My Two Cents

I agree with Tim in general. From past experience, the biggest priorities are 1 setting a date, toss out two, allow two weeks for a vote and then that settles it. 2 try to get in touch with everyone, and send the info to Otto.

Reunion

I'm not sure if I will be able to attend this reunion, but I have a spare two cents even if I don't. I'm sorry to hear that the West Coast "thing" fell through. I like the San Diego idea. Lake Tahoe sounds good, too. There is always later.

Convenience for those who are flying and only have the weekend is the most important thing for me in selecting a location. After talking with Bill Weidow, I understand that air travel into Jacksonville, N.C. is fairly easy.

The important thing for now is reaching out to EVERYONE you know of to determine prospective attendees. Knowing how many people may be there gives you a perspective scale for making arrangements for lodging and meals. Most people should still be "reachable" on the data from five years ago. It would be nice if those who won't be able to attend could send some pictures and a note regarding their lives since they got out of the Marines.

Speaking personally, I am not that much on formality. I would be happier reserving tables at an all-you-can-eat buffet or a pizza joint than reserving a banquet room at a hotel. A barbecue or picnic in a park is OK with me, as well.

I'm not a bar kind of guy, either. Depending on how many people confirm attending, I would be interested in possibly reserving a gathering room in a hotel, full-time, or, at least for the evenings. I would feel more comfortable drinking the beer I like in a room that is for us, and only us, rather than being at the mercy of a hotel bar. Last reunion, Mike Gerth showed up with a truck load of beer. Sadly, Mike Gerth drove home with the same truck load of beer. If I do attend this reunion, I look forward to the possibility of drinking more Yuengling, if possible. Yuengling is great beer. Do they have Yuengling in North Carolina?

It would be nice to set up communications for anyone who may be able to arrive earlier for the reunion. I had no idea anyone else would show up early for the last one. Knowing who to look for, where, and when would be helpful for those who have more time to dedicate to the reunion.

A few thoughts.....
Talking with Tim Hunter last night, we agreed on a few things, I'll share some of those things and then some other ideas.
We need to decide fairly soon where to have the reunion. Some folks will need more time than others to get vacation approval, make all sorts of arrangements, etc. I cast my vote for Andy and Big Dow's current locale. I'm confident that Andy can arrange a visit to PLT. Sgt. School or SOI/MCT, and possibly get us some trigger time on the new weapons that are currently in the inventory. Having said that, I humbly submit my idea for a name for this undertaking:
"OPERATION NEW SHOOTS FOR OLD COOTS"!
Anyway, once we have a concensus on location, we also need to narrow down the dates. On this issue I would suggest a time that the weather is generally comfortable. Andy and Big Dow can fill us in on that.
Lastly, if everyone would like to email me their most up to date address, marital status, childrens names, etc., I'll combine it all on a single spreadsheet then forward it to everyone. If you have contact information for some of our LOST DRAGONS, by all means send that as well.
SEMPER FI MY BROTHERS!
Otto

Howdy

Well, u go away for a couple days and all sorts of news hits.
Otto, you are on the prayer list as of now. Andy, I think Lejune
sounds like a great place for the next reunion. Thanks for
the suggestion Mr. Crout. How's that sound to your sooon
to be civilian ears. Or is your leave already over and you r
officially retired?
Lejeune is only 8 hours away from my place so I am big
on this location. I can even detour and see Trevor as we
drive past Charleston. Actually, we are heading up there
the second weekend of October for Parents Weekend. They
have all kinds of activities set up for the weekend. A Friday
football game, Trevor and the other Knobs become official
Cadets instead Cadet Recruits. We are excited about getting
to see him again.

How about Reunion 2008, Operation Repeat.

UPDATE:

you can recieve an e-mail whenever some one posts or comments by going from the posting page. Click the settings tab, then click e-mail. Put your e-mail address in the box, then save or whatever it is at the bottom. Should be helpful for those who are running this Reunion.
This Operation needs a Name and statement if you plan on being up to par with the first one.
Try coming up with a date or at least a month, for those who need to know and plan with their employers.

Otto - Sorry to hear about your health situation. I'm sure there is a way to beat your problems, and whatever that is, you will find it. Just like you found that pen when the PLT Sgt asked for a PFC to volunteer to be the house mouse, and you raised your hand faster then I ever seen you move. Serious though, I wish and pray for the very best for you and your family.

If enough of you all want to come to Camp Lejeune, Im sure we could find enough to do on base. Possibly tour the new aircraft, such as the Osprey, and visit with some Marines just getting back from the war. We could also do a dinner in a very unique bar in town that has one of the best collections of historical USMC gear that you will ever find. Hotels are very resonable in town.

Andy

from the dashboard

settings then e-mail put your email in the box, see if that works

George,
Is there a way for this blog to have some type of "RSS" feed, so that when someone posts a message, we would get an alert in our email. I'm not sure if I'm using the correct terminology, if not, please correct my error. I belong to another type of blog through Princeton Review, and whenever someone posts a message, I receive an email that tells me there is a new msg.
SEMPER FI!
Otto

I was just wondering how everyone did on the worlds easiest quiz that I sent out? I didn't get any feedback, but I don't want to read too much into that. Anyway, I have class in the morning so I'll keep it short this time.
SEMPER FI!
Otto

