In this episode of the H21, Austin, Texas,  Southern Chapter of the Combat Infantrymen’s Association, we summarize the meeting from 23 January 2010 in Austin, and we also preview the upcoming meeting on 20 February 2010 at the VFW Post 8787 in Austin, Texas, at 13:30 hrs.

As you can see from the above photo, we have several more images from the Veterans’ Day parade in Austin, Texas.

As you will hear in this audio episode, we welcome the new year and review the items discussed in the meeting on 23 February 2010. If you would like to hear the ENTIRE MEETING, you can go to the following link and listen to the discussions (nearly 2 hours):

http://media.libsyn.com/media/fgcastgain/CIB-Mtg-23Jan2010-Austin-STE-001.mp3

However, the key messages in this audio episode are:

- Upcoming meeting on 20 Feb 2010 at 13:30 hrs. at VFW Post 8787;

- Upcoming elections of officers, after each of the nominees accepted their positions when nominated:

* Tony Martinez accepted nomination as Commander

* John Torres accepted nomination as Executive Officer

* Fred Castaneda accepted nomination as Public Affairs Officer

* Duane Williams accepted nomination as Safety Officer/Sgt.-at-Arms

- Proposed trip/meeting in the Spring combined jointly with the 82nd Airborne Division Association in Fredericksburg, Texas (to be near the Museum of the Pacific) – tentative date 17 April 2010. This is being coordinated by Matt Rayson of the 82nd Airborne Division Association.

- Next meeting should be in the Fort Hood/Killeen/Harker Heights area in the early weeks of March, 2010. Bobby Briscoe will have the details for us at the 20Feb2010 meeting.

If you wish to see a pdf document of the tentative agenda for the 20Feb2010 meeting, then click here.

If you wish to see the pdf file draft of the newsletter that will be going out to the membership for February, 2010, then click here.

Copyright (c) 2010, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

In this episode of The Combat Infantrymen’s Association, H21 Southern Branch Austin, Texas, Chapter, we deliver to you an audio narration of the article published in the supplement called “Welcome Home” of The VVA Veteran publicatiion (from the Vietnam Veterans of America organization) in November/December, 2009.

The title of this article is:

“…What is the diffeence between the soldiers you knew in Vietnam and the soldiers of today?”

The article starts on page 4 of the WELCOME HOME supplement publication and is delivered complete in its entirety and unabridged.

The article is delivered from the heart by Joe Galloway. In an earlier episode of this podcast series, we had the opportunity to meet Joe in person and interview him for 8 minutes with his thoughts about the value of the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, especially as it relates to the Vietnam War Grunt.

As you will hear in this audio narration, what is exceptional in this article is that the Vietnam Veteran Combat Infantryman is the leader in providing the welcome-back, the thanks-for-your-service, and the honor to those who sacrificed from the conflicts today in the Middle East. And we feel similarly– as Joe mentioned–that as long as a Vietnam War grunt still exists, there will ALWAYS be this honor and gratitude rendered to those returning from sacrifice and service overseas from being in harm’s way.

As most Vietnam War veterans, Joe is in his late sixties (68, as of last May in 2009, if we remember from the in-person interview) as far as age goes. His experience and his sacrifice in valor speaks for itself:

“Joseph L. Galloway is a military columnist for McClatchy. During the Vietnam War, Galloway served three tours in Vietnam for United Press International. Decorated for rescuing wounded American soldiers under heavy enemy fire during the battle at Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley, he was the only civialian awarded the Bronze Star by the U.S. Army in the Vietnam War. With Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore, Galloway co-authored a detailed account of these experiences in the bestselling book WE WERE SOLDIERS ONCE…AND YOUNG.

Copyright (c) 2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Vietnam Veterans of America. All Rights Reserved.

In this episode of the H21 Southern Branch, Austin, Texas, chapter of the Combat Infantrymen’s Association, we deliver the summary of the events in Austin, Texas, during the Veterans’ Day 2009 parade and ceremony.

