Jan Feb '09 Saber.indd - First Cavalry Division Association

JANUARY/FEBRUARY, 200999th FA NewsJim Miller819 West Howard St.Winona, MN 55987-2642(507) 454-4224Unfortunately, I muststart this column with anobituary. I received ane-mail from Walt Eplinginforming us of the deathof WW II 99th veteranjimarmiller@charter.netJose Mendez on Oct. 7th, 2008 at age 88. CPL Mendez served in C Btry from1942-1945.Walt Epling wrote: “CPL Mendez (all the guys called him Joe) was a goodsoldier. All the men in C Btry thought a lot of Joe. Joe served most of the warwith FO parties. We set up our radio under heavy enemy mortar and sniper fireand transmitted fire commands to the firing batteries which resulted in the neutralizationof enemy positions.”“I owe my life to Joe. One time we were on FO with a unit of the 8th Cav onLuzon. We came to a halt on the trail while scouts went forward. A Jap crawledup behind me ready to plunge a knife in my back and Joe nailed him. Joe wasabout 15 feet from me and the first three rounds missed my head by just a fewinches. Joe was very fast and could place those rounds where they did the mostgood. Joe, you will be in my memory until the day I die!”Ed Carty also sent an e-mail remembering Joe Mendez. Ed also mentionedlooking at a photo of Joe and Walt as they returned from and FO “outing.” Edsays, “I say ‘outing’ since I am so familiar with those horrible experiences havingbeen a member myself many times.” Ed also mentioned that Walt Epling washis First Sergeant during WW II. Let me add our condolences to all those whoknew and remembered Jose Mendez: farewell, Comrade.We all know how close we got to our buddies in combat situations. It issomething that those who have not experienced combat will never understand.Unfortunately it seems that many of those serving in Congress and administrativepositions dealing with veterans fall into the category of not understanding.I was surprised and pleased to see that our President Elect chose 1st Cav veteranGEN Eric Shinseki to head the VA in his administration. I had the honor ofmeeting and talking to GEN Shinseki on Veterans’ Day 2000 while in DC to attendceremonies of the 50th Anniversary of the Korean War. I could tell by theway that Cav combat veterans of Vietnam respected him, that he was someonewho understands.Several of us Korean vets have been having trouble keeping track of someof our members. John Rutledge seemed to disappear but we have found himagain. I received e-mails from Ray Nebe and Jo Green saying that John is inan assisted living facility. The next day I received a Christmas card and letterfrom Phillis Rutledge giving me the whole story. (It takes my mail an extra daybecause of the dog sleds.) It seems that John is suffering from Alzheimer’s andhad to be placed in a nursing home. John is living in Mulberry, Indiana and hisphone is (765) 296-2991. You may write to Phillis at her home: 208 EastlandDr., Lafayette, IN 47905-4805 and note Please Forward. Now we have to seeif Richard J. Clark is still with us.Speaking of Christmas cards (mine will be out about Easter time) Thanks forall of the nice ones sent by members of the 99th FA Battalion. I received a cardfrom Darwin Palmer with a note telling that Darwin celebrated his 90th birthdayon August 26 and then on September 12th he had a stroke which affected hisspeech. He has gone through home therapy and is doing quite well. Good luck,Darwin.Paul and Karolyn Coleman noted that Karolyn had a mini stroke and was inthe hospital for four days. She is walking without a cane now. She said Paul isjust reading and watching TV. Sounds like me this winter. I also received cardsfrom Rich Higginbotham, Harry (Rich) VanGiesen and Don White. In all mycards I saw three negative comments about the “Golden Years.”John Batt gave me an update on his new knee. The last time I talked to him,he was doing therapy and everything was going OK.Don White and I had a couple of interesting phone conversations recently. Doncalled Chaplain Griepp who was with the 7th Cav and talked to him. He is 95 andstill going. If you would like to call him, his phone is (310) 541-6334. Don alsosent one of the photos for this issue. He said, “I have a picture of a tank that wastipped over on the road in Korea near Yon Chon. I went past it a couple of timesa day for a longtime while wewere laying wire.We never knewwhose it was orwhat kind it wasor what happenedto it.” I told Donthat I would putthe photo in theSaber and someonewould surelylet us know. So,help me out hereguys. How aboutsome of our buddiesin the 70thTank Battalion?I talked to Jim Warren on the phone. Someone had mentioned the word: “Reunion”and he was interested. Unfortunately, health problems kept us from gettingtogether. I don’t know what the status of the Div Arty Hqs guys is. They don’tseem to have a home in the 1st Cavalry Division Association. I’m glad Jim andI were able to get in touch. The 1949 football team and the fact that Jim was awireman who I probably dealt with give us things to talk about. His daughterbeing my neighbor helps. Hey, Jim; the Detroit Lions didn’t win a game this year,so we’ve got good company. The 1949 Red Necks were winless also, accordingto Batt. I find that hard to believe!We’ve had a hard winter this year. It’s gone something like this: cold, snow,cold, snow etc. with one day of each. Once in awhile, like