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Updates:

December 14, 2009 - Member News

If this sad news has not reached you through the 169th Engineer grape vine, it is with a heavy heart that I post that Joe Garcia has recently passed away. He passes December 10th from Ischaemic Heart Disease, last month the VA made that a service connected disability because of Agent Orange.

Tommy called and talked to Mary, Joe's wife and his obit will have appeared in local papers this Monday. He will have the following: Both Catholic & Military Services - which will be held at James A Reardon Mortuary, 511 North A Street, Oxnard, CA 93030-4905. (805) 483 - 2233

The Public viewing will be from 4 - 7 pm on Tue, Family viewing is from 1-3 on Tue, Services will be at 10 AM on Wed. Joe's wife will be checking his email occasionally, and you can email her at joeyboy@roadrunner.com. If you wish to send condolences or cards, please email Tommy Reynolds or Lanice Green as to where to send them (that information will not be published on the website).

November 15, 2009 - Still here!

Just a small note to let everyone know work is still being done. I have received several photos from Mr. John Kiely, which are being worked on for the site, as well as trying to move the workings of the current to a different state. I am hoping to hold off on new pages (such as Mr. Kiely's photo page) until I've ironed out all the bugs of the new coding and can make any new pages in the style of the update. It is taking a little longer than expected, but I have not stopped working. Thank you again for everyone's patience.

August 30, 2009 - Missing Member Located!

We have found SFC McCray! Saddly though, we have found him rather late. McCray passed away 22 Apr. 2009. Andy Stachow stopped in Fayetteville last month to see him and he was given the news of his death. He will be added to the memory page as soon as possible.

August 15, 2009 - Website and New Members!

Bob Reagan now has his photo page up and running! Go check it out for new photos! And with new things, we have new members! Located SFC Mccray. He lives in Fayetteville, N.C. Thanks Andy Stachow!! And John Kiely. Thanks Tommy!! The lists will be updated shortly, along with possibly more photos!

August 3, 2009 - Website updates

I do have new pictures to post, courtesy of Bob Reagan, but I haven't put them up quite yet. This is mostly due to having finally cracked the code to a new way to display and show the pictures. I was told that the flash slide shows don't seem to cut it, so I'm going a different route. Now that I have finally gotten the coding to work, the whole site will be made over (along with other changes, such as a non-frame layout.) So, Mr. Reagan, I do apologize that I haven't gotten your photos up yet, but trust me, you will like this new system. Thank you all for your patience!!

July 24, 2009 - New Members Found

Col. Robert H. O'Toole has been found. As a Captain, Bob was the company commander of Company C - 169th Engr Bn, in Okinawa and Vietnam. He retired as a full Colonel.
Also, we seem to have solved a bit of a mystery to one of our names. Lt. Kelly & Lt. Kelso were actually Kelbley.
Lt. Joseph A. Kelbley has been found and was a First Lieutnant. As such Joe was the Earth Moving Platoon leader in Okinawa and Vietnam.
We've also added another name to our missing members. Lt. Steve Levine will be added to our list as soon as possible.

July 17, 2009 - New Members Found

And we have Gil Arruda. Gil served in Vietnam and returned stateside December 1966. He had a band called the Shadows in Okinawa and Ft Stewart, GA. Also we have found SP5 Victor Gravell. Sadly, he is now deceased, however his name will be added to this site where it belongs. Gravelle died July 12, 1997 at the age of 58 years in the state of Mississippi.

July 1, 2009 - New Members Found

And we have 3 more names!! Bob Caley, Tom Rivers, and SFC Wagner. Wagner is actually deceased (December of 1967). His name will be placed on our memory page. There was also a list of more names that people remember but we have no located or gotten in touch with. Those will be added to our lists as well.

ALRIGHT! Our Members pages and Memory pages are updated. And... I think that will be all for the moment. Atleast for the time being. There are still a few things I need to take care of. I realize there may be one or two names that need correcting, and few other bugs to squash. But I'll get to those, I promise! Thanks everyone!

June 30, 2009 - New Members Found

Well I am happy to report to you that we found another member. He was in Okinawa with us and went to Vietnam in May 1966 and went home in 1967. He said he ran pan scrappers and dozers. I believe the 1966 date is correct since I think it was May 1966, that we arrived from Okinawa but you should verify the 1967 month. Here is his name: Ronald DeFelitta

Many thanks to George Slater for passing along this information

Billy Galloway : I was with C Co 169th Engr Bn from Ft Stewart to Okinawa to Long Bien Vietnam. Feb 1965-Nov 1966. I was an 830 scraper operator. Army years 1960-1968. Joined Air Force May 1968. Retired as M/Sgt E-7 Dec 1981.

