GATHERING NEWSLETTER #9 August 18, 2010 Wow! What an awesome time we had! If you didn t get the chance to join us for Gathering VIII at Carlisle, PA, you missed an awesome Gathering!! We welcomed about 85 returning veterans, 34 new registrants and about 50 family members for a total of 182! Plus 9 gun trucks, a gun jeep, several other Vietnam-era vehicles, and the trailer for the Rolling Thunder motorcycle! Veterans came from Alaska, California, Florida and Walla Walla, Washington! There was terrific newspaper and television coverage of all our activities which brought even more of the public s attention. Thank you, Carlisle! I have borrowed photos from many people for this newsletter thank you sharing!
A note from Kathy Blackstone: What a rush!!!! The Gathering has been a good thing since it was conceived. Many new friendships formed, many old friendships renewed and a place for our Vietnam Vets to gather and come to terms with where they were sent some 40 odd years ago. I am proud to be a part of the entire process and to be able to give back to our vets and spouses. Without you continuing to come, it would be for naught! You, my friends, make the Gathering what it is. Barbara, Penny, Mary Ann, our helpers and myself only map the road to follow. Carlisle is a beautiful area full of history and to see those gun trucks on the Gettysburg Battlefield was a sight to behold. I'm sure the ghosts were envious of the firepower the trucks represent! Must be why we didn't see any ghosts on the Ghost Tour...they were following you guys back to Carlisle! The International Truck Show was a PR success and we are so thankful that Jack Giblin was able to pull off the inner workings to get us in. I have heard from friends in the area who saw the Sunday paper and called or emailed me to ask about these trucks. Having the trucks show at AHEC was another blue ribbon day! Many attendees were impressed by the displays there and all the effort it must have taken to build them in the first place. Again, Jack Giblin has done an awesome job and his enthusiasm is contagious. We are really going to have a hard time topping this year! So thank you all for attending and taking part in all we offered. We still have some kinks to work out...i greatly prefer not to be MC and was side tracked by other things requiring my attention. I promise to be better at this next year! But still would like to farm out that MC business...lol. Till next year...kathy Summary of the week: It all began on Wednesday with arrival of the gun trucks and most of the veterans. Registration was handled by John Eckland and Dave Coward and volunteers from the Carlisle Vietnam Veterans organization. The hotel offered us plenty of parking for the trucks, space for booths and the raffle, a great pool and several restaurants within walking distance. Ticket sales began for the BBQ, Gettysburg Ghost Tour and the raffle. A live fire for the gun trucks was held at a nearby firing range, where.50 caliber machine guns were mounted on gun trucks for target practice down range. Below left, Jack Cole and Dave Coward watch the firing. Below right, Bob Hinkle, Ruben Lao and John Hawkins from the Carlisle Vietnam Veterans organization at their booth.
Thursday after lunch, we assembled for the convoy to Gettysburg. Almost 30 motorcycles, about 45 personal vehicles, 8 gun trucks and several other vehicles were escorted down General Ewell s Civil War route to Gettysburg. Nine local police and sheriff s departments guided us through villages and towns to a big parking lot at Gettysburg Military Park where we reassembled for the tours. Below, assembly for the tours at the park; note Randy Recht s troop carrier in the center. Ted Ballard, Rich Killblane and Roger Durham condensed a 3-day battle into two hours (not an easy thing to do). We all survived in spite of intolerable heat and humidity and a shortage of restrooms. It was an experience no one will forget. We had three major stops en route through the park, one of which was Little Round Top (great video of that stop on Multiply by Bruce Bourget) and another was the Pennsylvania monument where one group captured a group photo.
After the tours, the gun trucks returned to Carlisle and about 35 stayed for the Ghost Tour of Gettysburg. The stories were great, but no ghosts were spotted! Friday, the trucks displayed at the Army Heritage & Education Center at Carlisle Barracks. Our host, Jack Giblin, provided tents and water, as well as a terrific display area near what will be the Vietnam fire base. Everyone returned to the hotel for a BBQ dinner and raffle. We very much appreciate all the donations to the raffle there were some awesome items! A silent auction featured a beautiful framed print of the Vietnam Wall (won by AJ and Donna of Alaska). Also quilts sewn by Kathy and Barbara.
The purpose of the raffle is to raise money for fuel for the gun trucks to attend. The Iron Butterfly crew was generous as they have been every year. John Dodd donated $500.00 and the Carlisle Vietnam Veterans (President Bob Hinkle in photo), donated $400.00. Total amount raised was $3,135 awesome! Thank you, everyone! Saturday came early! At 7:00am, the convoy of gun trucks and other military vehicles made their way to the fairgrounds for the Carlisle Truck Nationals! What an exciting day! The gun trucks had a special display space and all Gathering attendees were give free admission. A pavilion nearby was set up for the Army Heritage & Education Center display, our displays, our sales tables and lots of chairs. About 25,000 people attended the truck show that day, and about 1,500 were in the stadium at 3:00 pm
when the gun trucks paraded by (look carefully at the stadium photo and you can see the gun trucks). CLOSING REMARKS: Kathy, Penny and I thank you so much for your support this year! It was our first experience with total planning since Larry backed out last year. We had many positive comments about the location and activities we planned,
especially from the gun truck owner/operators. We so much appreciate the participation of everyone and the camaraderie that comes from seeing old friends and meeting new ones. We are concentrating on a location for next year s Gathering. We have listened to you requesting a cooler climate (Alaska?) or perhaps moving the time into late September or early October. Our priorities are a good hotel with plenty of space for the gun trucks, good local restaurants, activities for the gun trucks and new things to experience and new places to visit. Our next newsletter will announce the location and the hotel to call for reservations. If you have other ideas, please contact one of us: Barbara Bower bbower1@cox.net Kathy Blackstone kathyblackstone@yahoo.com Mary Ann Deeks deekslee@verizon.net Penny Throne tpthrone@madisontelco.com Supporting Our Vets Barbara, Kathy, Mary Ann and Penny