As you will hear in this podcast episode, we had representation from Bobby Briscoe, Tony Martinez, Duane Williams, John Torres, Fred Castaneda and our newest member of the CIB, Don Bailey. They participated in the Veterans’ Day parade in downtown Austin, Texas, from the Congress Street bridge from Riverside Drive to the State Capitol.

Actually, there was an administrative error because the parade cadre did not have the CIB Association application on the list. Thus, the 82nd Airborne Division Association (represented by Fred Castaneda and Don Bailey) invited the group to march with them.

What was interesting was that the Army Band from the 36th Infantry Division at Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas, was marching right in front of the team. This gave us the best place to march to the cadence, and definitely, the group was STRAC and looked great and marched perfectly–to represent the rest of the members and to pay honor to those veterans in uniform–past or present.

After the march to the entrance of the State Capitol, we met several folks who were interested in joining the CIB Association (as well as other paratroopers who wanted to move their memberships to the local chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association).

At the State Capitol, at the 11th hour, there was the ceremony which highlighted Rosalinda Babin, the mother of Alan Babin, local hero and Grand Marshall for the Parade. His story is told in the blog of AlansAngels and In their Boots, and he was described as a wounded warrior in the memorial Day activities of 2007.

At the foot of the south steps of the capitol was a mock-up of the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. In front of this tomb were the wreaths placed to honor those who fell in combat during all military operations since the Civil War.

Of course, the CIB Association joined the 82nd Airborne Division Association to place the wreath appropriately and represent the organizations.

The Austin-American Statesman newspaper had a series of photos in their gallery which depicted pictures from the events (the URL is at

http://www.statesman.com/news/mediahub/media/slideshow/index.jsp?tId=200410).

And, yes, our own team was shown marching (however, the newspaper incorrectly stated that the group was the TAVV organization and not the CIB/82d Airborne combination).

The next meeting of the CIB Association Austin, Texas, chapter will be in the joint meeting with the 82nd Airborne Division Alamo Chapter in San Antonio, Texas, on Saturday, 12 December 2009, for the Christmas meeting and installation of the new officers for 2010. More will be delivered in the newsletters and email.

Copyright (c) 2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

In this episode of the H21 Southern Branch, Austin, Texas Chapter of the Combat Infantrymen’s Association, we deliver to you the summary of the Joint meeting of the CIB chapter with the 82nd Airborne Division Association Alamo Chapter in San Antonio, Texas, on 24 October 2009, at the Drop Zone Cafe.

As you will hear in the audio episode, the Drop Zone Cafe is really a historical landmark in San Antonio, just on the short path to the entrance of Fort Sam Houston, Texas. It has memorabilia and photos of Medal of Honor Winners Benavides and Rocco, as well as photos on the eaves and walls of the buildings within of past-and-present PARATROOPERS since World War II (yes, Fred Castaneda had his color version of this photo on the eave of the ceiling in the restaurant building:

One other thing to note is that we had welcomed our newest member, Dave, who received his CIB in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division. The officers Bobby Briscoe, John Torres and Tony Martinez, made him feel at home. Also, Duane Williams and Fred Castaneda joined in, as well.

In addition, we confirmed the upcoming membership of Don Bailey, who was interviewed in an earlier episode here at this podcast site. If you may remember, Don earned his CIB in the Battle for Grenada in Operation Urgent Fury, when he was an infantryman in the 82nd Airborne Division.

We had both organizations conduct their monthly meetings there. You can get all the details of the happenings and future events scheduled for:

- 4 November 2009: Bobby Briscoe and team going to Fort Hood, Texas, with a delegation for recruitment of in-service CIB award winners and the Wounded Warrior Program;

- 7 November 2009: Veterans’ Day Parade in San Antonio, Texas;

- 11 November 2009: Veterans’ Day Parade and Ceremony in Austin, Texas;

- 12 December 2009: CIB members are invited to the home of John Peed for a joint meeting and Christmas party gathering, with donations of toys, etc., for the San Antonio group of the Battered Women and Children’s Organization.

Also, during the final part of this episode, we once again honor Darrell G. Harris, member of both the CIB Association and the 82nd Airborne Division. Not only was D.G. Harris one of the very first paratroopers in World War II who made the very FIRST airborne combat jump with the 82nd Airborne, but he was one of the very FIRST who earned the COMBAT INFANTRYMAN’S BADGE in 1943 for his participation in Operation Husky in Sicily. (Note: the CIB was first created and later issues in 1943 and 1944).

