Nov'01-Dec'01

Near the end of sept, Bob & Donna arrived. Good to see them again. We took them to the Mid-America Corvette museum and on the fishing trip to Lake Mattoon. Caught a bunch of crappie, (I guess it was a bunch--not sure what you call them when they are out of school--:>)) Bill & Peggy had us all set up for a fish fry that evening. Man those fish were good! So we had good food, good company & hosts and the weather was beautiful. What a day. Also took Bob & Donna to meet Kay's family and had a couple of cookouts at John's house.

On Nov 6th we headed to DC. Stopped at a Flying J Truck Stop the first night. They had an area separate from the trucks just for RV's. Nice and quiet. Second night we stayed on a Wally World parking lot. Checked with manager first and he said to put slideout out and whatever else we wanted to do to be comfy. Usually when stopping at Wally's you don't do those things as a courtesy but the mgr suggested it. Thur. we arrived at my sisters house in Reston, Va. Bob parked way at the back of driveway and I was halfway down. Not sure what the neighbors thought but we sure got the looks whenever some came walking by. We were both able to get electric and cable. Took showers in Jean's house. Fri. we headed over to the Hilton National/Crystal City, Arlington, Va. where all the 'doings' were. Introduced Bob & Donna to friends and Bob was able to get signatures of Ia Drang vets in his book. Also got the authors sigs. They were selling a book by Larry Gwin, a friend of mine, about his Nam tour so Bob bought one and had Larry sign it. Bob & Donna went back to their RV and they took care of LZ for the evening. I met Wallace Craig that afternoon. He is working with Joe Galloway selling prints from Ia Drang. He was very interesting and really felt compassion for us. I have communicated with him (email) since then and will probably visit him next time we go thru Texas. Nice guy.

My sister-Jean, her hubby-Mike, my niece-Heidi, my brother-Tony, his friend-Cathy, Kay & I went to an informal gathering on fri evening. During the evening they had a tribute to Rick Rescorla who died in the WTC disaster. Rick is the one pictured on the front of the book. He was a Lt in Nam. He was quite a character and a great leader. When the 1st plane hit, he was in the 2nd tower working as VP of security for Morgan Stanley which was spread out between the 43rd & 66th floors. they had told the people not to worry and not evacuate, Rick said BS and started evacuating his people. Out of 3500 employees Morgan Stanley lost less than 25 people due to Rick. He was last seen heading up the stairs on the 77th floor helping people. Also during the previous bombing (1993?) he was instrumental in that evacuation. Rick--I salute you!

Sat. Bob & Donna came over and we all went to the WALL & the KOREAN MEMORIAL. We took a cab as that is a whole lot easier than trying to park a vehicle in the area. Veteran's Day weekend at the WALL is really something. You don't have a bunch of tourists laughing and playing, it is 90% Vets. I don't like crowds but on that weekend it doesn't bother me. Kay & I went back to the hotel early and Bob & Donna stayed to visit some more sights. They came back to the hotel a few hrs later. The afternoon was spent visiting and getting more sigs. That evening my family went to the banquet with us. Guest speaker was Randall Wallace, the screenwriter & director of the movie. Sam Elliott was there also. Plus a couple of the producers, Dani (Danielle) & Steve. We had met both in Ca. so it was a pleasure to see them again. During the evening they showed a clip of an interview with Rick Rescorla from a couple of years ago. During the interview he stated that he thought the next attack would be a plane! He was saying a small plane with biochemicals on board. But he was close!

They also showed some clips from the movie. This is going to be a great movie. It covers the people at home as well as the troops and the NVA (North Vietnamese Army). Then Randall spoke and you could feel the emotion in his speech about getting our story right. After the dinner there were lines to Sam & Randall for pics and autographs. I had talked to Sam in the hallway before the dinner and was amazed that he had remembered me. Called me by name. You could tell that both Sam and Randall were tired but they stayed until the last person had the opportunity to meet, take pics and talk with each of them. Real gentlemen.

