Company C Reunion
Jay Snyder
Company C, 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry (Airborne)
More than 50 original members of Charlie Co 1/12 (abn) 1st Bde (abn) of the Cav from 1965-66 gathered at the Columbus, Ga Marriott Hotel outside Ft Benning from Sept 29-Oct 1 for their first Company-specific Reunion.
The group has been growing as original Company members have been tracked down over the past 3 years since their first get-together during the Cav-sponsored Veteran's Day gathering in DC (Crystal City) thanks to the work of Cliff Pena, Billy Martin and others. (That's another story which we'll save for the future).
The weekend was spent getting reacquainted, reminiscing and visiting Ft Benning-a most welcoming host. We visited the Infantry Museum, the Jump School, Sand Hill, Harmony Church and of course Ranger Joe's.
The banquet began with the posting of the colors by soldiers from the 507th Parachute Infantry at Ft Benning and a roll call of our honored dead comrades who lost their lives in Vietnam and those who have passed on since our return. The keynote speaker for the evening, our original Company Commander Robert Lindquist took us through the time as the Company formed from the 11th Air Assault days and became part of the Airborne Brigade of the Cav and prepared for deployment. Next was our 30 days on the USNS Geiger sailing to Vietnam and the sometimes hilarious occurrences during that month. Finally he helped us relive the first 5 months of our time in Vietnam. By the time the colors were retired there weren't a lot of dry eyes in the room but there sure was a terrific sense of pride and brotherhood.
Our Band of Brothers was together again and everyone realized how real our bond is. It is more than shared experience, it was a bond which grew from the fact that each day we were in combat together we were risking our lives for each other and there is no greater love you can show for your brothers.
This was only the first of what will be many more reunions-our next will be in 2008 at a place to be determined.
Boot to Boot!