. THE JOHN WAYNE/BOB SALZMAN MEMORIAL CHAPTER FLORIDA CHAPTER XXI SPECIAL FORCES ASSOCIATION Volume XXXXVII MAY 2018 NR 5 Website: http://specialforceschapter21florida.weebly.com/ CHAPTER OFFICERS PRESIDENT: Richard Whitman, D-6528L, 14958 Lymington Circle, Orlando, FL 32826-4103 Tel: (407) 482-3817, E-mail: rgwsrw99@aol.com VICEPRESIDENT: Robert Schlafke, Jr., D-8729L, 112 June Drive, Cocoa Beach, FL 32931-3215 Tel: 321-616-6798, E-mail: rjscocoa@gmail.com; TREASURER: Thomas (Tom) Tomlin, D-722L, 1408 Gulfwood Ct., Brandon, FL., 33510 Tel: (813) 689-2451, E-mail: tomtomlinsf@aol.com ASSISTANT TREASURER: Phil Devon, M-13612, 4313 North Course Lane, Avon Park, FL 33825 Tel: (585)739-4785, E-mail: pdevo@comcast.net SECRETARY: Russ Cummings, D-8450L, 5913 SW 42nd St., Bushnell, FL. 33513 Tel: (352) 568-9952, E-mail: russellgcummings@googlemail.com ASSISTANT SECRETARY: WEBMASTER: Frank Fowler, D-256L, 1815 Reid Street, Lehigh Acres, FL., 33936 E-mail: fhfinfl@comcast.net, Tel: (239)-369-5611 QUARTERMASTER: David H. Soucie, M-12880A, 4243 McCorvey Road, Deland, FL., 32724 Tel: (386) 734-6412, E-mail: davidhsoucie@wildblue.net SFA CHAPTER XXI Judith (Judy) A. Drewry, 6619 W Saint Ann Lane, Dunnellon, FL 34433 Tel: (352) 795-4248, E-mail: raynjudydrewry@embarqmail.com NEWSLETTER EDITOR:
MAY 2018 Welcome to spring. I know for those of you living up north, this is a blessing after the harsh winter you have had. Hopefully the snow has all melted and the Daffodils are in full bloom. The most important item on the chapter XXI agenda is the upcoming chapter meeting in Bradenton Florida, hosted by Ken & Angie Kilmer. Please see the information page in this newsletter for specifics and cut-off dates to reserve your room and to let Ken know you are coming and are you bringing your sweetie with you. Just a reminder: At the last meeting, Phil Devon floated a proposal to reduce the number of meetings from 4 a year to 3 a year. The rational being, the high cost incurred putting on the March meeting. That is prime spring break time for central Florida and the price of rooms goes sky high. Another proposal presented by the Chapter Vice President, Bob Schlafke, was to organized a Chapter Ladies Auxiliary. The rational was to assist the hostess of the meeting with the food stuff being brought in by other ladies of the Chapter. We always ask the ladies to bring something for the hospitality room. Without coordination at times we end up with a lot of the same thing. Secondly, it was to bring the Chapter Widows back into the fold. UPCOMING EVENTS SFA Convention, June 12 17, El Paso, TX, hosted by Chapter 9. Chapter XXI meeting, June 29 July 1, Bradenton, FL, hosted by Ken & Angie Kilmer Chapter XXI meeting, September 14 16, Cocoa Beach, FL, hosted by Bob & Kathy Schlafke. SOAR, October 15 19, Las Vegas, NV Chapter XXI meeting, December TBD, Lakeland, FL, hosted by JD & Shirley Bath. A note reference Chapter meetings. If you notice, the same folks are hosting the Chapter meetings. Please consider hosting a meeting. Richard Whitman, President ****************************************************************************** There will be a "Celebration of Life" ceremony for Caesar Civitella, at the next meeting. This will be a presentation of about 10-15 minutes, by Tom Tomlin and Geoff Barker, speaking about their working relationship/friendship with Caesar.
HEALTH AND WELFARE REPORT 1. Al and Toni Boman - Al is hanging in there, learning new things (cooking/housekeeping etc.) every day. Toni is working hard at getting stronger. We all wish both of you quick recovery. 2. Bob and Marianne Cherry - Sad News - Bob is at home (now) under hospice care. Marianne is working very hard caring for Bob. Hang in there Bob, you have been through tough spots before. 3. Ken and Angie Kilmer - Ken has had some medical issues but is working through them. Angie is doing well and staying busy keeping Ken squared away. 4. Wayne and Cindy Steffen - Wayne checked in to let us know they are both doing well. They are just cleaning up (recovering) from heavy water damage to several rooms due to a leaking water pipe. They hope to see us in El Paso. 5. Mike and Mary Ann Stover - I spoke with Mike and they are both doing fine. Mike had a few medical hiccups but is chargin' hard. They plan on seeing us in Bradenton. 6. Jack and Delores Schiffer (Honorary Member) We haven't seen Jack and Delores (our resident comedy team) for a couple of years now due to Jack being hospitalized on many occasions. He is doing much better now and said they hope to see us at the next meeting. Hey guys, we are looking forward to seeing both of you at many more meetings. 7. Brian and Natalie Vines - Natalie was extended a third time at the Eisenhower Center. They continue to make progress on her TBI/PTSD. Her tentative discharge date is now May 29. she appreciates everyone's support and encouragement. We are all waiting to see your smiling faces at a meeting soon. ***************************************************************************** ATTENTION EARLY 10th SFG PERSONELL (August 1957, Bad Tolz) Murl Tullis sent Tom Tomlin a copy of the Group Photo taken 31 August 1957 (COL Harrison, Commander). If you were there and would like a copy, please contact Tom. Murl also has (due to down sizing) books and publications on SF he is getting rid of. If you are interested, please contact him at 520-803-0504 (Arizona Time).