Darrell had everyone in the meeting hypnotized and in awe as he recounted from memory his experiences during Operation Market-Garden (the invasion of Holland in Septermber, 1944)–especially when he participated in capturing the Grave River Bridge and the Nijmegen Bridge over the Waal River. Yes, this is the famous and dangerous suicide crossing during daylight that was recounted in the movie, A Bridge Too Far (where actor Robert Redford played Julian Cook, the Batallion Commander). And, yes, Darrell did row across the river under tremendous fire from the enemy, and he later helped to disengage and compromise the demolitions on the bridge to keep it intact for the later invasion of Germany. He explains this in his biography version of his book, Casablanca to VE-Day: A Paratrooper’s Memoirs.

D.G. Harris is currently the Secretary-Treasurer of the 82nd Airborne Division Association, San Antonio’s Alamo Chapter.

The feeling of brotherhood with all the comrades was wonderful and eventful. We encourage the members to attend these joint meetings.

We will bring you the details of the November activities and further meetings of the Chapter and its members in the next podcast episode.

Copyright (c) 2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation and the Combat Infantrymen’s Association. All Rights Reserved.

In this episode of the H21 Southern Chapter, Austin, Texas location of the Combat Infantrymen’s Association, we deliver a summary of the ceremony that took place on 18 September 2009 at the Texas State Cemetery near downtown Austin, Texas. We also give you information and details of the upcoming joint meeting of the CIB Association Austin Chapter and the San Antonio-based Alamo Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association.

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Joint Meeting: 82nd Airborne and CIB Associations on 24 Oct 2009

We will be having a joint meeting with the members of the Alamo Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association at the Drop Zone Club and Restaurant on Saturday morning, 24 October 2009, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Central time.

This is the 3rd time we will have been together as 2 associations. The first time was August, 2008 in San Antonio (we honored D.G. Harris at that time for his CIB and 3 combat jumps in WWII). The second meeting was on 9 May 2009 in Austin at the VFW 8787 Post. And this will be the third meeting, hosted by the San Antonio chapter.

We will have community with our comrades, sharing of stories and good times with our brethren from all the conflicts, both Airborne and Infantry. Both chapters will have their monthly meetings during this time, as well.

Also, as you will hear in the audio episode, this will be a great RECRUITMENT event. The Alamo Silver Wings Airborne Association and numerous other CIB-award winners frequent the Drop Zone Cafe. I have a feeling we will get new members for both organizations.

We hope to see you there for this meeting on 24 October, 2009.

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POW-MIA ceremony in Austin on 18 September 2009

On Friday, 18 September 2009, members of the CIB chapter in Austin participated in the ceremony to give honor to those still who are POW-MIA (Prisoners of War / Missing in Action). Tony Martinez from the chapter was part of the honor guard and participated with the VVA (Vietnam Veterans of America) in giving tribute to those fellow comrades.

Also in attendance were John Torres, Bobby Briscoe and Duane Williams.

The specifics of the ceremony are given in detail in the audio episode.

The next event will be the Veterans’ Day Parades and Ceremonies that will take place in downtown Austin and the State Capitol, as well as in San Antonio in the upcoming weeks.

Copyright (c) Matrix Solutions Corporation and the Combat Infantrymen’s Association. All Rights Reserved.

In this episode of the H21 Austin, Texas, Southern Chapter Combat Infantrymen’s Association, podcast, we give you an update of the upcoming events for the rest of 2009, as well as a summary of the meeting held on 12 September 2009.

We wish to welcome our newest member, Kevin Scharmen, who is a SouthWest Asia CIB recipient and still in the Army. He is the liaison with the 82nd Airborne Division Association Wounded Warrior Program at Ft. Sam Houston and Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.

Welcome, Kevin!

In this audio episode, we go at great lengths to detail each of the line items in the agenda of the meeting held on 12 September 2009 at the VFW Post 8787 meeting room in Austin, Texas.

