Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Valorous Unit Award


Department of the Army, US Army Resources Command, 200 Stovall Street, Alexandria, VA 22331-0400

Permanent Orders 089-10  30 March 2010

Anyone serving with F/8 during that time is eligible to wear the VALOROUS UNIT AWARD.

This link will go to the PDF copy of the Order.


Please pass the word to anyone you know who was there at that time.
 
Hey, what's 39  years among friends?  
 
Dick Crawley
"Blueghost Green"
F/8 Cav
Oct '70 - Oct '71

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Bat 21 SAR

From:
  Scatback Scribe <scatbackscribe@gmail.com> Hide
Add to: To DoCalendar
To:
   <blueghosrd@aol.com>
Date:
Sun, Sep 5, 2010 5:32 pm



Blue Ghost Red,

 

Bill, I’m interested in contacting the living members of F Troop, 8th Cavalry, of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, Marble Mountain AAF -- “Blue Ghost” who participated in the Bat 21B SAR effort in April 1972. 

 

I don’t know the status of the following individuals:  Capt Mike Rosebeary, Blueghost 28; CWO George Ezell, Blueghost 24; Tim Sprouse, Blueghost Red; Capt Thomas White, operations officer; etc.  There may be other Blueghosts who flew on Bat 21; however, I may not know their names.  If you do, please include.

 

I’d also like to communicate with Mike Austin, Blueghost 23 who has written about the Bat 21 SAR.

 

Can you help with e-mail and/or phone numbers?

 

Thxs,

Bob Laymon, CMSgt, USAF (E-9 Ret.)

Scatback Scribe

Director of History

Tan Son Nhut Association

 

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

BLUEGHOST REUNION 2010


John "Doc" Anderson (L)
Richard "Gus" Gustafson(R)

Orlando, FL reunion by Blueghost737, Carter Davis.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Nick Bacon

Vietnam MoH recipient Nick Bacon, 64, dies


The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jul 20, 2010 8:27:28 EDT

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Medal of Honor recipient and former director of the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs Nick Bacon has died, the department said Saturday.

Bacon, 64, died Saturday morning after suffering from cancer, according to a release from the department. He served in the Army from 1963-84 and received the Medal of Honor for his actions during a 1968 battle in Vietnam.

Gov. Mike Beebe called Bacon an “American hero.”

“He never wanted anything for himself, but always wanted to protect other people in uniform. Arkansas will miss him,” Beebe told reporters Saturday.

According to the Army’s website, Bacon, a staff sergeant, took command of two platoons after the leaders of each were wounded during a battle near Tam Ky, Vietnam, on Aug. 26, 1968.

Bacon, using grenades, destroyed an enemy bunker before single-handedly killing an enemy gun crew and disabling an anti-tank weapon. He then helped rescue several wounded and trapped soldiers, according to the website’s account.

He served as director of the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs from 1993 to 2005.

Bacon was born Nov. 25, 1945, in Caraway in northeast Arkansas and moved with his family as a child to Arizona, where he joined the Army.

He returned to Arkansas in 1990 and most recently lived in Rose Bud, about 65 miles north of Little Rock.

Funeral services are planned for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery in North Little Rock.

Related reading

Read Nick Bacon’s Medal of Honor citation

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Blue Ghosts 1967-68

  These are the original Blue Ghosts that were constituted as Troop C, 7/17 Cavalry at Fort Knox, Ky. in 1967 and deployed as a unit to RVN in October of that year.  These men remained together as a combat unit from early 1967 until late 1968. It has been said that the primary reason for the great record of this unit was the fact that it remained virtually intact for almost two years.

"We were so lucky to have been deployed as a unit. I have often thought what that did for us in building bonds. Most of the WO pilots had been together for almost 18 months before we set foot in Qui Nhon and the enlisted and RLO's had been a unit for at least a period of months. The Army learned that you don't fight for your country or your flag - you fight for the guy next to you and they abandoned individual rotations in the '80's. But we knew it in '67 and proved it repeatedly."  Quote from John Shepardson, Blue Ghost 1967-68.
                                                                                                                                      

Friday, June 4, 2010

The Truth

Forwarded by Debrah Donner
 
How past patriots astutely handled negative comments about America


 

JFK'S 
Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in  France in the early 60's when 
DeGaulle decided to pull out of NATO.  DeGaulle said he wanted all  US  
military out of  France as soon as possible.

Rusk responded,
"Does that include those who are buried here?"

 
 
DeGaulle 
did not respond.

You 
could have heard a pin drop.


 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 
 
 
When in  England,
at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the 

Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of 
'empire building' by George Bush.
 
He answered by saying,

"Over the years, the United States has sent many of 
its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom 
beyond our borders.  The only amount of land we have ever asked for 
in return is enough to bury those that did not 
return."

 

You 
could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


 
There was a conference in France

where a number of international engineers 
were taking part, including French and American.  During a break, 
one of the French engineers came back into the room saying, "Have you 
heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft 
carrier to  Indonesia to help the tsunami victims.  What does he 
intend to do, bomb them?"