Many thanks to Cathey and Tommy Reynolds for passing along this information

SP4 James S. Burrier - DOB Oct 19, 1943 - Died Aug 13, 2002

Many thanks again to George Slater for passing along this information

These are the only new names I have in my email, so please, if there are any others that I have missed or any of the information is incorrect on these names, let me know as soon as possible. You can email me at DreamingKey@Gmail.com. Each of these names will be placed in their proper places on the various pages of this website as soon as possible. More updates to come.

June 29, 2009 - Website Updates

Hello Members!! I will have to ask your forgiveness on the lack of updates. Had a slight bit of a hiccup, but now that everything has been fixed, there will be major, MAJOR updates. I've found a way to rework the website so that it won't have to rely on frames (which can be helpful for those who find the pages on google and other search engines.) We have more names to add to our lists and I'm still working on finding a good way to share the photos, since the feedback I have received has given me and idea in what direction to take it.

On a sadder note, one such update that was unable to be posted in a timely manner was the passing of Sgt. Schackmann. He has passed some time ago, and unfortunately that is when the website started to have it's hiccups. It was only when I had received an email from another member about the lack of his update that we realized there was a problem. So on that note, I sincerely apologize. With that in mind too, I realize I have neglected the major update to the Memory page, and rest assured I will shake a leg and get on that as soon as everything else is in place and updated.

Thank you all for your patience and support.

April 18, 2009 - Member News

In our last update of Sgt Schackmann, it was reported that he was doing better and improving. However the case, most already know through email, that it is no longer so. It is asked that you keep him in your prayers and good thoughts, and if you wish to take it a step further, there was an email sent with instructions. If you failed to receive that email or the message did not get passed, please email Mary Beth & Ed Kaminski.
I would like to quote an old soldier "Old soldiers never die... they just fade away."

April 9, 2009 - Reunion News

Just wanted to all to know that our next Reunion will be held in Tunica, MS in April of 2010. You will be receiving more information as the final arrangements are made.    Thank you for your patience.

March 30, 2009 - Member News (UPDATED)

Sgt Schackmann is doing ok at this time. He is sitting up and giving the  nurses a hard time .  They have to get his pace maker  back in sync and he has a broken bone in his inner ear that is causing his dizziness. Keep him in your prayers and thoughts.

It has made it's way through the grapevine that Vernon L. Schackmann has suffered cardiac arrest, and is currently in St. Louis. We are keeping him in our prayers, and will keep you updated as more information becomes available.

February 7, 2009 - Member News

Andy Stachow found another member for our group: Arlester McCray. The members located and unlocated pages have been updtated accordingly.

January 27, 2009 - Reunion News

Larry and I would like all of you to know we have been trying to put something together for our reunion in 2010..... It has been challenging to say the least.... most hotels will not commit when it is more then one year out. We have decided to have it in the Memphis, TN area and will be sending you more information in the next few months. We want to make a trip down there to check things out, but Larry is scheduled for back surgery on 2/20, but I promise that won't stop either of us from getting this all organized. I know there are a couple of Casino's in Tunica right out of Memphis, so that will probably be one options we will be checking on. I hope this reaches most of you and if you can pass this information on to anyone I may have missed, we would appreciate it. Thanks for all your patience and we will be in touch soon.

December 20, 2008

I've been going back through my emails, and trying to double check that I've made all the updates that I have recieved so far.

For example, I know I have had atleast 4 new members come foreward and wish to be added to the list, some with background info, and some without. I've decided those that sent me some sort of background info should have it posted, even though they do not have photos, they do have a member page now. I had one member send me photos for the reunion pages, which I have uploaded as a slide show. Also, after a few people sending feed back, I've come to realize the slide show does take away a little - either because its difficult for some people to view, or the scripts end up erroring (wrong names, no photos, bugs, etc.) so I've been on the lookout for a new way of viewing the photos to cut down on the number of pages and keep it user friendly and simple. It's just proving to be a bit more difficult in execution than I had hoped. Also, there has been a setback with some of the video uploads, mostly because YouTube has changed overs its way of uploading videos, and even with a cable internet connection, it has been prone to freezing and shutting down the upload. So I cannot put any new videos up until youtube has finalized its new upload method. So I think that will be the only updates for now, atleast till the new year ^_^

So, till then... Happy Holidays to all! And see you next year!!

December 8, 2008