1st Cavalry Division
Association Update
Dennis Webster, Executive Director
August 21, 2008
Troopers,
We sadly begin this update by announcing the death of MAJ (R) Ed W. "Too Tall To
Fly" Freeman. He passed away on 20 August from complications due to Parkinson's
disease in Boise, Idaho. CPT Ed W. Freeman earned the Medal of Honor for
numerous acts of conspicuous gallantry on 14 November, 1965. You can read his
citation by visiting
http://www.1cda.org/MOH_Freeman.htm. His Medal of Honor was awarded to him
in July 2001 by President Bush. He was veteran of three wars who retired from
the Army in 1967. He was a pilot with over 25,000 hours of flight in
helicopters and fixed wing aircraft from his service in the Army and with the
Department of the Interior. A Memorial Service will be conducted at the Capital
Christian Center in Meridian, Idaho at 1100 hours on Saturday 23 August with
burial in the Idaho Veterans Cemetery in Boise. We will have a special
recognition on "Too Tall" in the next issue of SABER. God has added another
great pilot and Cav Trooper to his ranks and we will all miss him.
A First Team Trooper is among the Army's best. SPC Alexander Elkassamani, B
Company, 2-8th Cavalry, earned the title of FORSCOM Soldier of the Year after
beating out 7 of the best Soldiers from around Forces Command. The competition
was held at Fort Hood from 27-31 July and required the Soldiers to face a
question-and-answer board, take a physical fitness test, complete both a day and
night land navigation course, complete a series of Warrior Tasks, qualify with a
rifle and assemble four disassembled weapons systems. SPC Elkassamani will
compete for the Army level Soldier of the Year competition in September.
I had the pleasure of meeting with LTG (R) Julius Becton on 14 August. He was
in town for a book signing at the Fort Hood PX. LTG Becton, who commanded the
First Team at Fort Hood from February 1975 to November 1976, authored his
autobiography titled: Becton - Autobiography of A Soldier and Public Servant.
He, BG Fred Rudesheim, and I visited the Division's Memorial for the Operation
Iraqi Freedom Troopers on Cooper Field between events. LTG Becton was the
commander of VII Corps when I was a staff sergeant in the 3rd Infantry Division
in Germany in 1979. I and a fair sized group of noncommissioned officers had
the opportunity to spend a portion of one day with him and a Command Sergeant
Major named Walt Krueger and get some mentoring. That was a great time for me
and a special time that I will always remember and I enjoyed the few minutes
that we had together last week. I had last seen the General when I was the
Division CSM and attending Walt Krueger's funeral in San Antonio.
http://www.ausa.org/PROGRAMS/BOOKPROGRAM/BOOKS/Pages/Becton.aspx
Speaking of books, there is a new book out by LTG (R) Hal Moore and Joe
Galloway. We Are Soldiers Still, a follow-up to their first book, We Were
Soldiers Once...and Young, was recently released and Joe and LTG Moore are doing
some book signing of their own beginning in Alabama and the Fort Benning. The
tour (sometimes only Joe) makes its way to Texas, California, Illinois,
Washington, Oregon, Washington DC, Georgia and Pennsylvania from now until the
middle of November. Joe will be in DC for Veterans Day and will be by our
hospitality suite to sign some books for the Troopers that are there. I'll be
seeing Joe at Fort Hood on 3 September for his signing at the PX.
http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780061147760/We_Are_Soldiers_Still/index.aspx
As stated above, we will be hosting a Hospitality Suite for all Veterans of the
First Team from 8-11 November. We have expanded our room block at the Crystal
City Hilton twice to support those that are coming in to Washington, DC for
Veterans Day. We started with 25 rooms and pushed that to 50 and just added 10
more rooms. If you call to reserve a room and they say the block of rooms is
full for one or more nights that you want to stay contact me so I can try to
expand the block again. For information on Veterans Day activities in
Washington, DC visit http://www.1cda.org/VeteransDay_2008.htm.
The 4th BCT is conducting a Town Hall Meeting for the families located at Fort
Hood. During the Division's last deployment these were done monthly and help
considerably to reduce the number of rumors that always abound during
deployments by having a live feed from Iraq to Fort Hood. COL Phil Battaglia
will be in Iraq and will be briefing the families at Fort Hood. Keep the
Troopers of the 4th BCT in your prayers and take some time to send them a note
or a package. Visit the Trooper Support Program web page
http://www.1cda.org/TSP.htm to see how
you can show your support for the Troopers. There are lots of stories on the
Division's web page about the 4th BCT so please visit
http://www.hood.army.mil/1stcavdiv/ to read them.
It is time to get the kids back to school and the Foundation of the 1st Cavalry
Division Association awarded nine scholarships of up to $1,000 to the children
and spouses of some of our active duty Troopers. Five of these recipients have
previously received a scholarship grant and four of them are receiving their
first grant. Those receiving scholarships were:
Jenny Bell - spouse of SPC Joshua Bell, HHC, Division Special Troops Battalion
Christina Bunyard - spouse of SSG Charles Bunyard A Troop, 6-9 CAV
Dameka Daniels - daughter of CSM James Daniels, 4-9 CAV
Janel Daniels - daughter of CSM James Daniels, 4-9 CAV
Nina Moore - spouse of SSG Adolfo Mora, HHC, Division Special Troops Battalion
Stephanie Rabena - daughter of COL William Rabena, HHC, Division Special Troops
Battalion
Jessica Reyes - spouse of SP4 Armando Reyes, HHC, Division Special Troops
Battalion
Brandi Waruch - spouse of SGT Ashley Waruch, HHC, Division Special Troops
Battalion
Cynthia Wood - spouse of SPC Joshua Wood, HHC, 1st Brigade Special Troops
Battalion
Pray for the Troopers in Iraq and their families and keep the family of Ed
Freeman in your prayers as well.
First Team!
Dennis
Executive Director, 1st Cavalry Division Association
Phone (254) 547-6537 - Fax (254) 547-8853
E-mail: firstcav@1cda.org
Web Page: http://www.1cda.org/