175th Mavericks

It is with great sadness to report that Mike Kendall was in a motorcycle accident and has passed away. He was on his way home when he lost control of his 1971 Harley and crashed. Mike left behind his wife Shiela and two sons and two daughters. Mike was a highly decorated veteran. He was awarded the Bronze Star, Air Medal w/V device, two times, Purple Heart, three times and a Presidential Unit Citation. He served with 94th Engineering Attachment 5/68-8/68)and with the 175th AHC Mavericks (8/68-8/70) as a Doorgunner. Mike was a Life Member who first joined us in 2002 in Charlotte. Mike was a great guy, a good father and husband. He was a good friend and I know that all who knew him will miss him.
The announcement above was provided by Tom Frankenfield and has been reprinted here with his permission

This photo is of a giant US flag in Arizona. The photo is authentic and UN-Touched. The picture was taken on a regular Kodak 35mm film. The person who took the picture couldn't believe the image created by the suns rays. Nice of them to share it with the world!

The following article is taken from this week's edition of the Hanson Express, a small hometown newspaper here in MA.

Before the colors fade, remember
written by Hanson resident, Emery Maddocks
This coming weekend is Memorial Day. Let's be honest, for most of us the significance of the day is lost in anticipation of the start of summer, family cookouts, a weekend at the vacation home or a visit to old friends.
There really isn't anything wrong with that, most of us live in the moment, and few of us have the reflection time to muse on matters beyond what is happening with family, our circle of friends and our work situation. We're living our lives. We have that right, but if we can take a moment let's just take a few minutes and think about the men and women who picked up the tab for us to have that right and to enjoy the lifestyle we have.
Those of us born in the years righ after World War II, who entered grade school in the early 1950's, remember when nearly everybody's Dad was a veteran. We remember rather sizeable parades in the small towns and cities of this area. We remember unabashed patriotism, open cars carrying recent Gold Star Mothers and veterans of several wars marching under the banners of the VFW, the America Legion or in wheel chairs under the banner of the DAV. They remembered, as the memories were too recent and too painful of friends and relatives forever young in the soil of France, Italy, Luxenburg, the Philippines and scores of other countries.
Those days are gone and our world is a bit different. We confess to enjoying the Memorial Day gateway to summer as much as the next guy, but every year at the time we do remember an old friend and classmate from UMass Amherst. We were in the ROTC together. We were brothers in the military fratern9ty of Scabbard & Blade. As young men do, we drank too many beers together and told too many tales. We served together at Ft. Benning. I was a combat engineer. Bob was an Infantry officer. My last recollection of Bob was at a Christmas reunion of classmated serving at Benning. We both went to Vietnam. Bob died on his first operation.
As humanity we don't learn very well from our history. We are at war today in Iraq, in Afghanistan and we have troops serving throughout the world trying to keep the forces of evil at bay. As wars go, ours is a small one, but still brave men and women are still paying the bill for our family cookouts and beach parties. Try to take just a minute to think about those who paid the price. If you're religious say a prayer of thanks. When it comes down to it, all a soldier can really hope is that someone will remember the sacrifice. Just remember before the colors fade away.
If you or anyone you know of belonged to the Mavericks and would be interested in being in contact with some of their old buddies, we would love to hear from them. Please have them email this site at the link below. We will not publish or give out anyone's personal information without their express permission. If you have photos or stories that you would like to add to any of the pages, please email the site.
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