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 JOHN NESSER |
| John served with us in 69. He is from Coeur D’Alene, ID. He was in Alpha'69 & then left to be a door gunner on a Chinook. He also ' award for his Memoirs he published. He couldn't make the 2022 reunion due to surgery but he hopes to make his 1st visit at our next one. His book is titled "The Ghosts of Thua Thien". |
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PHOTOS |
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Photos below were taken on ops west of FSB Bastogne, probably summer of 1969
Top row, L to R:
Bunker, FSB Birmingham, Aerial view west of FSB Bastogne; Nui Khe;
southwest of FSB Birmingham More of John's photos can be found here.
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| NOTES FROM FAMILY AND FRIENDS |
| A guestbook entry from then President Ken Counts in 2016. Sarah, Thank you. I will frwd this to our webmaster Barth Cunico & have him post on our website Alpha avengers association of Viet Nam. Our Assoc.had our 1st reunion in 1990 where we invite all who served in our Company (A Co, 2nd Bn. 501st regiment 101st Airborne Div.) which served 1967 thru 1972.The Co. left Ft. Campbell at the end of 1967. the Co.landed at Cam Ranh Bay & moved to Bien Hoa just N.of Saigon. after just a few weeks of incountry training ( where they received there 1st casualties by friendly fire) the 2nd brigade moved to I Corps near the Imperial City of Hue where they stayed until leaving VN in 1972.The 2nd Brigade had there basecamp at LZ Sally just NW of Hue. The Bn was a swing Bn & was deployed to whichever Brigade needed help. Our reunions are held every 2 years in different cities where our many priority is to honor one of our fallen brothers by presenting a Some Gave all Award to the surviving family,this year we will be presenting the award to Allecia Dellarippa the sister of Edward Bishop,Jr.who was lost on FB Granite in 1970. Edward was an adopted son of the Bishop's. In '79 the teams searching for lost soldiers at the battle sites could not identify his remains due to lack of DNA evidence.He is Alpha's only MIA. we will be having our reunion in New Orleans May 12th thru the 15th. we will be at the NO Arprt, Hilton Hotel where. we will have a Banquet Sat. Night to honor Edward. Attending the reunion will be Brig. G'nl. Jim Mitchell who was Co. commander in 1970 & was near the position where Edward was manning.The G'nl was well liker & respected by the men who served under him. The G'nl. still carries a 3 by 5 card with all the men killed under his command with Edward's name at the top of the list. I will have the G'nl. make the award presentation.His story would be a great one for your group as he is a well polished speaker. If you or any of your staff would like to attend I will personally cover your hotel room & dinner at the banquet. Just let me know by April 15th as the hotel has a special room rate they will only offer us by this date.I truly appreciate what your org.is doing. Books I can recommend are Hamburger Hill by Samuel Zaffiri ISBN: 0-89141-289-1; Ripcord Screaming Eagles Under Siege,Vietnam 1970 Keith W. Nolan IS BN: 0-89141-642-0; Hell On A Hilltop America's Last Major battle In Vietnam Maj. G'nl. Benjamin L. Harrison ISBN: 0-595-32730-3 These 3 books are non-fiction and focus on the battles in the Ashau Valley and are very well written but very graphic, Another book which is an indepth look at a Medal of Honor winner who served with D Co. 2/501st as a Sgt. when he earned the award & then as a Lt. with Alpha Co. 2/501st in 1970 where he earned a Silver Star. A 4th book I will recommend is The Ghosts of Thau Thien ISBN: 978-0-7864-3324-7 by John A. Nesser This book is written by a man who served in my Platoon after the Battle of Hamburger Hill when I was the Plt. Sgt. It is not as accurate as John wrote this from memory & on returning home he burnt all his letters; his wife had saved, in a fit of depression. I enjoyed it as it brought back a lot of memories both good & bad. The last book I can recommend is Transition To Duty by Leo Flory ISBN: 978-1-886167-33-9 Leo was a combat medic serving in B Co.2/501st in '68/'69. Again,this book has special meaning to me as Leo started writing this book after finding a message from Jennifer Gaines on a website www.b2501airborne.com. She was trying to find information about her Uncle Robert Malecki who was killed on FB Airborne May 13th,'69.He started corresponding to her & showed the emailes to his wife who convinced him to start writing his book. He did not know Robert but his Co.was in the field & saw the battle on Airborne & relieved us the morning after the battle as we were sent to reinforce the 3/187 which was on Hamburger Hill. Robert was my best friend as he & I joined A Co. together & they gave him the Radio & me the M79. Robert was 1st Plt,RTO. This book is well written from a medics viewpoint. I could share more books with you but these all have A Co. mentioned in them & have personal meaning to me. Let me know if you are interested in attending our reunion. I forgot to mention our guest speaker is CWO Ryan Nieburh who is on active duty with the 101st in S.korea & is the Brigade historian for the Div. he is working on a project of putting a History of the Brigade from WWII to the present plus a book of Valor listing the men in the Brigade who have recv'd. Medals of Valor & the Purple Heart. Thank You, Ken Counts President Alpha Avengers Assoc.of VN |