Our reunion was a life long dream of Ted Nichols, a member of Echo Company, 3rd Platoon in country in 1969. He
was basically the only one I (Harvey Lang) had stayed in contact with over the years, with the exception
of occasional contact with others in 3rd Platoon. He wanted this to happen years ago, and then in the spring
of 2001, Ted died of cancer.
The death of Ted was devastating; this loss brought home once again
the brotherhood of being a Marine. The facts are we all made it home, not because of our individual skills or luck, but because
we all had each other, and we took care of each other.
I had also been in contact with others off and on since we had
returned back to the world in ’69. We met in September of 2001 and decided to start work on the first
reunion.
Sonny Hollub was our first contact who had been in contact with several 2/26'ers, Paul Tribus, Doc Charlie Klotz, Rudy Fonseca, Lee Martin and others over the years
and it mushroomed from there.
Our 26th
Marines Organization’s website www.26thMarines.com was created by Sonny Hollub. This
site has all the up to date information regarding, our organizations history, origins, current officers, past and next reunion
information, contact information for members on a voluntary basis, and other information related to our ongoing 26th
Marines Organization.
As some of you
may have noticed, 2007 Reunion Photos have not been posted. The website where our previous reunion photos
were stored has been discontinued and an alternative site or method of posting reunion photos is being examined.
Once a final decision has been made, it will be posted on our website www.26thMarines.com under Photos or Reunion Photos. Check the website often for changes.
Quinn Harry found us early on and created his website www.26thMarines.org. This site is now a repository for Nam photos and a compendium of other historical pictures and information
related to our past. Quinn continues to do an exceptional job at maintaining this website.
Any pictures you have of your time in Nam can be sent to Quinn at quinn.f.harry@lmco.com . This site is appropriately linked to our main website, as well as our main website appropriately linked
to Quinn’s.
My honest opinion was
that we had about as much chance of doing this as a fire team in the middle of hell, facing off a company of NVA regulars
with only snow balls to fight with.
In May of 2002, this life long dream became a reality, and we were
together again for the first time in 30 years. Now you know the background of the Association and the intention of this letter.
It is an introduction to the new officers, our goals, and our intentions to keep the association as an on going organization.
The goal of this association is to preserve our brotherhood, reflect on our past and present for
the benefit of all. Our intent as officers of this association is to not only make this possible, but to improve the next
reunion and strength of our organization.
In closing, I would like to tell you, current information regarding
2008’s 26th Marines reunion will be held in Atlanta Georgia (and as decided at this 2007’s membership meeting…
San Diego, Las Vegas or Seattle will be the city of choices for our 2009 reunion. It will be held in approximately
the same time frame as our last few reunions (September – October 2008) also as decided our annual membership meeting.
We are currently accumulating information
related to these 3 cities which will be sent to you via the last know mailing address, last known email and posted on the
26th Marines Organization website, www.26thMarines.com under "Reunions".
Semper Fi,
Harvey
Lang, Executive Director harveylangusmc@yahoo.com
P. O. Box 364
Lordsburg, N. M. 88045
Phone
- 505-542-8085
Sonny Hollub, Secretary / Treasurer ghollub@austin.rr.com
Humphrey Dr.
Buda, Texas 78610
512-312-4168
Richard Soto, Public Relations Officer e8top@aol.com
1833
Amelia Ave.
San Pedro, CA 90731-1106
310-547-4509
