3rd/17th --- 1st/9th Air Cavalry Squadron THE BULLWHIP SQUADRON NEWS _______________________________________________________________________ The official News Magazine of the Bullwhip Squadron Association July 2002 UNDERSTANDING AS HE SITS AT THE TABLE YOU CAN SEE IT IN HIS EYES, FEAR, HATE, CONFUSION, AND PRIDE. TELLING HIS STORY OF NAM TO HIS CHILD, IS THE HARDEST. HOW DO YOU GET A KID TO REALIZE THE HORRORS OF WAR? BUT HES THE ONLY ONE AROUND. AS I SIT AT THE TABLE LISTENING, I WONDER IF THIS MAN BEFORE ME IS MY FATHER. HOW CAN A MEAR MAN EXPERIANCE SUCH THINGS AND STILL BE ABLE TO GO ON? I DONT UNDERSTAND. AS HE TELLS HIS STORY ALL HIS FEARS SUFACE. THE THOUGHT OF HIS FRIENDS DYING, THE THOUGHT OF HIMSELF SURVIVING, THE THOUGHT OF THE ONES LEFT BEHIND. HE ASKED HIMSELF AGAIN, HOW DO YOU GET A KID TO REALIZE THE HORRORS OF WAR ? AS I HEAR THE WORDS COME OUT. I THINK TO MYSELF THAT HE SHOULD BE LUCKY. HE MADE IT, BACK HES HERE WITH US. NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENED, HES HOME. BUT STILL I DONT UNDERSTAND. AS HE RELIVES THE PAST, TELLING ME MORE ABOUT THE HORRIBLE PLACE. OF HOW YOU SIT AND WAIT FOR THE SOUND OF THE HUEYS COMING INTO THE LZ, GUNFIRE IN THE DISTANCE, YOUR BUDDIES BLOOD GETTING INTO YOUR EYES. HE WONDERS TO HIMSELF, HOW DO YOU GET A KID TO REALIZE THE HORRORS OF WAR? AS THE TEARS ROLL FROM HIS EYES, I START TO SEE WHAT A GREAT MAN I HAVE FOR A FATHER. HE MAYBE HOME WITH US NOW, BUT HE IS STILL OVER THERE TOO. I GUESS IF A PERSON GOES THROUGH THAT IT TAKES A PART OF THEM WITH IT. I HOPE I CAN HELP HIM COME HOME COMPLETELY. AND DAD, IF YOU WANT A CHILD TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING, HAVE SOMEONE THEY LOVE TO TELL THEM, I LOVE YOU AND I DO UNDERSTAND. Written by Scott Williams 2 Adjutants Call As I write this, the nation is celebrating Memorial Day, the day we recall the service of all men and women who have served the nation. The holiday was once referred to as Decoration Day. It was first observed here in Columbus, Georgia in honor of Confederate War Dead. We need not look to history to remember the deeds of Heroes. We need only to look in the “Bullwhip Squadron News” for March 2002. Read the story on page 37 by CW4 Marion Moore, that tells among other things, the heroism of Captain Jerry Leaderbrand during the La Drang afterwards. He also tells of my personal hero, Tex Helms, who was riding shotgun with the crew that saved Toby Braveboy. There were many brave men serving with the1st/9th, from mechanics, crewchiefs, grunts, pilots, cooks, admin., to just plain gofers. All of these made up our Cav. All were part of the whole and all very important to our success as an Air Cav Squadron. There is a lot of good reading in the Squadron News. Keep your copies, read it from cover to cover and recount the important events of your service with our own JBS, and with others. Forever keep your comrades and fellow brothers in your memory. Another patriot says the words needed for today’s America. Words that many outside the military never learn. Words that are starkly true in today’s environment of terrorism and strife against America’s interest world wide and especially here on our shores. Read and understand that we are the foundation of this great country and must pass on to the younger generation our beliefs. Only this will keep America strong for future generations. “War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war, is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight; nothing he cares about more than his own personal safety; is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself”. John Stuart Mill We Can, We Will, We did !! FOR THE COMMANDER, DICK D GRUBE ADJUTANT 3 Many of you have written articles for the news magazine and have expressed your opinion on many subjects, both liberal and conservative. The editor has maintained a policy of printing those articles regardless of the “political correctness” of the articles, as long as they were acceptable for all audiences regardless of age, to read, and were written with integrity. Articles in this issue are again from our members, and others, that sound an opinion worth reading. It is up to you, the reader, to determine if the articles mirror your beliefs and attitudes. If they do not, then it is your prerogative to sound off with your opinion in the next issue. Our lifestyle and freedoms have been drastically changed by the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Make no mistake, we are under attack for our Christian way of life and beliefs. What we, as a nation, do now, will determine the future survival of our country, The United States Of America. The articles in the news magazine are not necessarily the opinion of the editor or the BWS Board Members. The articles are here to make you think and act as a responsible citizen and veteran of this great country. God Bless America. BWS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TAPS None this period. