The CIVO Website Newsletter for January 2021 has been published. If you wish to receive a free email copy, send an email to powellcentaur@gmail.com and request that your email address be added to the distribution list. Email addresses are kept private and not given out to any agency.
CIVO Website Newsletter - Dec 2020
index: Wanted, Museum, 3/4 Cav Chapter, History Help , Comments, Updates, War Stories, Glossary, Broken Links, Who?, BS Cards, Shirts&Hats,Technobabble ☺
Wanted
Can you identify or give us more info on these men (Perry, unknown & Hale) from the Service Platoon 1969?
Hale SP4 Maintenance (first name unknown) Aug 69 to Aug 70 now has a rough draft MyPage and MP1. Photo is from Allen "KC" Allcock Slide Show #64. Do you remember anything about Hale?
David Perry SP4 Avionics Mechanic Sep 1969 to Sep 1970. Photo is from Allen "KC" Allcock Slide Show #64. Do you remember anything about Perry?
John Alfred Ray Olson SP4 LRRP with D Troop, tour dates unknown, died 17 April 2017 at the age of 79. We have a draft deceased MyPage for him with InfoSheet/Obit. His son Donald Olson provided the photo of his dad's Centaur Plaque. He hopes that we can find more information about him.
Note the two stars on the plaques CIB indicating he served in three wars.
His MyPage has been linked to from the Main and Deceased Rosters.
Contact webmaster at powellcentaur@gmail.com with information or photos.
Need some help writting? Stretch also offers his assistance to any Centaur in writing up their memories for posterity and also by scanning in any pictures or documents. Contact Stretch directly at:
"Harrison, Brian" <briankn4r@gmail.com> or cell phone is 704 657-8910
National US Army Museum
do you have a copy of this photo calendar 1968?
The new National US Army Museum opened to the public on Veteran's Day 11 Nov 2020. Tom Fleming and Jerry Headley attended the gala affair.
The Centaurs were represented (sort of) with a photo of one of our Cobras firing rockets. You may remember this photo since it was used in the 25th Inf Div Calendar for 1968 (possibly June or July).
The museum listed the date as 1966 but was really 1968. They also showed AH-1C not AH-1G. A request to correct the error was sent to the Customer Support section. They were quick to respond and would like to find the original photo calendar and possibly any people that were involved with it.
send me an email: powellcentaur@gmail.com
The quarterly (Winter) edition of the 3/4 Cav Newsletter, by David Cox is out, and it has a terrific writeup with photos of the new US Army Museum. Check it out.
Late update: CPT John Whitehead is flying the Cobra in the photo taken by SP4 Walker
3/4 Cav Chapter
3/4 Cavalry Chapter: Just in case you didn't know it, the 3/4 Cav Chapter of the 25th Inf Division Association was, and still is, instrumental in the development of the Centaur Legacy. The 3/4 CAV Chapter received its charter from the 25th Infantry Division Association on August 3, 1990 in Chicago, IL. To date more than 1617 former "Mackenzie Raiders" have been located. 652 paid members are on the mailing list.
Decades ago when our hero historian Dale Dow began his quest to find and recognize all Centaurs (D & F Troops), the 3/4 Cav Chapter guys provided money and support. They continue to do that to this day.
Many of you have expressed your appreciation for this great group of hard working volunteers by joining the Chapter for a mere $10 a year ($75 for lifetime member) and providing donations to the scholarship program. If you haven't done so, we are asking you to give it some thought.
You should at least check out their online store of great 3/4 Cav things like this new beautiful coin.
History Section Help Requested
Open the History Section Site Map and take a look at all the undeveloped and underdeveloped linked pages. Things like showing an organizational structure of the troop is difficult because it was so different from tour to tour. Nothing seems to match the Army FM's written for that era. Tactics and troop structure varied with tours. Maybe we should develop our own diagrams based on the Army's FM's but changed to be accurate as we collectively remember it. After all, we are not a worldly Wikipedia, we present things as we, the Centaurs, know or remember them.
Other Weapons: We have started adding enemy and other non-issued weapons to our website page under History/Equipment/Other Weapons. If you spot some good photos on our website that should also go here please let us know.
Same goes for photos that should go to the other Ordnance sections.
Your Personal Comments Requested
We receive grateful emails from friends and families of Centaurs thanking us for any small pieces of information or personal comments from fellow Centaurs about their loved one posted on the website.
It is an easy and simple gesture for each of us to consider doing. Look up the people you remember that we have MyPages for. Then send the webmaster (powellcentaur@gmail.com) an email with any words of remembrance you may have for that person. Your comments will be posted so that anyone looking that man up onliine will read what you have to say, and appreciate your kindness for doing so.
Keep in mind the guy doesn't have to be dead for you to post some memories. We all like being remembered by our fellow combat vets :)
Updates
Garnet O. Holcomb SP4 Maintenance 1969-70 (deceased 24 Mar 2003): His obituary has been located and added as an InfoSheet/Obit to his deceased MyPage.
Bruce Hinds makes positive comments on the new Google Interactive Map. It answered a 47 year old question for him.
