1st Cavalry Division Association Non-Profit Organization 302 N. Main St. US. Postage PAID Copperas Cove, Texas 76522-1703 West, TX 76691 Change Service Requested Permit No. 39 SABER Published By and For the Veterans of the Famous 1st Cavalry Division VOLUME 69 NUMBER 1 Website: www.1CDA.org JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2020 A brief history of HORSE DETACHMENT by CPT Jenny Nocella THE PRESIDENT’S CORNER my first three weeks in Viet Nam: Fifty The Horse Cavalry Detachment welcomed Allen Norris the New Year in Pasadena, California by (704) 483-8778 years ago, I was home [email protected] on leave with orders representing the First Team in the 131st for Vietnam. Tournament of Roses Parade (left photo) nd and conducted horsemanship skills training I arrived at Bien Hoa airbase on Jan 12, 1970. As an officer (2 Lt. Artillery) with the LAPD Metro Division Mounted! I was given a “dream sheet” with different possible unit choices listed. I wanted st The six-mile parade route was lined with to be with the best, so I checked the 1 Cavalry Division. I know now and have thousands of spectators and is a true spectacle known for a many years that it was the right choice, although there were a few to behold. The members of the Detachment, times during 1970 that I wasn’t so sure. st represented Fort Hood and Central Texas I was assigned to the 1 Cav and then to 2/19 Field Artillery in Tay Ninh. From with class, whooping and hollering to the there I was sent to B Battery then located on FB Jamie and in support of 2/7 Cav. crowds and wishing everyone a Happy After I graduated from Artillery OCS at Ft. Sill in March 1969 I was assigned as an New Year. In addition to the parade itself, instructor; I hadn’t been involved in anything related to the artillery in 10 months. the HCD got to participate in Equestfest, Now I’m in the middle of a war zone assigned to a 105 Battery. the equestrian portion of the Tournament of Roses. The Equestfest features the My first assignment was as acting Battalion LNO. I don’t remember why the best equestrian performers from all across America; the Detachment performed LNO (a Major) assigned to 2/7 was away, but there I was. Thankfully, the LNO’s a fast-paced mounted Drill & Ceremony demonstration, which was aired on the right hand man, an EM named Charlie Waters (aka India), was there and he kept Cowboy Channel. It was an exhilarating performance in front of a sold-out crowd me in line. As an interesting side note: during those few days, I read an article in at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. Stars and Stripes where Jean Dixon, a famous psychic at the time, was predicting a Hitting the ground running after defeat of the 7th Cavalry as bad as Custer’s. Thankfully she was frequently wrong. our trip to California, the HCD will For my next training session, I was sent out on patrol for 4 days or so as a for- host interviews, physical fitness ward observer (FO) with the CIDGs – mercenaries with a Special Forces SGT as test, and the HCD Agility Test at the an advisor. This SF SGT taught me a few basic FO procedures. We didn’t run beginning of February for any 1st into any NVA during these few days but that changed very quickly when I was Cavalry Division Soldiers interested assigned as the FO and spent the next 6-7 months with A 2/7. in becoming members of the HCD. The 1st Cavalry Division and the Association’s North Carolina Chapter If selected, Soldiers will enter a 30 lost a great friend and ardent supporter in October. Jane Fredrickson passed away day Cavalry School where they are October 12, 2019. Her story is inspiring. She was 17 and living in the Philippines taught basic military horsemanship with her family when they were captured by the Japanese in 1942. and equine anatomy, culminating in Over the next 3 years they were in several POW camps, finally in Santo Thomas a final written and riding test. Those Demonstration Team presents Sabers at the in Manila. It’s hard to imagine the horrors they had to endure. Japanese soldiers that pass will become members of completion of the Equestfest Demonstration were often very cruel. Many of her fellow POW’s did not survive. However, the Detachment. in the 18 years I knew Jane, she never complained about the way they were Look for the HCD at this year’s Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo at the end treated. She only talked about how thankful she was that the Soldiers of the 1st of February and at upcoming ceremonies at Cooper