Hi Andy, Or should I say "SHOWER SHOE"!!!
I've got your boot, and then some! The job at Home Depot went the way many corporate jobs go. I had had an accident a few years back, in which a woman totalled my car while I was driving it. As a result I suffered a broken neck and some brain damage. (Go ahead, I've heard them all by now). Anyway I was not aware of the seriousness of the injuries at the time. As a result, the condition got worse as time went on. Ultimately I saw several Neoro surgeons and other types of head and neck doctors. Basically they all said the same thing. The job at Depot was literally killng me. My job at Depot required that I spend on average 4 to 6 hours a day driving from store to store. For those of you that have never been to NYC, that translates to about 50 to 60 miles all total. Anyway, the constant jarring, the pot holes, having to look every which way in traffic was exacerbating the situation with my neck. The injury in my brain consists of several pieces of scar tissue that are getting bigger and bigger. That in and of itself isn't really a problem. The problem is that some of them have grown around one of the veins and are steadilly restricting it more and more. As a result, some of the other veins are enlarging to make up the difference in blood flow. When I inquired about having surgery, the consensus is that the surgery would probaly leave me dead or at least brain dead. I asked one of the doctors who is a very "Down to Earth" type of person what is the best that I could hope for. He told me that the best thing would be for an airplane engine to fall on me while I'm out and about. How is that the best thing I asked. Well he says, you'll be dead and permanently out of pain, your family inherits all the insurance money and then can sue the airlines for millions of dollars so they'll be set for life. So, I asked Home Depot to let me change jobs, so that I could work in one store, thus very little driving, and I would have a more normal schedule and a life. The job of District Safety Manager was taking on average 80 to 90 hours a week. They offered to let me work in the phone room, but I would have to agree to revert back to my hourly pay from when I started in '97. I gave them a brisk salute with appropriate salutation, did my best About Face and left. As it turns out, it was for the better anyway. I'm back to teaching, which is something that I love to do. The pay is very good, and I get to write my own schedule. I work at Princeton Review teaching HS students how to beat the PSAT, the SAT, and the ACT. On the college grad level I teach the GRE and the LSAT. So now you are as up to date as I can get you.
Having the re-union at Camp Lejune sounds like a good idea. I'm glad you are willing to take the lead, unlike the Andy I knew in 1/9 who was costantly straggling and following behind the rest of us. Way To Go!!!
Otto

Sounds Like A Plan

Sounds good to me. If you want to run with the ball, go ahead. I can only think of upsides to having it in you and Bill's backyard. No doubt Connie and Lin will be invaluable as well.

Ron Fowler
54 Lyon Hill Road
Chester Massachusetts
01011
nomorks at yahoo dot com
219 7029
area code is 413.
Tynan is 285 6616
in the 774 area.

Here is a thought for my fellow dragons to ponder.....What about holding a reuninon on Camp Lejeune? I'm sure I can find us a good location in town for us to stay, and set up some on base activities. I think it would be great for some of you to see what the new Corps looks like, up close and personal.

Contact Information

I'll come up with something soon for a simple place for people to list contact info.

A suggestion replace @ with a space "at "space when listing your e-mail, or else you might be bombarded with penis lengthening or stamina building products thus bringing the neighbors comments "what's with the ruts in your lawn?"

also list the area code as yours plus one remembering to minus the 1 first ie. 123 becomes 122plus one. Seriously the web bots crawl. The next time you fill out a raffle thing or some such throw in a different initial, then when your junk mail come you will know who sold them your name.

Dale - Im for wherever we can hold a get together/reunion.

Otto - You better be at the posistion of attention you BOOT. What happened to the job at Home Depot?

The picture below was from dinner this past weekend. Me, my wife, BIll and his wife, and his daughter and boyfriend are in the photo.

BIll and Andy's families

Contact Information

Semper Fi! One and all!! As many of you have stated, I too got caught up in too much BS and almost forgot about living. Andy, Welcome Home! Congratulations on your retirement! Hope you have a great civilian life! I believe I have found my LAST Career, once and for all. I'm currently teaching high schoolers how to defeat the SAT and ACT, and I teach college grads how to master the GRE and the LSAT. No offense intended, but college graduates are some of the most highly lost creatures that I have ever met. In the words of SGT. Gilchrest :"They aint got the walking about sense that GOD gave a fencepost!"
Anyway, I've had a few ups and downs since the last re-union and no longer have everyones contact information. I know that some of our brothers may not be hooked into the internet. I'm not real familiar with blogging, but can you set up a page with everyones' contact info? Here is mine, feel free to distribute to all the other Dragons that are out there. I'd like to get back in touch with EVERYONE so don't be shy with the addresses. Thanks.

G. Otto Hennecke
12 Monika Ct.
Bethpage, NY 11714
Email: otto03 at mac.com
Home: (516) 931 - 7526
Cell: (516) 305 - 3569

P.S. If you did not receive a Christmas card from me last year, that's because I had several come back with "NO SUCH ADDRESS" stamped on them.

Let's see if this works.

Welcome to the Civilian Ranks

Congratulations Andy. Thanks for your service and congrats
on your successful career with our United States Maine Corps.
Is that a Civil Service job you are heading to along with Big Dow?
I hope you enjoy your time off before you go back to work.
If you want to get away for a weekend, Atlanta is only 7-8 hrs
away. Our doors are open anytime for you or any of the Marines
I know if you are in Atlanta and want a cheap place to stay while
you're here. Enjoy!!

About that reunion, it has been challenging trying to get some
action going on that. I'll volunteer to head up another if we can
get folks to come to Atlanta. I figure they can get here as
cheap as anywhere in the country. Any takers?

Is there still a chance we may have another reunion?