Michael Peake provides remembrances of arriving in country. See his InfoSheet
OT Failen provides another photo of the last crash of LOH 378. See it on his War Story page.
Johnny L. Breshears SP4 crewmember of Stable Boy 1966-67 (Centaur Maintenance Aircraft) has checked in. We hope to hear more from him.
John Moore provides comments on Robert Kruse InfoSheet.
Rex Gooch shares this video to UH-1 pilots.
Terry Talley may have been flying LOH 378 when it crashed. We need more info.
William B. Miller CPT Slick Pilot 1972 has a revised MyPage with photo from Frank Dillion.
Richard P. Timmermeyer CPT Aerorilfles and Flight Operations Officer 1968 died 11 Dec 2013. A Deceased draft MyPage with Info/Obit has been created for him. His name is now linked from the Main and Deceased Rosters.
Dennis Hogan CPT Slick pilot Centaur 28: The man in the right seat of his aircraft in the pictures at MP1 and MP 2 is Lambert.Wayne Moose recognized him but no one can remember his first name. More info. Help? The MP's have also been added to Lambert's draft MyPage.
Centaur War Stories
Centaur Call Signs: This War Stories Discussion page has been significantly upgraded by our Historian Michael Peake. Please review and provide us with your additional input.
Navy Bombs DaNang - 3 Jan 1973: by Brian "Stretch" Harrison with Dennis Hogan, Wayne Moose and Joe McCourt publish this story about the accidental bombing of the DaNang Tank Farm. It is listed on the War Story Discussion list, and linked to from their respective MyPages. Joe mentions Camp Swampy. Do you have info on that?
SAR for "Royal Coachman" Mickey Wilson - 8 Jan 73 by Brian "Stretch" Harrison with Bruce Hinds, Dan Keirsey, Dennis Hogan, Wayne Moose and Peter Barber. Same day as the accidental Naval Bombing of Da Nang. The Search and Rescue order for a missing Huey was given to F Troop. It is listed on the War Story Discussion list, and linked to from their respective MyPages.
Loach Ordnance: Tom "Sam" Dooling has a new war story about all the things that were thrown at the enemy from our LOH Crews. It is linked to from his MyPage, Dobry's, Strand's, Homemade Bomb discussion and listed in the War Stories Essay list. To add your comments email the webmaster powellcentaur@gmail.com
Nighthawk Sniper - 1969 by Paul Plante. The Centaur Nighthawk mission, at one time, did have a sniper door gunner with starlight scope on board. Paul began this mission with the Little Bears and then later on to the Centaurs where he received a Silver Star for one nights action. This story has been added to the War Stories Essay section and linked to from Paul's MyPage. Terminology from his story has been added to the Glossary with links back to the story. Also note the many links at the top of the story concerning Nighthawk articles. Each of those articles is also linked back to this article. Paul would like to hear from you if you have any remembrances. Please contact him through the webmaster at powellcentaur@gmail.com
Charlie Takes Notice - 1969 by Paul Plante. During an Nighthawk mission Paul finds out that the VC have created a trap for him that almost succeeds. The story is listed in the War Stories Essay section and linked to from Paul's MyPage.
Paul also mentions that if you go to the 19 May 1969 edition of Tropic Lightning News and scroll down to the Wolfhounds Secure Area Surrounding Diamond III article you'll see a photo of an engineer destroying the center portion of a circular .51 cal pit used to support the anti-aircraft weapon. It also shows them spreading CS Riot Control Powder around the rest of the pit so that it cannot be used again. If you remember more details of your experiences with 51's, send them in. We hope to do a Discussion page to assemble all our knowledge of the 51 cal antiaircraft weapon, its deployment and our countermeasures.
Glossary Additions
Added: Glossary: Junkies, pickled, LORAN, Tank Farm, AP, VNAF, Shrapnel, Camp Swampy, Gunline, No Joy, White Team, Red Team, Pink Team, AAA, ICCS, JMC, IR, Starlight Scope, Fade Out Factor, Scout Ship, Baby Scout, Reconnaissance, Heavy Weapons Gunship, Chunker, CS Riot Powder.
Fixing Broken LInks & Corrections:
Gene Yonke MyPage links: "Remembering 19 Aug 1969" and "Battle for Tay Ninh Discussions" have been corrected.
Battle for Tay Ninh War Story Discussion page links: "A Troop Website Timeline" and "Combat After Action Report" have been corrected.
Several Bad Links have been repaired on Bob Schnider friends MyPage
Timothy J Gordon SP4 Stable Boy Door Gunner 1968 (deceased Apr 2020): His MP1 (a Nick LaRich photo) showing him, LaRich and Hall, has been corrected by adding Tim's name and correcting the spelling of Dau Tiang to Dau Tieng.
Who sent that email?
A few of you could save us a bit of time if you would clearly identify your emails as being from you. Do it either in the email address line like:
"Deak Smirdlap" <smacker2x@something.com> instead of smacker2x@something.com
or sign out at the end of the email: "Deak Smirdlap"
Thanks for helping.