 
A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly:  
"Our carriers have three 

hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are 
nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to 
shore facilities; they have three  cafeterias with the capacity to 
feed 5,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand 
gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a 
dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and 
from their flight deck.  We have eleven such ships;
how many does France have?"

 

You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


 
A  U.S. Navy Admiral

was attending a naval conference that included 
Admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French 
Navies  At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large 
group of officers that included personnel from most of those countries. 
Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a 
French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English. 
He then asked, "Why is it that 

we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than 
speaking French?"

 
Without hesitating,

the American Admiral replied, "Maybe it's because the 
Brit's, Canadians, Aussie's and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't 
have to speak German."
 

You 
could have heard a pin drop.


 
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


 
AND 
THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...

 
Robert Whiting,

an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in  Paris by plane.

At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport

in his carry on.

 
"You have been to France before, monsieur?" 
the customs officer asked sarcastically.

 
Mr. Whiting

admitted that he had been to France previously.

 
"Then 
you should know enough to have your passport ready."
 
The American said,

"The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it."

 
"Impossible.. 
Americans always have to show their passports on arrival in  France !"

 
The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look.  
Then he quietly explained, 
''Well, when I came ashore at
 Omaha Beach on D-Day in 
1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchmen 
to show a passport to."

You 
could have heard a pin drop.


 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


 

If you are Proud to be an American, pass this on if you have time! 
If you are not a Proud American, GET OUT!



 

I am proud to be of the United States of AMERICA;

God Bless America

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Crossing a Border

Forwarded by Linda Donovan~



Crossing a Border?
 

LET ME SEE IF I GOT THIS RIGHT!!! 


IF YOU CROSS THE 
NORTH KOREAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOR 
 
IF YOU CROSS THE 
IRANIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY. 

IF YOU CROSS THE 
AFGHAN BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU GET SHOT. 

IF YOU CROSS THE 
SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE JAILED. 

IF YOU CROSS THE 
CHINESE BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU MAY NEVER BE HEARD FROM AGAIN. 

IF YOU CROSS THE 
VENEZUELAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE BRANDED A SPY AND YOUR FATE WILL BE SEALED. 

IF YOU CROSS THE 
CUBAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE THROWN INTO POLITICAL PRISON TO ROT. 

IF YOU CROSS THE 
U.S. BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET   

1 - A JOB, 
2 - A DRIVERS LICENSE, 
3 - SOCIAL SECURITY CARD, 
4 - WELFARE, 
5 - FOOD STAMPS, 
6 - CREDIT CARDS, 
7 - SUBSIDIZED RENT OR A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE, 
8 - FREE EDUCATION, 
9 - FREE HEALTH CARE, 
10 - A LOBBYIST IN WASHINGTON 
11 - BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS PRINTED IN YOUR LANGUAGE 
12 - AND THE RIGHT TO CARRY YOUR COUNTRY'S FLAG WHILE YOU PROTEST THAT YOU DON'T GET ENOUGH RESPECT 



I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE I HAD A FIRM GRASP ON THE SITUATION. 

Are WE dumb or what ????? 

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Blue Ghost Reunion 2010

Brian Stomps has submitted 225 photos made at the 2010 reunion at Orlando. These albums are posted on the front page of this site. If anyone would like to attach names, I am sure it would be greatly appreciated by those who could not attend.

Blue Ghost Reunion 2010‏
From:  (blueghostred@msn.com)
Sent:Mon 5/10/10 10:18 PM
To:guspolly@msn.com 
Richard Gustafson
Gus,
      There are 225 photos in three albums from the reunion posted on Blue Ghosts. I am sure that you have seen them.  Would you kindly supply or attach names to those individuals. You can post them to the photos themselves if you like. Having names would be a great benefit to those who could not attend.

Thanks, Bill

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Brian Stomps~Blue Ghosts 1969-70

Brian served as a tech inspector in F Troop 8th Cavalry in 1969-70. He made these 8mm movie clips at the Ky Ha Heliport, Chu Lai, Republic of Vietnam during that time. This video is posted in the video section.

Brian will be at the reunion in Orlando, Florida on April 29, 2010 and he encourages all who see this to come and join him. It is not too late to make plans to go. Just notify Ron Willey that you are going to be there and he relates that "it is never too late".

Monday, April 5, 2010

Reunion

Made reservations today.  See all of you in Florida.

 

MSG Adam Mouton (67-68)

Friday, March 26, 2010

2010 Reunion

Have hotel reservations for me and the wife.  Looking forward to seeing everyone at the reunion, just wish more were coming.

Blueghost737

 

2010 Reunion

Have hotel reservations for me and the wife. Looking forward to seeing everyone at the reunion.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Blue Ghost Reunion

Start:     Apr 29, '10
End:     May 2, '10
Orlando, Florida, April 29-May 2, 2010
Rosen Centre Hotel - Rate $85.
Call for reservations (800) 204-7234 .

McKenzie's Raiders

Blue Ghost Scout Platoon, 1967-68. Photos by Victor Cook. Vic was an original Blue Ghost and made these photos while serving as a scout crew chief/door gunner. He had the film developed and sent to his home in Kansas where the slides lay in repose for 39 years. In 2007, his sister found the photos and sent them to him. He had the slides scanned and put on a disc at Walmart, then forwarded them to us for publishing online.This collection was originally on the MSN site and is now in the photo albums. 