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One of the All-Time Best Quotes In a recent interview, General Norman Schwartzkopf was asked if he didn't think there was room for forgiveness toward the people who have harbored and abetted the terrorists who perpetrated the 9/11 attacks on America. His answer was classic Schwartzkopf. He said, "I believe that forgiving them is God's function. Our job is simply to arrange the meeting." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- General Order No. 11, May 5, 1868 "The 30th day of May 1868 is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land." MG John Alexander Logan Grand Army of the Republic _____________________________________________________________________ 4 FROM THE COMMANDER your use are the Aviation museum Web page at www.armyavnmuseum.org and the Army The Ft Rucker/Ozark area is awaiting your Aviation Heritage Foundation Web page at arrival for the 2002 BWS Reunion. More details www.armyav.org. All of these web sites give are contained in other articles so I shall limit my you a sense of belonging, for they are all about comments to my normal rambling thoughts. you and the times that were, and are, important to As you may recall, there is a local chapter of you. the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation that Your plans now should be well under way for presents airshows at various places in the eastern attending the October reunion. While we US. At the14 May Armed Forces Day airshow at reserved lots of rooms, over 200 in 3 motels, with Cairns AAF, here at Ft Rucker, I was talking with the Holiday Inn still the Headquarters, the rooms a former Army pilot and asked when he had gone are gone except for the rooms at the All thru flight school. He said it was in the 64/65 American Motel. These rooms are going fast so time period and asked if I knew a Charles get your reservation in now. – the early bird gets "Pappy" Deitsch or a Drew Sufkin who were in the worm, and in this case, the motel. See Loel’s his class. article on the motel rooms and phone numbers. To his surprise I told him they were both For all Who have an Interest in Army members of my A Troop gunship platoon in Aviation, I received this information from Morris 1965/66. Anyway, I had lost track of Drew after J. Brady, Maj. Gen. US Army (ret), Chairman we left Vietnam and never had heard anyone say AAHF. where he was. “ I have just been informed of the passing of As a result of this conversation I was able to Joseph P. Cribbins, aviation logistician get a telephone number and called Drew several extrodinaire. Joe Cribbins passed away days later and of course asked him to join the peacefully in his sleep in the evening, June 14, BWS. That was an amazing reconnection after 2002, following complications from a fall. 36 years! Fittingly, the date was also the 227 anniversary of Now on to other matters. Right now it is the founding of the US Army that Joe loved and planned to have a Huey at the reunion and offer served so well. Joe was eighty-eight years of age rides at $35 a person. We have to pay for the fuel at the time of his death. guys and this bird is a big SUV and sucks it up. The tales of Joe's accomplishments and Also hope to have Joe Salomone and his U10 contributions to Army Aviation are legendary. HeliCourrier at the reunion. He was an untiring champion of the Army Again, remember – due to the post high Aviator and of Army aviation, a fact that won security status of military installations, visiting him an early place in the Army Aviation Hall of Ft. Rucker and the Army Aviation Museum, is a Fame. Solving knotty problems of acquisition or lot easier if your vehicle has a DOD tag.