United States Army

Infantry Officer Candidate School

Class 14-67, 52^nd Company

39^th Anniversary Reunion

Las Vegas, Nevada

May 21-24, 2006

After Action Report

We now have our third reunion and third venue behind us. A total of 30 of our classmates and one Tac Officer took the time and made the effort to travel to Las Vegas and share some special time with their fellow graduates. Adding spouses and guests to the roster we came in at 56 participants. While this was not the turnout we hoped for, all who came had a great time.

The Imperial Palace Hotel on “the Strip” in Las Vegas, Nevada was the “Tactical Operations Center” for all our reunion activities. The Hospitality Suite there was our “Firebase” for the three days and nights. It was a place where anyone could stop by at almost any time to enjoy some good conversation. Lots of memorabilia were again available, from Class Books to pictures from 39 years ago to pictures from our first two reunions in Columbus, GA and Washington, DC to a special book honoring all of our KIAs. Thanks again to Jack Hogg (3^rd Platoon) for supplying the snacks used in the Hospitality Suite.

Name tags were provided by Bob Usher (6^th Platoon) and other Hospitality Suite “goodies” were donated by Dave (3^rd Platoon) and Sandy Harmon. Thanks to the efforts of Bob Usher we also were able to purchase special reunion hats, shirts and coffee mugs commemorating the date and place of our 39^th anniversary reunion.

The entire class was again honored at this event by the participation of Mary Lazaro, sister of Bobby Lazaro (4^th Platoon - KIA). This was the third consecutive reunion attended by Mary, who is one of the few with a perfect attendance record. And for that, she was awarded a framed cross stitch of a portion of “The Wall” with the names of our classmates who gave their lives in Vietnam. A special thanks goes out to Belinda St. John, wife of Rick St. John (6^th Platoon) for going above and beyond the call of duty in making this beautiful item.

We are continuing to encourage the involvement of family of our brothers who were killed in action; it is ever so gratifying. Thanks to all of you for being a part of “our” family.

Monday afternoon, we all gathered in the Hospitality suite for a special event. Bob Usher got down on one knee and asked his bride of almost 40 years (Jean Fox – our Company Clerk/Secretary under CPT Ballou) to marry him again. You could hear a pin drop while waiting for her answer. Bob feared she might say NO, but she finally relented and agreed to the renewal of their vows. The Reverend Paul Longgrear (3^rd Platoon Tac Officer), now an ordained Minister, performed the ceremony. The honeymoon was very short since we had a 5:00 PM Meet-N-Greet that evening.

The activities continued when everyone joined up for dinner at the Imperial Palace Tuesday evening. The table centerpieces were outstanding, thanks again to the single-handed efforts of Belinda St. John.

Following the “Posting of the Colors”, (the Color Guard consisted of 3 young men {two of whom were Rick and Belinda St. John’s sons}), the Reverend George Hunsaker (3^rd Platoon) gave the invocation.

Colonel James “Bo” Gritz’s speech was the highlight of the after-dinner activities. COL Gritz served over 22 years in the Army rising throughout the enlisted and officer ranks. He was involved in many “Black Hole” projects and if we tell you about them, he’ll have to “eliminate us”. He gave an excellent talk; it was insightful, educational, and definitely entertaining.  We think that everyone thoroughly enjoyed him.  You can read all about COL Bo at “www.BoGritz.com”. Special thanks to Jack Hogg for lining up COL Gritz.

We continued our tradition of singing Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.” Other business conducted during the meeting included handing over the “colors” to Bob Holt (3^rd Platoon), the new Commanding Officer until the next reunion. The remainder of the evening was spent reminiscing and dancing to the sounds of Bryan Alexander’s 2^nd Life Entertainment repertoire of 60’s music – the era of our fun and games at the Benning School for Boys.

Much discussion was held on the reason(s) for the poor attendance at this third reunion and the plans for the next reunion. The general consensus was that maybe we are having the reunions too often and moving around too much. Again the consensus was that we start having the reunions every 3 years and at Ft. Benning (the place where this all started almost 40 years ago). And while there were many well thought out suggestions, we believe that the next “Official Reunion” should be at Ft. Benning sometime in the spring or early summer of 2009. We say the next “Official Reunion” because there are plans afoot to have a gathering at Ft. Benning on 7 March 2007 (40 years to the day we graduated) to place a wreath on the memorial to our classmates and Tacs. This “Unofficial Reunion” is for anyone wishing to attend. At this time there are no functions scheduled other than the Wreath Laying on Wednesday, 7 March 2007 (Exact time TBD). We may get together somewhere for dinner that evening. There will be more to come on this event as plans unfold.