For a look at the pdf file of the 1-page agenda, click here:  .

You can look at the items we discussed and then hear the details of the items in the podcast audio episode.

Paramount among the topics were:

1.  The POW/MIA ceremony participation on 18 September 2009 in downtown Austin. For details, contact Tony Martinez (cell number 512 228 7045).

2. If anyone wants to go to the Branson, Missouri, National Convention and reunion, the chapter will reimburse $75 for the attendance fee. Please contact Tony Martinez, Financial Officer of the chapter. More details about the National Convention and Reunion in Branson are on page 1 and pages 14-17 of the Blue Badge quarterly newsletter from National.

3. Upcoming meetings:

- October 24, 2009- scheduled joint meeting, hosted by the 82nd Airborne Division Association in San Antonio. More information on this in the next podcast episode, as well as the mailing of the newsletter.

- November 11, 2009- Meet at 7:30 a.m. on the Congress Ave. bridge between 1st Street and Riverside Drive, for participation in the Austin Veterans’ Day Parade and ceremony. Members should be in CIB Association uniform.

- Dec. 5 or 12, 2009- Austin chapter will host a family holiday social event and pot-luck gathering. More details to be provided later.

- 9 January 2010- The chapter will have its monthly meeting in San Antonio, Texas. More details on this later.

- 6 February 2010- The chapter will have its monthly meeting in the Fort Hood, Texas, area (e.g., Killeen or Harker Heights or Copperas Cove, etc.). More details on this later.

- The March and April meetings will resume in Austin, Texas. One of these months will have the chapter host the joint meeting with the 82nd Airborne Division Association at VFW Post 8787.

For more details on other items, please feel free to listen to the 22-minute audio podcast.

Copyright (c) 2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation and the Combat Infantrymen’s Association. All Rights Reserved.

In this episode of the H21 Southern Branch, Austin Chapter of the Combat Infantrymen’s Association, we summarize the topics discussed at the chapter meeting on Saturday, 8 August 2009.

Among the topics discussed were:

1.  Upcoming meetings –both Chapter meetings, as well as the Joint meetings with the 82nd Airborne Division Association in San Antonio.

2.  The database of the membership;

3.  Upcoming Movies now in pre-production: Jungle Warriors and The Alvarez Vietnam Story.

4.  The upcoming Combat Infantrymen’s Association National Convention in Branson, Missouri.

As you will hear in this audio episode, the next meeting will be held on Saturday, 12 September 2009, at the VFW Post 8787 (located on VFW Road, just off the access road Northbound on Interstate 35, just north of the Braker Lane exit).

Please contact Tony Martinez, the Finance Officer, to verify your information for the membership database that we wish to deliver to the group by Saturday, 12 Sept 2009.

And lastly, we will continue with interviews of other CIB recipients — especially from Korea, Afghanistan and Iraq. We will also try to have another World War II veteran, as well.

Stay tuned and see which veteran will be sharing his experiences and perspectives about the CIB in the near future.

Copyright (c) 2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

In this episode of the Southern Branch, H21, Austin Chapter, of the Combat Infantrymen’s Association, we bring you an excerpt from an interview that we had with Gayle Temkin, who has over 30 years experience in treatment of physical and cognitive issues.

In this informal discussion, Gayle seeks for ways to help the Combat Veteran with experiential treatment–either by trying to get a funding grant that would support the combat veteran audience, or by recommending to organizations (such as the VA) the type of treatments needed for veterans still suffering from the aftermath of combat.

From this audio episode, it is interesting to note that many people — even the professionals who provide healing treatment for others — have a difficult time in trying to understand the plight, the suffering, the symptoms and the actual episodes that the veterans suffer. The textbook-type treatments have proven somewhat ineffective when dealing with actual Vietnam Combat Veterans.

How true is that addage: “if you haven’t been in combat, then you can’t be expected to really understand.”

Gayle’s practice has given her a wealth of experience from which to draw, and her recommendations are such that the VA should note.

In addition to her therapy practice for over 30 years, she is also trying to advance her Coalition for Emotional Literacy.

