The 2017 annual OV-1 Mohawk Association Reunion was a
wonderful event this year. John Bosch (our
Association’s “Party” Director) as usual put a lot of thought and effort into
making the party well worth the investment in being there!
I changed planes in Salt Lake and ended up a row ahead of
Greg Billigen of the 244th. We arrived
in Colorado Springs late Wednesday afternoon and I immediately met a shuttle
driver at the airport who, when he saw my red t-shirt with a large Mohawk on
it, said that he had seen (or ridden in, I don’t remember which) a Mohawk
somewhere in the 1990’s and really loved it.
He had to leave with a passenger but I gave him my card and told him
about the Association.
The hotel in Colorado Springs was a former Red Lion, which
was very nice, with four floors and about 800 miles of hallways! My room number was 468 which involved walking
many, many steps to and from the lobby area, off of which the Association’s
hospitality room was set up. Due to
agent orange, I am a type 2 diabetic, so doing a lot of walking was really good
for me, so I didn’t grouse about it very much.
Walking is one of the best things you can do to help keep your blood
sugar under control, too.
By my count 23 Blackhawks/Phantomhawks were there, plus
folks from the other usual units. Here’s
the list of those who were there: Joe
Beckham, Don Bernstein, John Britten, Gordy Darragh, Gilberto Mendoza, Dave
Nelson, Bill Page, Ben Perez, Ron Pitcock, Bob Riha, Steve Sachs, Ernie Serna,
Loren Schrock, Steve Simula, Alan Summers and Gary Todd.
I went on two of the excursions that were offered this year,
the Royal Gorge train ride and a
tour of the US Air Force Academy. Both were really fun and were well
attended. Click on this link to see some of the photos I
took.
We are all looking forward to meeting again next year in
Reno, Nevada, October 25-27 at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino. Check the OV-1 Association website for periodic updates.