         
        
Attachment: topsgt (Small).bmp
Attachment: Victor Cook.jpg

Monday, March 15, 2010

Carter's Service Memories 1966 to 1988




Photos by Carter Davis, Blueghost 1967-68. I am an original Blueghost who deployed to Vietnam aboard the USNS General Nelson M. Walker. I was from Parma, Missouri and served as a crewchief & door gunner on a UH-1C gunship. On 5 May 1968, in combat operations near Landing Zone (LZ) Center, I and my door gunner, SP5 Black, were hit by .51 caliber machine gun fire and wounded. We both were medically evacuated to Japan. CPT Ron Grooms was the Aircraft Commander (AC) and the gun Platoon Leader. CW2 Smith was the Pilot.
This is updated list of my Service Memories. It will be updated as I find more photos.
I HAVE MORE PICTURES OF VARING THING ON MY SITE ON THIS WEB.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Need a Blueghost's Name‏

From:  Brian Stomps (ohiovulcan@hotmail.com) Sent: Tue 3/02/10 9:45 AM

Does anyone have his name, I talked to him about 20 years ago and know he lives in my local area. He was in VN 69-70 time frame.
It's hell when your memory goes.
Thanks
Click to enlarge

Saturday, February 27, 2010

BLUEGHOSTS AND FAMILY




Album I am working in my Blueghost scrap book. Blueghost737, Carter Davis

THE BOAT PEOPLE




Album I am working on in my Blueghost scrap book. Blueghost737, Carter Davis.
Blueghosts who went to Vietnam on a boat.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Service Memories 1966-88 by Carter Davis

This is a voluminous album created by Carter that spans his 
entire 22 years in the US Army. He has arranged the photos in chronological order from his inception into the army through Vietnam to retirement. These photos supplement the original Service Memories Album that Carter submitted last year and is in the photo albums. Additional photos posted by Carter can be seen at:  http://blueghost737.multiply.com/photos

 
 

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Ken Pack




Sgt. Kenneth Lee Pack, aka Pacman, was an original Blue Ghost Blue, 1967-68. These are his photos of the Blues from that time. Need help with names.

Bob Duffy


Bob Duffy

Bob Duffy was a C-Model crew chief and door gunner, 1967-68

Saturday, February 13, 2010

SNOW




This was my backyard last night, 12 Feb 2010 between 8:30 & 10:30 pm. This is very unusual for Savannah, Georgia as it only happens about every 10 years.
Blueghost 737,Carter Davis.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Let;s make this year a record reunion

The rate is great. Lots of things to do.  Old friends to enjoy.  How can you pass it up?

Because of multiply, I stumbled on a pic of my next door neighbor at ft. Know who hooked me on F/8 Blueghosts. 

Please sign my guest book. Thanks.


Dick

PS - See you in Orlando?

Let;s make this year a record reunion

The rate is great. Lots of things to do.  Old friends to enjoy.  How can you pass it up?

Because of multiply, I stumbled on a pic of my next door neighbor at ft. Know who hooked me on F/8 Blueghosts. 

Please sign my guest book. Thanks.


Dick

PS - See you in Orlando?

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Thanks.

I wanted to say thank you for allowing me to join your group. I am humbled to be among heroes. My father in law, my son's grandfather, was a Blue Ghost from 1967-1968.

Joe Cretella and grandchildren.




Col. Joe Cretella (Ret.) and his grandchildren, Joey and Mikayla Bowers.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Blue Ghost Reunion


Orlando, Florida, April 29-May 2, 2010
Rosen Centre Hotel  -  Rate $85. 
Call for reservations (800) 204-7234 .


Note: Registration Form reproduced from BlueGhosts.com

Monday, January 18, 2010

Blueghost Golf outing

Start:     Jan 18, '10 7:00p
End:     Feb 28, '10
2010 Reunion info. Dennis is organizing a golf outing on Thursday April 29,2010. He needs a commitment from at least ( 12 ) players before he can go ahead with reservations.. If you are planning to play please contact Dennis before February 28,2010 at dennisg65@tampabay.rr.com, or call at 352 201 8657, This outing does not ( by any means ) require that you be a great or even a good player. The idea is to get together and have fun.

Blueghost Golf Outing

2010 Reunion info. Dennis is organizing a golf outing on Thursday April 29,2010. He needs a commitment from at least ( 12 ) players before he can go ahead with reservations.. If you are planning to play please contact Dennis before February 28,2010 at dennisg65@tampabay.rr.com, or call at 352 201 8657, This outing does not ( by any means ) require that you be a great or even a good player. The idea is to get together and have fun.

Blueghost Golf Outing

2010 Reunion info. Dennis is organizing a golf outing on Thursday April 29,2010. He needs a commitment from at least ( 12 ) players before he can go ahead with reservations.. If you are planning to play please contact Dennis before February 28,2010 at dennisg65@tampabay.rr.com, or call at 352 201 8657, This outing does not ( by any means ) require that you be a great or even a good player. The idea is to get together and have fun.