Recent Return to Hawaii

We were fortunate to attend a reunion of the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii in late September and early October.  It was an interesting trip, especially to see all the changes that have occured in Hawaii and more especially at Schofield Barracks - the home of the 25th Infantry Division.  We had Shelley and David Boss and Steve and Ashley Morgan in attendence with us.  Shelley was 2 months old when we arrived in Hawaii in October 1963 and Steve was born there on December 1, 19964.  We were able to take many driving tours of places that we had visited when we were stationed there.  The first thing that hits you when you drive on the island is the slow speed at which traffic moves - many posted speed signs are 35 mph with anywhere from 3 to 5 lanes of traffic. 

At the banquet on Saturday night, I was able to make contact with two of the guys who served with me in the 125th Signal Battalion - both were part of the division photo lab.  These were MSgt Al Batungbacl and Sp4 John Grote.  Al had retired in Hawaii where he operated a commercial photography business.  John became a real CSI phtographer for the LA Police Department.  I am posting a picture of the three of us as we had met at the banquet.

Al is on the left and John is on the right.
After the banquet, we visited in the hospitality suite for about an hour during which time, I was able to share some of the pictures that John and others had made of our unit of the 125th Sig while on training missions on Oahu.  Also, I had some of the instamatic photos that were made in Vietnam in 1966.  They were both surprised with the quality that was still there. 

Other people that I was priviledged to meet for the first time were a couple of WWII veterans.  One was 96 years old and this was his 41st reunion.  The other was Maurice Storck whom I found to be most interesting and just full of fun stories about his life in the Engineers during WWII. 

Not to be left out, Betty got her picture made with the Division rear commander Col. Matt Kelley. 

During our visit to Schofield, Col. Kelley gave an update on the State of the 25th Infantry Division and where all the various units were serving. She looked very pretty and enjoyed having her picture made with Col. Kelley at the banquet.

Below is a picture of the World War II vets. that attended the banquet.  I was really impressed with the number of them who were able to attend the reunion in Hawaii.  See their picture below.

  Storch is 3rd from left and Frank Bohun (96) year old is 2nd from the right.  Frank had many of his nieces and nephews that accompanied him on this trip.  We were on the bus, with them, that took us to Schofield on Friday.  They were really a fun bunch.

 

We attended the dedication of the parade field which was renamed in honor of General Fred Weyand who was our commander in Hawaii and upon deployment to Vietnam.  He was truely a very good commander and supporter of the 25th Infantry Division. Another interesting item that we were able to see was the memorial that had been built in honor of members of the division during all war eras.  This is very impressive and plans are being made to duplicate the memorial at Ft. Benning, GA.