August, 2002; Page 6

(2005 Cont.)

Greg Van Bemden: Greg is doing well and is having a great time at Camp Buckner. He says it’s more physically demanding than last summer but much more fun. We received a letter from him describing one of his weeks in the woods; I thought I would share it. “The last five days have been pretty long, but fun. We had two days of weapons, engineer day, & RECONDO. We fired the M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon), and the M240B at night and during the day. The tracers from the M240B were right out of a G.I. Joe TV show. It looked so cool they look like lasers. Engineer day we built and disassembled a pontoon bridge, used C4 & TNT to blow stuff up, learned how to make and destroy obstacles and bunkers. FA (field artillery) day we fired “big guns”, the howitzer 105mm). RECONDO day we did the walk across the beam and over the step, then did the slide for life and enduro run. The day was a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be. We had the awards ceremony for RECONDO today & I got it! We had a briefing on the Land Warrior System which will be issued to units in 2004, and after that we went to dinner. Now I have the rest of the night off from 20:00 on.” Our kids really pack a lot into their days. We are leaving this weekend for Ft. Knox Greg is in one of the last groups. Greg tells me that the toughest part of his summer will be over this week and he is looking forward to Ft Knox and seeing his girlfriend for the Illumination Dance.

Tye Reedy: We enjoyed having Tye home for his summer break during which we were able to take a 5-day houseboat allowing us all to relax and just enjoy one another’s company. Tye is doing well so far this summer at Buckner and his shoulder is holding up just fine, for which we are all very thankful. He has passed off on all requirements to date and has earned his Recondo patch. He said land navigation was tough at first, but then he got the hang of it. We just returned from Ft. Knox where we spent the entire week. It was a great experience for us, and Tye really enjoyed the training he was engaged in. During his training at Ft. Knox he shot a 50 cal., participated in several Tank Simulator scenarios, attended the CALFEX and participated in a laser tag, if you will, live tank battles. Tye served as the gunner and reported that during the battle his tank team recorded two kills against the enemy and there were no losses to his team. In addition to the training, Tye was able to spend some time with us, during which he usually brought 5 buddies along with him. It was great to listen to these fine young men talk about their families and their West Point experiences. Upon his return to Buckner from Ft. Knox, the cadets were granted a 48-hour leave. One of Tye’s buddy’s’ lives in Boston. He took Tye and two other cadets home with him for some R&R. They had a great time eating lobster and visiting a few sights. One of the highlights was a visit and tour of a Navy P.T. Boat

docked at the Boston Harbor. What made it especially nice is that one of the cadets who were with them has a twin brother in the Naval academy and he was a member of the crew for that particular P.T. Boat. It was a joyous reunion for the brothers and a treat for the cadets who received a behind the scenes tour of the boat. Tye reported that the Navy Guys have it easy! They were laying around taking it easy with their shirts unbuttoned and untucked, and their uniforms all wrinkled. Of course no one has it as hard as the class of 05 at USMA! Tye is looking forward to the Illumination Dance, as his girlfriend will be flying up for the event to make it all that much more of a special event.

CLASS OF 2006

"NEVER FALTER, NEVER QUIT"

Austin (Ace) Clopeck: My husband, Dragan along with my 2 other children, Clifford and Niko had tickets that we previously purchased before Austin/Ace got accepted to West Point for a trip to Croatia that we were unable to change so Austin/Ace went up to West Point alone and called to check-in with his grandmother to let her know he arrived safely and was okay. Unfortunately Grandma doesn’t have call waiting and he was unable to get through so he called his girlfriend’s mom and she let us all know that he was fine. Networking is absolutely wonderful – it keeps everyone informed.

We’ve gotten about 3-4 letters from Ace and he’s told us all to share his letters so that he wouldn’t have to repeat himself in the letters. I followed Thelma Poe’s advice and insert a self-addressed stamped envelope in every other letter and some extra stamps along with a blank sheet of paper to make things a bit easier for Ace. Since I was in Europe he hasn’t gotten all of my letters yet but now that I’m back in the good U.S.A. he should be getting them a bit more regularly.

His girlfriend, Nicole and I are writing him every day and he has been getting her mail and it has definitely lifted his spirits. So to all those parents who don’t like the girlfriends or boyfriends getting involved- BIG MISTAKE! They really are great to lift our children’s spirits up and should be kept informed as well so they will understand why they don’t hear form their boyfriends/girlfriends regularly and won’t cause them stress by having to explain how busy they are. By bringing Nicole with me to the picnic I find she’s gotten a better understanding of why Austin can’t write her regularly and doesn’t upset him by crying or asking why he doesn’t write more often. No one likes being kept in the dark – no matter what age.

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