1^st Special Forces Group Airborne

CAMARADERIE: WITH WHOM YOU SERVED. ATTESTS TO WHO YOU ARE

"THE TRADITION CONTINUES"

"There's never a bond, old friend, like this --We have drunk from the same canteen!" Charles Graham Halpine (Miles O'Reilly), 1829-1868, The Canteen

Those of us who had the honor to serve with the 1st Special Forces Group did much more than drink from the same canteen.

The friendships that were born in Okinawa and Ft Lewis and fused in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Philippines, and the jungles of Southeast Asia tie us to the past. We lay in the same mud and sand, shared the same sweat, and sometimes the same blood. We experienced the exhilaration of being shot at without result, and sometimes the pain of effective enemy fire. We all shared in the anguish of the periodic loss of "one of our own." We learned to overcome those losses, as we still do today when one of our comrades "fades away." However, we will never forget, for to lose one of our own is to lose a part of ourselves.

Our "Code of Conduct" was and remains to work hard, accomplish the mission in a first rate manner, then carouse with the same degree of enthusiasm.

There were good times and bad times. We attempted to enjoy the good times to the fullest, and taught ourselves to laugh at the bad times. Somehow, today, it's the good times we remember best, and that's the way it should be. This can be attested to by our past reunions. I have yet to see anyone of us crying in our beer. To the contrary, they are about as joyful occasions as any human being can stand (especially  at our ages!).

We remain a closely-knit group today because of the respect and loyalty to each other, which was unquestioningly expected of us, and voluntarily preserved within us, ad infinitum. That unity provides us with the strength to meet life's challenges with the same determination and resolution as required of us in the past. We accepted the impossible, did without the indispensable, and bore the intolerable.

For most of us, our comrades-in-arms were a second family. For some of us, particularly the single "Barracks- Rats," they became our primary family.

Speaking of families, we owe a special debt of appreciation to the wives of the "Brown-Baggers," who were stationed at Ft. Lewis and on Okinawa, for their support and dedication. I've heard the wives describe their husbands in many ways: some praiseworthy, some unprintable for public consumption, but always with a hint of pride. Perhaps the average husband was best described by someone many of us know, and hold dear to our hearts, but will go unnamed: "He's someone who shows up every six months or so, 10 to 20 pounds lighter, hungry, thirsty, really thirsty, with an insatiable libido, and a bag of dirty laundry." I'm sure at times the wives wondered what they had done in life to deserve such a trial. However, most of them toughed it out, endured and stayed with us. The hard-core are still with us today. Amazing! PLAUDITS TO ALL THE LADIES!

When I was "volunteered" to come up with a theme and logo for our 1993 reunion, the theme of "Camaraderie" came easily and naturally. The logo proved to be a larger problem. Initially, after discussing it with my wife, Suzie, we decided upon something original. We remembered a pair of rocks that jutted out of the water, in one of the bays of Okinawa, tied together with a piece of heavy marine rope.

I believe they were a duplicate of the famous Twin Sisters rocks in Japan that symbolize family, unity, and strength. I thought those rocks, with a Torii in the background, would be the perfect logo to symbolize the unity and strength of the 1st SFG "Family." A picture of the rocks would be needed for an artist to use in creating the logo. However, after months of research, and many letters to various people and institutions, I was unable to obtain a picture. As time became short, and push came to shove, a decision was made to use the old standby: Torii and Flash.

So much for originality. I have since been informed that the rocks no longer exist in Okinawa since the Japanese, in their Infinite wisdom, filled in that portion of the bay where they were located as part of the modernization of the island. The rocks became a victim of time and progress.

Our friendships are rock solid and tied to the past. However, unlike the rocks in Okinawa, hopefully, they will withstand the pressure of time, and only strengthen in the future.

Last, but far from least, let us remember our fallen and missing comrades. Those to whom we owe so much deserve a special post of honor at any, and all, of our gatherings. While partaking in our revelry, let us pause now and then and remember one of our chosen ones that we were especially close to and present him with a silent, heartfelt "KAMPAI."

"WE WHO MUST LIVE SALUTE YOU WHO HAVE FOUND THE STRENGTH TO DIE-" By Frank Fowler.