Field. We look forward to Cavalry Division had liberated them. Their faith in God and in America gave seeing you on the road at an event, or feel free to stop by the barn anytime for a them hope. tour or just to say hey. We conduct our demonstrations at the detachment every Thursday at 1000 hundred hours (depending on weather and mission require- The whole time in captivity they had managed to live on meager rations. ments). We use this time to train new mounts and Troopers and invite the public However, in the three months prior to February 1945, they were not given any to come out and enjoy the show. Feel free to call ahead to check our schedule at food by the Japanese soldiers. They were barely surviving on grass and vines. (254) 287-2229. You can also find us on Facebook at 1st Cavalry Division Horse They were close to starvation when on February 3, 1945 an American plane Cavalry Detachment. It is truly an honor to represent America’s First Team and flew over Santo Thomas and dropped a message tied to a pair of goggles. The I look forward to the year ahead. message said that American Soldiers would be there the next day – elements of st the 1 Cavalry Division arrived that night. February 3rd, 2020 marks the During her captivity, Jane kept a journal. Her daughter related one entry that THE DIRECTOR’S CHAIR 75th Anniversary of the liberation told how a woman with a young child went up to a Soldier and said to the child Dara C. Wydler of the Santo Tomas Internment “This is an American Soldier, he will be kind to you.” 302 N. Main St. Camp. We have a dear friend who The next day, under the first American flag that these now exPOWs had seen Copperas Cove, TX 76522-1703 calls the office often to thank the in more than three years, close to four thousand gathered and sang “God Bless (254) 547-6537 Division. Her name is Rosemary America” and then our National Anthem. Most of them were crying as they [email protected] Hoyt Weber and she was 10 years struggled to finish the last two lines “the land of the free and the home of the old when the tanks came rolling through the gates. Rosemary and her mother were brave.” both taken captive by the Japanese in 1942. If I remember correctly, Rosemary’s Jane’s love of the 1st Cavalry Division was passed to her family. Those of us father was taken prisoner by the Japanese, put on a boat that was eventually sunk from the North Carolina chapter who attended her funeral/memorial service were by American forces, never to return home. asked to enter the service with the family and to sit with them. It was an honor Rosemary maintained contact with several of the Soldiers who were there that to represent those men who rescued Jane and the other POWs 75 years ago. day: Chelly Mendoza, Jack Pike, Chetly Calvery, and John Yunker. As the years Jane Doner Fredrickson (1924 -2019) passed, she maintained those relationships with their Families. Rosemary always Allen (TrailSpike 47) ends our conversations with this phrase: “Freedom isn’t free, and they risked their lives to free total strangers”. INDEX PAGE INDEX PAGE INDEX PAGE 1CDA OFFICE NEWS 16 CHAPTER NEWS 14 NEW MEMBERS 11 Vietnam History Book: Here is the most recent email traffic with Randy and 5th CAV 5 CHANGE ADDRESS 2 OTHER REUNIONS 3 Acclaim Press, “Dara, I’m sorry for how long this is taking. Initially we were 7th CAV 7 DOCTOR'S REPORT 19 PAST REUNION PINS 19 waiting to make sure there was enough interest, and in retrospect I wish we had 8th CAV 8 DONATIONS 5 REUNION 12-13 started sooner. That said, we didn’t want this to appear as though we had just 9th CAV 9 ELECTIONS 12 SABER RENEWAL 2 scanned the pages, so we took extra time with the text in particular to make sure 12th CAV 6 ENGINEERS 20 SANTO TOMAS 21 it is just as crisp and beautiful as when the books rolled off the presses 50 years 15th MED 17 HICCUP 10 S O U V E N I R S H O P 1 5 ago. All the elements are now in digital form and in our design department for 20th ARA 18 HONOR ROLL 23 TAPS 2 compilation. I will send you a proof of the pages for a quick comparison before 82nd FA 11 HQ AND SPEC TRPS 22 TROOPER'S TALE 3 we go to press. We are still months away from release.” CALENDAR 2 LETTERS TO EDITOR 2 VIETNAM T-SHIRTS 16 CHAPTER INDEX 15 LRRP 4 WANTED 5 A thought for 2020: “Life’s not about expecting, hoping and wishing, it’s about LRRP BOOK 19 ZERO TO HERO 5 doing, being and becoming.” Page 2 saber JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2020 Don’t Keep it a SECRET, Let us Know About It.