Donation to Chapter Fran Ramsden $50.00 (IMO) Jim Ramsden. (Jim is a Past President of Chapter 21) ***************************************************************************** Ed Britt presents a Chapter XXI Certificate and JROTC medal. ********************************************************************************** REMINDER - Chapter 21 Education Grant Please note that Chapter members are required to complete their portion of the application and forward to the Chapter no later than the stated deadline, 31 May 2018. Completed applications should be mailed to: Philip Devon, Assistant Treasurer, SFA Chapter 21, 4313 North Course LN, Avon Park, FL 33825. ***************************************************************************** Editor's Note: Attention: Florida recipients of this newsletter: Our son, Mark Peltier, is now back in his cabinet business. Affordable, quality, hardwood cabinets, professionally installed. Veteran's discount. Give give him a call, for a quote (352) 586-8415. Thanks, Judy & Ray Drewry
SFA Chapter XXI Meeting: June 29 July 1, 2018 Holiday Inn Express & Suites, 4450 47th Street West, Bradenton, FL. 34210. PHONE: 941-795-4633. Room rates: $94 per night. Use code "SFA Chapter XXI" for reservation. Cut off date for making reservation is 29 May 2018. Free Sun Rise Continental Deluxe hot item breakfast. There are 20 rooms reserved, all with twin queen beds. Require 24 Hrs. to cancel reservation. Directions to Holiday Inn Express Traveling south on I-75, take Exit 220A to SR64, west to 43rd Street (12 miles). Turn left on 43rd Street to Cortez Road, (3 miles), right on Cortez to 47th Street, (1/2 mile). Turn left to Holiday Inn, behind ALDI's Food Market. Those traveling north on I-75, take Exit 220B to SR64, then follow the same directions as above. Banquet dinner will be at DUFF's Buffet located on 14th Street and 60th Ave. From Holiday Hotel, turn right on Cortez Rd. to 14th Street. Turn right on 14th Street to 60th Ave. (3 miles), Turn into DUFF's parking. Cost of meal: $20. Make checks out to: SFA Chapter XXI and send them to: Kenneth Kilmer 3311 46th Plaza East Bradenton, FL. 34203 Phone: 941-209-0330 Don't forget to bring a gift for the drawing and your favorite dishes. Chapter meeting will be held in Hospitality Room
What God did at Pearl Harbor What God did at Pearl Harbor that day is interesting and I never knew this little bit of history: Tour boats ferry people out to the USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii every thirty minutes. We just missed a ferry and had to wait thirty minutes. I went into a small gift shop to kill time. In the gift shop, I purchased a small book entitled, "Reflections on Pearl Harbor" by Admiral Chester Nimitz. Sunday, December 7th, 1941, Admiral Chester Nimitz was attending a concert in Washington, DC. He was paged and told there was a phone call for him. When he answered the phone, it was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the phone. He told Admiral Nimitz that he (Nimitz) would now be the Commander of the Pacific Fleet. Admiral Nimitz flew to Hawaii to assume command of the Pacific Fleet. He landed at Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1941. There was such a spirit of despair, dejection and defeat--you would have thought the Japanese had already won the war. On Christmas Day, 1941, Adm. Nimitz was given a boat tour of the destruction wrought on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. Big sunken battleships and navy vessels cluttered the waters everywhere you looked. As the tour boat returned to dock, the young helmsman of the boat asked, "Well Admiral, what do you think after seeing all this destruction?" Admiral Nimitz's reply shocked everyone within the sound of his voice. Admiral Nimitz said, "The Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could ever make, or God was taking care of America. Which do you think it was?" Shocked and surprised, the young helmsman asked, "What do mean by saying the Japanese made the three biggest mistakes an attack force ever made?" Nimitz explained Mistake number one: The Japanese attacked on Sunday morning. Nine out of every ten crewmen of those ships were ashore on leave. If those same ships had been lured to sea and been sunk--we would have lost 38,000 men instead of 3,800. Mistake number two: When the Japanese saw all those battleships lined in a row, they got so carried away sinking those battleships, they never once bombed our dry docks opposite those ships. If they had destroyed our dry docks, we would have had to tow every one of those ships to America to be repaired. As it is now, the ships are in shallow water and can be raised. One tug can pull them over to the dry docks, and we can have them repaired and at sea by the time we could have towed them to America. And I already have crews ashore anxious to man those ships. Mistake number three: Every drop of fuel in the Pacific theater of war is in top of the ground storage tanks five miles away over that hill. One attack plane could have strafed those tanks and destroyed our fuel supply. That's why I say the Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could make or God was taking care ofamerica. I've never forgotten what I read in that little book. It is still an inspiration as I reflect upon it. In jest, I might suggest that because Admiral Nimitz was a Texan, born and raised in Fredericksburg, Texas, he was a born optimist. But any way you look at it, Admiral Nimitz was able to see a silver lining in a situation and circumstance where everyone else saw only despair and defeatism. President Roosevelt had chosen the right man for the right job. We desperately needed a leader that could see silver linings in the midst of the clouds of dejection, despair and defeat. There is a reason that our national motto is, IN GOD WE TRUST. Why have we forgotten? PRAY FOR OUR COUNTRY! In God we trust!