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 Southern Branch H21, Austin Chapter, of the Combat Infantrymen’s Association podcast series, we focus on several events for the CIB Austin chapter.

(1) The chapter meeting on 2 August 2008:

In this meeting, we had a full Agenda. You can get to view what it was by clicking here:

(and how the items discussed are described in the audio mp3 file of this episode).

(2) During the meeting, it was approved by a vote of the members to schedule a trip to San Antonio to attend a meeting of the 82nd Airborne Division Association, Alamo Chapter:

We wanted to present both a certificate of appreciation, but also a complementary membership, to Darrell G Harris, author of the book Casablanca to VE-Day: A Paratrooper’s Memoirs.

[Note: you can get a full interview of this paratrooper's history in episode 12 of this podcast series]

(3) The 82nd Airborne Division Association Meeting on 27 August 2008:

- We presented the Certificate of Appreciation to Darell G. Harris – click here to view the certificate: ;

- Bobby Briscoe presented a free membership to D. G. Harris to the Combat Infantrymen’s Association;

- Bobby Briscoe then presented a signed copy of his book, Jungle Warriors, to D. G. Harris (my apologies for not having a steady hand while taking the photo);

- D. G. Harris also presented signed copies of his own book, Casablanca to VE-Day, to the members of the CIB Association, Austin Chapter.

- Attending the meeting were: Bobby Briscoe, Tony Martinez, John Torres and Fred Castaneda;

- The members talked to those paratroopers with CIBs and encouraged them to join our association. Below, Fred Castaneda and DG Harris (note- Fred is a member of BOTH the CIB Austin and 82nd Airborne Association, since Fred served 2 tours with the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) and the 505th PIR, and like Darrell, has both jump wings and a CIB badge);

- We met Don W. Bailey, a future interviewee, as he received his CIB for the combat that he saw in Grenada in 1983; and

- We agreed to have a joint meeting for both the 82nd Airborne Division Association, Alamo Chapter, and the CIB Association in Austin in the first half of 2009 at the VFW 8787 location, so that the camaraderie between these 2 groups can continue and grow.

(4) If you are interested in acquiring the audio version of the books described in this podcast, here are the links for the audio version (note: the hardcopy versions are almost depleted):

- Casablanca to VE-Day: A Paratrooper’s Memoirs by Darell G. Harris;

- Jungle Warriors by Bobby Briscoe.

Copyright (c) 2008, Matrix Solutions Corporation and Combat Infantrymen’s Association. All Rights Reserved.