Next morning (Veteran's Day) at dawn we were all at the wall for our own ceremony honoring our brothers that died in Ia Drang. The 1st Cav Color Guard was there, posting the colors while standing on top of the WALL. Down below we all gather in a circle, the Gen & Joe read the names of our fallen brothers and then we all have an opportunity to speak. Usually it is quiet, some try but cannot get the words out. It is a very moving ceremony. We returned to the hotel and had breakfast, since I was already up and going we packed and headed back to Jeans. That evening Mike cooked us a delicious dinner and the next morn (noticed a crack across upper part of the left windshield—about 14 inches long) we headed to Bristol, Va/Tn to visit with friends of Bob's—Gary & Bev. They have a 200 year old farm house way out in the country. They have added on to it and made the addition look like the original. Nice job! The whole site looks great. Beautiful views.

We rented a limo (a guy from the local American Legion) and went to the Bristol Speedway for the Christmas light show. They did a nice job! It was worth it.

Next we all moved to Ebenezer Park in Rock Hill, SC to visit with my daughter, Sherry & her hubby, Robin. We were there over Thanksgiving and went out to eat for the holiday. Just Kay & I went with them—Donna was sick, so Bob stayed and fixed her a turkey leg & the fixin’s. Sherry brought over an afghan that she crocheted for the 9/11 fund. It received a $4000.00 bid! It was beautiful! I’m proud of her! A week later Kay & I went to Gaffney, SC to the Freightliner factory for some 40,000 mile work. Fluids, filters etc changed. Bob & Donna stayed at Ebenezer. From Gaffney we went to Easley, SC to visit PJ & Katie and their families. We didn’t hookup the P/U as it was less than an hour drive. I was pulling into their subdivision from a 2 lane road. Car coming from opposite direction, I cut it a little tight as it looked like flat ground. The ditch was mowed and looked like level ground. Back tires dropped in ditch and I gunned it to get out before I got stuck or tipped over. During this—the windshield cracked more (safety glass) and now looked like a road map. Little splinters all over. Had a good visit for a few days. When we left we were going to meet up with B&D again at the first rest area outside Columbia, SC. and head for the coast. We had made arrangements for a replacement windshield in Savannah. The glass had been shifting every time we used the levelers so we decided to head straight for Savannah and skipped the coast.

Arrived in Savannah and checked in at the KOA. Much better than Belaire Woods. Cable, phone hookups. Nice site back from the water and no other RV's in front of us. Lots of geese, ducks & swans on the lake but the area is not messy like you would have expected. The KOA feeds them twice a day. After we set up we went to Kay's sister's house and surprised her and Mike. They hadn't been expecting us for a few more days.

The windshield guy came out and they had sent the wrong side. He reordered and they sent the wrong size this time. 3rd times a charm. Got the correct one. Before he installed the glass we had a hell of a rain and we noticed water running down the inside of the glass. It had pushed over enough that it separated the rubber seal from the MH. There was a 1/2" gap that was 3 inches long.

One night we went looking for an American legion Post. Finally found one on Tybee Island. Stopped in, met some nice people and had a few brews. Went back again the next week.

Mike & Clara had flown back to the midwest and driven Kay's dad back to Savannah for the holidays. We took him on a boat tour of the Savannah River. I took a pic of a boat (ship?) we saw docked along side. Lots of bucks.

Took a day trip to Tybee Island.

A couple of evenings we went to Clara's and had a low country boil. 1st time was crab legs, 2nd time was shrimp. Mike puts in some sausage, taters, corn on the cob and his own seasoning mix. It is delicious, I look forward to it on every visit.

Kay spent a lot of time over there helping get things ready for company & helping her Dad get things done. Real pain with the VA here. All he needed was a blood workup to keep his Cuminem (sp?) (blood thinner) prescription going. They really gave him a hard time. She finally got it done. They are not usually that bad here but....

Christmas Eve we over at Clara's for dinner and again Christmas Day. I was back in Mike's computer room and started feeling bad. The more I was in there the worse I felt. So I headed back to the MH for a nap. Couldn't nap at their house as I needed my CPAP & oxygen. They had the gift drawing without me. No way could I stay long enough for it. The nap and a couple of days rest and I was feeling much better.

Pictures