at a Monterey bookstore. I noticed a new book "The Marines" (by BGen Edwin Howard Simmons and J. Robert Moskin, Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, October 1998, ISBN 0883631989). In the chapter on aviation (page 225), there's a photo of a Phantom I instantly recognized. It's me and my favorite pilot, Maj. Carl Black, crash landing at Chu Lai! The caption states something like "a Phantom kicks up dust on the runway while landing..." which is not correct. The photographer was SSgt C.M. Hoar (and I've located Cal Hoar, who retired from the Corps as a Captain with much VMCJ experience). The photo first appeared in "Stars and Stripes", a day or two after the November 1, 1968 incident. This photo was also in "USMC Phantoms in Combat" by Lou Drendel, Squadron/Signal Publications, 1990, ISBN 0897472357. The photos and the whole story are now on our "32nd Anniversary" web site. Bob Schmitt TBS 1-67 Classmates Not Yet Located Contact me at bsbrbank@pacbell.net
or This page was last updated on July 19, 2001 |
|
*You need to have Acrobat installed.