Centaur Society - B S Cards
Brain Supplement Cards
You can read about the Centaur Society, what it is and how it started, by clicking on the Centaur Society button on the left side of the Centaur website. It was meant to be exclusive and only include those Centaurs who would commit to being a part of a team to help build the Centaur Legacy. It has now been expanded to include any Centaur that has taken the time to help build his own MyPage. What that means, is that you are elegible to receive the graphics needed to create your own BS Cards, as explained below, and to have the Centaur Society Logo placed in the lower left corner of your MyPage. I can also show you how to change the graphic of your folder of Centaur stuff to look like the one above.
Let me know powellcentaur@gmail.com
The BS Card is built from a Centaurs' page ("MyPage") on the website.
The BS Card: Some of you Centaurs may not be aware of our personal inhouse gimmick that helps us better communicate at reunions and also helps in our normal day to day encounters to spread word to the world of our great legacy website. One of the theories is that the more people that are aware of the website the better the chances to find more lost Centaurs. Passing out the cards, to any and all, might just help that.
It started at the Nashville Reunion in 2012. Many Centaur Society members had BS Cards made and brought them to the reunion. They passed them out to all they met and talked with. It was a great ice breaker. With most of us having our brains slowly slipping away, these cards, or Brain Supplement Cards as we decided to call them, helped all to remember faces, wives names, hometowns, tour years, phone number and such.
Bob Taylor recently sent in a good example. While golfing he had a nice chat with a new friend John. He gave John his BS Card. The next day he got this note:
Bob, After getting home yesterday I took the time to visit the Centaurs in Vietnam website. I really enjoyed looking through the content, particular the video stories shared by several of your fellow soldiers, including yourself. As I watched the videos and looked through pictures it was a good reminder of how incredibly fortunate we all are, as Americans, to have men like you willing to lay their life on the line in service of our country.
I mentioned my Father-in-Law, served in Vietnam. He was a Forward Observer in the Marines and was there from 1968 - 69, so it looks like maybe you were there at the same time for a short period. I attached a couple of photos. It is of a map he carried with him and I had framed along with several of his medals and combat ribbons. The map even has some of his notes and markings.
It was a pleasure meeting you and getting to play a round of golf. I want to thank you again for your service. John.
Go to the Help/Answers section of the website and click on item 52 for information on how to get your BS Cards
Centaur Shirts & Hats for Christmas?
Christine, Dale Dow's daughter, is still supporting the Centaurs by continuing to sell the shirts and hats like Dale used to do. See item 59 in the Help/Answers section of our website for more information.
She is out of D Troop Huey hats and F Troop LOH hats.
Technobabble Notes: for those curious about the technical side of our website. This last month had some dramatic changes that may have created uncorrected errors. Help me find them.
Major upgrade work on the website computer system (iMac), applications, and main iPower Server (the ISP) has been done (at the cost of the webmaster's pain, grief, time and a host of foul words (and minor room damage). Please help to find the pockets of problems that might have been generated in this process and missed (things that don't work). Click on places you don't normally bother with. Send me problems that you find (thanks).
We are now operating on the new Mac 64bit operating system (used to be 32bit). Many applications were effected. OS Catalina will remain for now. OS Big Sur has too many bugs. Both are 64 bit.
My Main Operating System is on an external Western Digital 12tb HD. Timemachine backup is to an external OWC 12tb HD. The old 32 bit OS (High Sierra) is on my iMac internal 3tb HD with original Dreamweaver CS5.5 (it is still available as a backup untill all new 64 bit version bugs are fixed).
The new Dreamweaver CC (2021) (main website building and managing software) has been cluttered up with new procedures, terms, code and dependent on the ever offensive Creative Cloud. All new major software from Adobe is controlled through their Creative Cloud system and is rented not purchased. Did I mention pain in the ass?
All graphics/photos are now being done in the new Adobe Photoshop Elements 2021 64bit (not connected to the Cloud). I am trying out several off beat photo managing applications to find something that can help me find and manage our many thousands of photos. The iPhotos (32bit) mac application worked well. It was replaced by Apple Photos and is a genuine piece of shit that has me speaking many foul words daily.
All video remains in the updated Final Cut Pro v10.5 (an amazing program) with initial compression being done in Apple's Compressor application v4.4.8 ; then further compressed for the web using the still working Miro Video Converter v3.0 with SD420p compression (mp4 format).
Text Wrangler code editing software has been discontinued and folded into BBEdit v13.5.2. The parts of that used for the website are still free.
The new Mac OS screen capturing software "Grab" has been changed to "ScreenShot"; same functions but a different way of doing things.
Safari v14 remains primary browser with Firefox v82.0.3 as number two and Opera v72.0.3815.148 number three. Google Chrome caused too many problems and was very invasive. Firefox drives me nuts with updates.
Apple Text Edit 1.15 remains the primary text program. All text coming in from other text programs is filtered through Text Edit to take all the coding crap out of it before going into Dreamweaver. Microsoft Word is the worst offender. Text directly from Word to the website (server) can dramatically clog things up.
For the CIVO Board of Directors,
Bruce
Bruce Powell, Moderator of the Centaur Society and Webmaster of centaursinvietnam.org
cell 619-823-0992
email: powellcentaur@gmail.com
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