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Special Forces Convention, Jacksonville, Florida, 2016

7/3/2016

5 Comments

 
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SFA President Jack Tobin, Medal of Honor recipient Colonel Roger Donlon, and author Ray Bows stand together at the Special Forces Convention, Jacksonville, Florida, June 2016.
On 13 June 2016, we were in attendance at the US Army Special Forces reunion in Jacksonville, where we encountered an old friend, Colonel Roger Donlon, the first Medal of Honor recipient of the Vietnam War.   We hadn't seen each other since 2001 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, the day before 9/11.   The fifteen years between encounters seemed to evaporate as Ray and the colonel spoke of previous meetings at such places like Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, and San Antonio, Texas.  Ray has written extensively about two of Colonel Donlon's team members at Nam Dong, Master Sergeant Gabriel Alamo and Sergeant John Houston, for whom the Alamo and Houston Bachelor Enlisted Quarters (BEQs) in Saigon were named. 

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At the reunion, we also met the current president of the Special Forces Association, Jack Tobin, as well as fellow author Andy Winfree;  Bob Mulcahy, who shared invaluable information previously unknown to us; Pete Peterson, David "Bulldog" Smith, Pete Laurence, and Johnny King, who was at Nui Coto with Ben Davan, for whom the Davan Compound was named.  We shared a table with USASF author and historian Steve Sherman and MAC V SOG historian Jason Hardy.  We  also encountered Betty, manager of the Special Forces gift shop who agreed to carry "IN HONOR AND MEMORY" at the Special Forces Museum, Fort Bragg, where it is now available in limited quantities. 

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 Above (left): Pia and Major David C. "Bulldog" Smith, President of Chapter 57,  share a hug after "Bulldog" kindly shares information of several places in New York named in memory of Major George Cuomo, missing in action (MIA) in 1968.

Above (right):  Ray Oden, President of Chapter 33, looks at the BOQ/BEQ  section of "IN HONOR AND MEMORY" as he tells Ray Bows and Andy Winfree about his time as a dependent in Saigon when his father was stationed in Vietnam.

Left:  Pia with Johnny King, who was at Nui Coto.  Johnny knew Ben Davan for whom the Davan Compound (Det. B-55), at Nha Trang was named (see page 92 of "IN HONOR AND MEMORY"). 

5 Comments
Charles Bower link
7/28/2023 09:31:36

The us Armed force Exceptional Powers get-together in Jacksonville, where we experienced a close buddy, Colonel Roger Donlon, the main Decoration of Honor beneficiary of the Vietnam War.

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Shreya link
8/8/2023 03:24:26

Thank you so much for sharing this information with us!

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S Santra link
8/11/2023 07:01:05

This is so good to hear!

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Richard link
11/10/2023 04:39:22

Great personalities at one place! Looks great indeed.

Reply
Romeo link
7/5/2024 06:56:43

Thanks a lot for sharing this!

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    Master Sergeant Ray Bows, US Army (ret.) spent twenty years on active duty including overseas assignments in Korea, France, Vietnam, Germany, and Belgium, with TDY to Crete and Italy.

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