However, unless the formal organizations receive either grant funding from this administration; or unless the VA seeks to really help the Vietnam Veterans (and not just “set them aside” because they have to make room for those returning from SouthWest Asia during this present conflict), then these types of treatment alteranatives that can really help veterans may fall on deaf ears.

However, it is great to realize that there are those individuals who really do care about the appropriate treatment that should be given to the veterans who are suffering from PTSD and other symptoms, so that they can have a chance to improve their constant adjustment to the “World” upon their return from their tours of combat or improve their quality of life after suffering for over 30 to 40 years.

Copyright (c) 2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

In this episode of the Southern Chapter H21, Austin, Texas, of the Combat Infantrymen’s Association, we reflect on a reunion of Combat Infantrymen from the Vietnam War who served in the 23rd Infantry Division – Americal. This reunion was held in Bossier City, Louisiana, and hosted by the Americal Division Veterans Association.

During this event, we had the opportunity to witness a ceremony called the CORDON OF SWORDS. This is a ceremony where the detail honor guard extend their sabres, thus forming an arch, above the heads of those honored guests, who will pass underneath the series of arches of sabres or swords. This honor was given to the 8 attending World War II combat veterans of the Americal Division who served in the Pacific, especially Guadalcanal and New Caledonia (where the name “Americal” came from).

I had the chance to collaborate with other comrades-in-arms from the Vietnam War. And during the general meeting of the Association, I made a presentation of a copy of the audio narration of the book, Jungle Warriors, by  Bobby Briscoe, to Michelle, the past nurse who served in Vietnam. It was in memory of 1st Lt. Sharon Ann Lane, the only female killed in Vietnam as a result of hostile action.

This led others later in the day to discuss the role of the CIB (Combat Infantryman’s Badge) and the newly authorized and issued CCB (Close Combat Badge):

You can find out more about the CCB at the web site given, above.

As I mention during this brief audio podcast, we will be trying to contact and have an interview with Major Davis, a combat veteran of the Korean War. Not only did he earn his CIB during the Korean Conflict, but he was also an airborne infantryman that served with the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team unit and made 2 combat jumps.

Also, a highlight of the Reunion was the display of two Huey UH helicopters (one a gunship and the other a UH-1D troop and supply carrier). These were brought and shown during the reunion, courtesy of Chuck Carlock and Ron Seabolt, who is the National Director of the 71st Assault Helicopter Company Association– the FirerBirds and the Rattlers.

And finally, we will be discussing the CCB a bit more in our future episodes of the CIB podcast series, so that our listeners will be aware of the fine differences and how these badges are being awarded today.

Copyright (c) 2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

In this episode of the H21 Southern Branch, Austin, Texas chapter of the Combat Infantrymen’s Association, we interview David Hall, a volunteer who drives the country’s only mobile replica of the Liberty Bell that is currently housed in Philadelphia.

David Hall was at the unveiling and dedication ceremony of the permanent replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Mineral Wells, Texas, on 30 May 2009. He preceded the ceremony of the unveiling by giving the entire crowd and audience a solemn and serious remembrance when he rang the bell 70 times.

As you will hear in this audio episode, David rang the bell 70 times–one time for each panel of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, where the 58,260 names of those killed in combat are engraved. We have also included a sample of the bell ringing  seven (7) times, with the special significance as explained by David himself in this podcast episode.

In addition to the bell, the mobile exhibit includes a stone monument replica on either end of the Liberty Bell of the Ten Commandments. David explains why this is significant in honoring those who fell to save our laws and country.

The website for this mobile monument is http://www.proclaimliberty.us/wordpress/ and it gives us not only the pictures of the Travelling Bell, but also:

- a History of the original Liberty Bell of the 1750’s;

- a History of this mobile Liberty Bell; and

- a chance for you to ring the bell yourself online– by just moving your mouse over the icon of the bell and clicking it.

We would like to thank David Hall for his patriotism and dedication to honor all those who had to make the ultimate sacrifice to defend the laws of the U.S. It is interesting and fitting to note that David’s brother is a Vietnam Veteran, and that he, himself, is of the Vietnam era.

Copyright (c) 2009, Matrix Solutions Corporation. All Rights reserved.