2012 5th Maintenance Battalion (DS) Reunion

San Antonio Texas

Jadz and I left for San Antonio on Wednesday the 11th for our eighth annual reunion. I don't think we ever would have gone to San Antonio had it not been for this reunion. I was assured I would like it by John Brown and my daughter Cindy. They were right. After an uneventfull flight with one more stop than I expected, we arrived at San Antonio International Airport. Ken and Deb HamRestaurant blin had arrived shortly before us, we met and shared a cab to the Holiday Inn. Three or four steps into the lobby we bumped into Steve and Julie Uchniat who had driven down from Pennsylvania. We couldn't check in at this time so we stored our bags in Steve and Julies room untill we could. Then we hit the River Walk. Every city should have one of these! Shops and eateries on both sides for what seemed like miles. We had a late lunch at a restaurant with a mariachi band playing for tips.

Later after we settled in, we went to the meeting room to see who else was there. Two new faces greeted us, Main Support's Bill Ho-Gland and Support Command's retrograde officer Glenn Jaroe. Glen wasn't part of the 5th but worked very closely with the 526 CC&S. Other familiar faces were Lance Becker, John Brown , Don Kelly, Jesse Creech, George Fairfax, Roy Muellar, Ed Carney, Roger Bland, Gasry Dunn, and Bob Barnes.

John welcomed everyone and announced what attractions were available in and around the San Antonio area and a plan was made for a convoy to Lyndon Jonhnson Library and museum. They also stopped at a small town named Luckenbach made somewhat famous by Willy Nelson and company. I didn't go on that trip but most of the others did.

Jadz and I decided to take a walk around the area and found the Buckhorn Museum wich we came back to after a visit to the Alamo. After watching the movies about it and the fight to the death with Santa Anna's troops, it seemed like a large place. Not so. The actual building we think of as the Alamo is quite small. It did have a walled compound around it that encompassed a larger area. We chose it as our site for our group picture. After leaving there Jadz did a little shopping while I did my part by grumbling while looked around.

Later that day we found our way back to the Buckhorn Saloon and Museum. we didn't go through the museum but were content to have a beer at the bar. The Bar was surrounded by lots of hunting trophys on the walls. We ran into Steve and Julie who were just finishing up the museum tour. We finished up our walking tour with them and went back to the hotel.

The gang was back from Fredricksburg by now and one by one we filtered into the meeting room and traded "war stories".

Friday morning at 11:00 we were to meet at the Alamo for our group photo. Most of us were there but four of the group wandered off and didn't get in the picture. We hung around there for a while and watched as Steve assumed the responsibilites of his newly aquired badge. " No pictures, please remove your hats."

From there, after a little more shopping, it was off to the Riverwalk for a boat tour. It IS a beautiful trip and took about an hour.

Friday was our banquet so we went back to the hotel to freshen up. In the banquet room, Steve, Jadz and I set up a table with photos of those in the 5th who didn't come home. Steve sent me an idea for the graphic and I did the work-up . A fitting tribute.
After the meal came the now annual raffle. Everyone donated to the raffle table, tickets were sold and numbers drawn, but not before Steve, on behalf of the Liberty Bell chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America, presented me with a plaque acknowleging my work on our web site. Again it belongs to everyone who has sent pictures and other memories to make the site possible. The raffle was again, a great succsess.

More to come...

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