We also decided to have a “Platoon Leader” to keep in touch with members of their platoon and try to “refind” some of our brothers who have gotten lost over the past few years and to find the two fifth platoon men still lost from the original hunt. These platoon leaders are: 1^st Pltn - Terry Boettner, 2^nd Pltn - Hector Colon, 3^rd Pltn - Wayne Glover, 4^th Pltn - Vacant, 5^th Pltn - Leon Ooton, and 6^th Pltn - Bob Usher. We need a volunteer for the 4^th Platoon Leader.

We concluded our time in Las Vegas with an informal breakfast “get together” at the hotel on Wednesday morning when everyone had ample opportunity to say their good-byes, agree to visit and stay in touch with each other and do some planning for the next reunion.

As of the writing of this “After-Action Report,” we had accounted for 167 of the 169 graduates of our class and all the Company Cadre. This leaves only 2 graduates yet to be accounted for (Ed O’Brien and John O’Connor – both 5^th Platoon). We haven’t yet made the “all present or accounted for” goal that we were shooting for, but that won’t stop us. As we said at both the first and second reunions, in keeping with one of this country’s greatest military traditions to never leave anyone behind, Class 14-67 pledges to continue the search until the whereabouts of the last man is known. This is nothing more than following in the spirit of our class motto --- “52^nd, Never Second, Sir!”

We wish to extend a special thanks to Rick and Belinda St. John who spent many hours in preparation for this very successful Third Reunion.

The final financial figures are basically done and our treasury is in good shape. Once the last remaining expenses are paid we will provide all class members with a full accounting of the funds received, expended and still remaining.

Respectfully submitted:

Brian Smith Bob Usher

Treasurer 1SG

June 19, 2006

Those attending the 2006 Reunion of Infantry OCS Class 14-67 (52^nd Company) in Las Vegas, Nevada were as follows. (First time reunion attendees are noted in “blue”):

First Platoon

Terry and Donna Boettner - Crofton, Maryland

Ellis Brown - Oakland, California

Doug and Mary Bulthaus - St. Anthony, Minnesota

Paul and Melisa Carter - Erie, Colorado

Second Platoon

Joe and Bernie Bambach - Oceanport, New Jersey

Jim Cline - Beavercreek, Oregon

Hector Colon - Moline, Illinois

Bob and Sandy Conley - Pleasant Hill, California

Larry Flakne - Fulton, Missouri

Joseph Gallagher - Lake Chapala, Mexico

Third Platoon

Henry and Betty Gold - Lipan, Texas

Dave and Sandy Harmon - Stockton, California

Ted and Sally Hoey - London, Ohio

Bob Holt - Georgetown, Texas

George and Karen Hunsaker - Indianapolis, Indiana

Jack Hogg - Gary, Indiana

Allen Hyman - No. Hollywood, California

Carl and Fran Jones - Sumner, Washington

Paul and Patty Longgrear - Pine Mountain, Georgia

Fourth Platoon

Don and Terry Magness - Bois D’Arc, Missouri

Ted and Gail Mathis - Harrison, Michigan

Fifth Platoon

Tom and Susie Medina - Buda, Texas

Leon and Carol Ooton - Jacksonville, Florida

Sixth Platoon

Reuben Rosenthal - Gladwyne, Pennsylvania

John and Fran Shaeffer - Hartville, Ohio

Brian and Janet Smith - Montecito, California

Rick and Belinda St. John - Las Vegas, Nevada

Ed and Ann Stephens - Lumberton, North Carolina

Bob and Jean Usher - Lacey’s Spring, Alabama

Rick White - Alpharetta, Georgia

John and Cathy Zaitz - Canyon Lake, California

Special Guests

Gretchen Bulthaus(daughter of Doug) - St. Anthony, Minnesota

Mary Lazaro (sister of Bobby Lazaro) - Glendora, New Jersey

Kathy Duncan (guest of Jack Hogg) - Gary, Indiana

Gregoria Hernandez - Lake Chapala, Mexico

(guest of Joseph Gallagher)