today, it will be prettynice and sun melts a little of it down in the few hours it shines now. One suchday I was out with my roof rake. (For those of you in warm climes, a roof rakePage 14is a flat, rectangular blade on a 16 foot handle that can be used to scrape excesssnow off your roof.) I was taking some of the snow off so it didn’t hang overthe edge and drip on my steps when it melted. When I got to thinking about thewinter of 1950-51. Here I was with a parka, stocking cap, gloves and boots linedwith thinsulate getting too warm. I would have paid a lot of dough for someclothes like that in Korea.I think about all the wounded young men and women coming home from theMiddle-East. If war ever does anyone any good, one thing that will come ofthis one is the opening up of the window on war wounds to the public. I noticedthat medical folks are starting to say things like, “You know what? Those youngpeople who have suffered though those IED explosives might have some problemsinside their heads.” Oh, really? Gee, how about all the guys from WW II,Korea, and Vietnam who have the same problems? It’s too bad we have to haveso many young people hurt to open up some of these subjects for questions.That looks like it for this time. Remember all those who have and are servingour country during these dangerous times. Say a prayer for all those of ourbuddies who are ill or have passed on before us. Keep hanging in there, andremember, we are all in this together. CSMO.BRICK AND PAVER CAMPAIGNDo you want to go down in history and help the 1st Cavalry Division AssociationMuseum Foundation fund a new 1st Cavalry Division Museum?The 1st Cavalry Division Association Museum Foundation has begun a Brickand Paver Campaign to raise funds to construct a new museum. The 1st CavalryDivision Museum is currently housed in a World War II building that wassupposed to be destroyed years ago. While money and hard work have kept thebuilding well maintained, there is no room for expansion to increase exhibit spaceto display the history and accomplishments of the First Team.You can have granite brick or paver can be inscribed and placed in the museumcomplex that will become the new 1st Cavalry Division Museum. This brick mayhonor your service or the service of someone that you wish to be remembered.SGT John SmithB/1-77 FAKIA 65 - Aug 66A 4 X 8 inch granitebrick can be inscribed fora donation of $100. The brick can accommodate no more than 14 characters,including spaces, on each of 3 lines.In Memory ofSGT John JonesA/1-5 CAVKIA 20 Nov 1965Rest in PeaceMom and DadGranite pavers are available in three sizes. An 8 X 8 inch paver is availablefor donation of $200, a 12 X 12 inch paver is available for a $450 donation anda 24 X 24 inch paver is available for a donation of $1,200.All pavers can accommodate no more than 14 characters, including spaces,on each of 6 lines. A design may be substituted for 3 lines of characters. Anadditional cost for a specific design is $50. Replicas of your brick or paver canalso be purchased for the same price as indicated above plus shipping charges.The Museum Foundation reserves the right to reject wording and art that itdeems unsuitable for this program.It is easy and convenient to order a personalized commemorative brick orpaver. Order forms are available from the 1st Cavalry Division Association officeat 302 N. Main St., Copperas Cove, TX 76522-1703 or from our web pageat . Determine the inscription you want on the brick or paver,ensure each line is no more than 14 characters including spaces. Bricks are 3lines and pavers are 6 lines maximum. Fill out your order form and mail to theAssociation with your check or money order.The 1st Cavalry Division Association Museum Foundation is a charitable organizationin accordance with Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code. The MuseumFoundation’s tax identification number is 91-2199014.For more information contact the Association Headquarters at (254) 547-6537or e-mail .Letters to the EditorContinued from pg. 4Dear Editor,My name is Leo Haubenschild. I now live in Rochester, Minnesota. I servedwith the 16th Reconnaissance Company of the 1st Cavalry Division in Koreafrom late 1951 until the Division moved to Camp Chitose on Hokaido, Japan in1952. I was stationed there until I went home at the end of 1953.The 16th Recon Company was inactivated on October 15, 1957 and the trooperswere absorbed into the Headquarters Troop of the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron,9th Cavalry Regiment.The American Legion Magazine has a section called “In Search of...”. TheSeptember 2005 issue listed the name of a man I recognized from the 16th ReconCompany. I called him and with his help, we started searching for other menfrom our company some fifty years later!In searching for these men, we used many tools. In the book, “The 1st CavalryDivision Book - Korea, June 1950 to January 1952, there was a roster of allthe men that were in the 16th Recon Company, including every unit of the 1stCavalry Unit that moved with the Division from Korea to Hokaido and otherparts of Japan.Once I had the names of the men from the roster, I used Yahoo People Search tohelp locate some of the men. Picking a name from the roster - usually someonethat was a buddy with or that I knew well, I would insert his name, hometownContinued on pg. 24.