Bill Schwindt, C/3/22, 65-67, 4th Platoon, has dedicated almost twenty years to finding our Charlie Company Vietnam Veterans. He has also brought together countless veterans from other eras and other units. There is no better locator on earth. If you are trying to find someone, please Email Bill or any of the officers listed on the Headquarters page of this web site. We maintain a roster of over 1200 former 3rd Battalion men, most of them C/3/22. We also have a large Email address list. We will send you a roster upon request, or otherwise direct you to the information you are seeking.
To send or receive locator information, contact Bill Schwindt
Guys, Today I got a surprise phone call from Shelton Moore, a guy we've been trying to find for awhile now.
He got a letter I sent
quite awhile back. He came to C3/22 in June 68, to 3rd plt first, but then was moved to 1st plt as ammo bearer on Smitty's machine
gun. He was wounded later that summer; I think he said Aug, same time as Lt Mac Reppert was wounded, whenever that was. So, I gave
him Smitty's number, Reppert's number, and Gerol Mingo's number who he also remembered.
He lives in Winona MS, phone number is available.
Contact any C/3/22 Association Officer for more info.
Email is mostly his wife's but maybe now he'll learn how to use it.......cmoore2788@yahoo.com
Awhile
back I found and talked to Ronald Springsteen of 4th plt 67-68. He lives in Colorado Springs CO. Phone Number is available. Contact
me at c322locate@aol.com
bill
Guys and Gals
We received quite a few phone calls and emails since the newsletter went out. Some of it is just new phone numbers/area
codes or email addresses, that sort of thing. But others are very inspired guys, re-energized by this newsletter, as Benny Dooley,
1st plt 67-68, is.
Some is bad news, as this one:
Daniel Lockridge, 3rd plt 68, passed on Jan 19th 2004, his sister called me to let
us know.
Guys, I’m sorry to have to report that Don received the newsletter back from David J Wolford, marked "deceased". David is
on our roster as 3rd platoon 69-70. He was living in IL.
He's listed on the Mar 70 roster with a DEROS of 20 July 70, so probably got
to us in July 69.
His primary MOS was 11B, infantry, but his secondary MOS was 94b20, I think that's a cook. So it could be he helped
out some there too. I hope some of you remember him and will pray for him and his family.
Got this new edress and nice comment from
Roger Hale of HHC. He's on my HHC email list.
"Hi. I wanted to let you know that I just switched to EarthLink for my Internet access,
and so I have a NEW EarthLink email address: chieftwo07@earthlink.net
Please take a moment today to write down my new address and add
it to your email address book.
I don't want to miss any of your messages!"
Sincerely,
Roger
chieftwo07@gloryroad.net
From Bill Schwindt
Posted 12/20/2004
Guys,
Some sad news;
TC Calcagno has learned that Anthony Colandro, 3rd platoon medic in 67, has
passed away. It was last year, cancer.
I remember when I first found Tony; he told me that while I was still there, the day Carlis
Johns was wounded, that he used up all his morphine on the wounded that day. There were more wounded than I remembered, but I do remember
that day for sure, snipers in the trees, plus bunkers I heard. I was back a ways in the column and saw nothing. However, a grenade
did come in and hit Einbinder on the leg next to me, but it didn't go off. Anyway, the point of the story is to help you guys remember
Tony. There's a great picture of him, hopefully in the photo albums of O'Neal.
Also, just learned that Major Joseph Hacia, 69-70 Battalion
XO, died last month, also cancer. I know that he was thought of as a man who cared for his men, a good officer.
The following email
letter from Dave DeMauro attests to that:
From David DeMauro:
Fellow Soldiers,
I wanted to comment on the Death of Major Hacia, which
Bill posted about a week ago. Major Hacia was the Battalion Operations Officer when two NVA assaults were made upon Fire Support Base
Crook in June of 1969. FSB Crook was located Northwest of Tay Ninh very near the Cambodian border. Charlie Company had worked this
area of thick jungle for over a year before building this FSB. During the time of the attacks, Charlie Company was at nearby FSB Washington
while Crook was defended by Bravo Company. It was Major Hacia who was at the base and coordinated the Artillery and Air Force supporting
fires. He did this from atop the tower at the base and from the operations bunker. This is not an easy thing to do as although the
maximum support is desired, collision of helicopters, shells, and planes must be avoided. He did this with great precision... He had
pre-planned the support and had coordinates and compass directions for all forms of support. Throughout the two nights he called in
artillery from several different surrounding bases, brought in napalm and spooky gunships from the air force, and used helicopter
gunships as well. His work was so effective that two human wave assaults were driven back. Almost 500 NVA bodies were abandoned near
the wire around the base. Many more NVA soldiers had been dragged off into the surrounding jungle. The area around the base had been
decimated by napalm and artillery shells. Only one life was lost to a Bravo Company soldier. The toll could have been much larger.
After
Vietnam, Major Hacia returned to the Army War College and taught the defensive tactics that he had performed so well in Vietnam. He
was a professional soldier who knew the business of war very well. Thank God that he did. I have great respect for him. He valued
the lives of his soldiers. I pray that his soul rests in peace...
David DeMauro C Co. 68-69
Bill is constantly searching. When he is hot on the trail of someone or has made contact with others, he'll send messages to all of us or call with the good news. This is Bill's page and the latest news from him on locating people is posted here. You may contact Bill at c322locate@aol.com
The following messages, although somewhat dated, are typical of Bill's enthusiasm for his job as C/3/22 locator. If you can help in any way, please don't hesitate to contact him
Guys,
The letter sent recently to Calvin Dunsmore, 67-68, was returned marked "deceased". I think he was in 2nd platoon. No further
information was given.
Also, Ron Kuhn passed away last Friday, (Nov 3, 2004) of a heart attack. Jim Cunningham arranged for flowers
to be sent from C3/22
Gary Cunningham, 70-71, mentioned in his posting on the website that he'd be in Milwaukee, his first reunion
ever. I replied that it would be great to watch him see his friends, and this is his reply back:
Bill,
I will be there, and it's thanks
to all of your hard work in the 3/22 association that I will get to see them, thanks for everything and keep up the good work. Happy
holidays!
Gary L. Cunningham, C.P.O.
451 Coyote Circle
Golden, CO. 80403
