"80th Annual Reunion"
1-4 Sep 2000
Columbus, Georgia
...All of our departed comrades, from 1917 to 2000
...Patrick A. Maddalino, 1 Oct, 1950 - 20 July, 2000, A Co, 1st BN, 61st Infantry, your absence is felt
...The 8 young troops from Ft. Benning who were on thier first weekend off-post after completing 8 weeks of thier 14 weeks of training. They were at the hotel where the Reunion was held and were unofficially "adopted" by members of the Society.
I did start randomly browsing the net and eventually responded to a post on the Vietnam Vets Lost and Found. The guy, Alan Camden, was looking for A Co vets from the same time I was assigned, though I did not recognize the name. After several e-mails, we discovered that he was my platoon medic with the 3rd platoon from July to Oct 69. I covered up my failing memory by citing the fact that we NEVER called our medics anything but "Doc". Then, Tom Grafton, a charter member of 2nd platoon found me (or was it the other way around?).
Several weeks later, my daughter announced her final plans to move to Oregon after she graduated from college. I mentioned to Jim that we would be in his area and asked if we could get together sometime during our trek. His reply? "You pass within 2 miles of my house, and you will spend the night! If you don't, I will be forced to track you down and you may suffer grevious bodily harm" or words to that affect! After talking it over with my daughter and wife, who accepted without a qualm, I called Jim and accepted (not without much trepidation - was I ready to meet an old comrade and face my memories?). The overnight visit turned into 2 -1/2 days of remiscing till the wee hours of the morning (3AM and 5:30 AM), with daughter chomping at the bit. Tommy Dorris had also offered accomidations when I asked to meet him - he lives right across the river in Washington. We accepted his offer for one night, then on to a motel. Well, Tommy's offer to a complete stranger, turned into a 5 day stay, again with many late nights of talking. I was totally dazzzled that these two virtual strangers would offer the hospitality of thier homes, and more importantly, thier hearts. Both of these very kind and thoughtful men convinced me that I should go to the reunion.
After much discussion with my better half and even more soul searching, we decided to attend. Again, I was somewhat reluctant, but we again packed up the trusty Voyager and with 210,000 miles on it's clock we headed for Gerogia. As we checked in, a man was hovering to our rear. We turned to go unload the car and he said "George?. I overheard your name - I'm Tom Grafton". We were the only engineers there, but really enjoyed the comraderie of the "crunchies " and "track heads" and "cannon cockers", not to mention the WW II guys, many of whom are still active members, although the Nam guys have assumed all of the elective offices in the Society. The fact that our rooom was next door to the 5th's Hospitality Suite certainly helped to break the ice.
Reunion 2001
Return to
Site Map
