The beautiful and historic Omni William Penn Hotel, in
Pittsburgh, PA, located near the Monongahela, Allegheny, and
Ohio Rivers was the site of our 2005 Reunion, and it was another
great one!
The Urban room served as the all-in-one room used for
registration, visiting, PX, displays, the Historical Staff, and
The Website Team. The Web Team was two short as Paul West and
Charlie Cole were unable to attend. Harry Nelson had his
computer up and running to show everyone the 100th Bomb Group’s
awarding winning website
www.100thbg.com. There was
also a continuous photo display and a short film of Thorpe
Abbotts and the 100th BG during their time there. The footage -
the black and white shot by Doc Harding, and the color shot by
John Schwarz, the base photographer, was a big hit. The camera
he used is displayed in the museum at Thorpe Abbotts.
Reunion chairman William J. "Bill" Cully provided tours of the
Soldiers and Sailors Museum, a delightful Riverboat dinner
cruise, and an interesting and informative bus tour of
Pittsburgh.
The Reunion Committee was also kept busy constantly. Colleen
King ran the registration database and worked up until the last
moment to enter all of those who were registered. She even had
copies at the reunion desk for all to take. Marilyn Barbarita,
Bud Valenti, Larry Garvin and Don Briggs ran the registration
desk. Richard Shandor, Peggy Jessee and Susie Campbell did a
great job manning the PX. Dan Moede and Ed Blanchard helped out
all over, and Robert Larsen hosted the Generation Gathering.
Speaking of the Generation Gathering, not only did it last
longer than anyone would have expected but also there were well
over eighty people in attendance from all ages of the 100th. Dan
and Ed were bringing in chairs as fast as possible as Robert
touched on many subjects important to our future.
Fantastic volunteers ran the Pittsburgh Reunion, and we all owe
them a huge amount of gratitude for the wonderful job they all
did. With so much help, it is entirely possible that we have
failed to recognize a few names, and for that we do apologize.
The two outstanding Historical Roundtables were truly highlights
of this reunion. One was led by Jan Zdiarsky on the September
11, 1944 Air Battle over the Ore Mountains. This was the mission
to Ruhland, Germany where the 100th lost 12 aircraft and was the
subject of Robert Bailey’s Houston print. There are still a very
limited number of copies of this print available from Jan
Riddling.
The second roundtable was led by Ken Breaux on the William Lewis
story. William Lewis was the P-51 pilot also lost on Sept. 11th,
1944 while flying top cover for the 8th AF. Ken has a book
detailing the entire William Lewis story called Courtesies of
the Heart that is due out soon.
Attending from England and representing the Thorpe Abbotts
Museum was our dear friend Richard Gibson and our new friend
Gary Hancox, both Museum Trustees. They report good things
happening at the Thorpe Abbotts Museum including a very
successful "Open House" that attracted a large crowd, and an
increase in the amount of visitors due to the website and
promotional activities. Richard and Gary pass on an open
invitation, and look forward to as many as possible coming over
for a visit.
Ralph Bradley presided at the Saturday morning business meeting.
It is a joy to report that in 2005 the 100th Bomb Group
Foundation is still going strong! It has been observed, even
before the 2003 Houston Reunion, that many of the other groups
had decided to no longer have reunions, or a newsletter, or in
many cases, even an association! The 100th remains a formidable
force!
In other business, the membership approved Nashville, Tennessee,
as the site of the 2007 Reunion. Plans are already underway to
make Nashville another great gathering place for the 100th Bomb
Group Foundation.
The election of the new Board of Directors was also held, and
Grant Fuller, Bill Woods, and G. Duane Vieth are continuing on
in their positions as Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer, and
Assistant Secretary/ Legal Counsel, respectively.
Our new President is Jim Bittle, son of Billy and Mary Barb
Bittle, and our first second generation president. The passing
of the torch to the new generation has been a hot topic of late
in the 8th Air Force, and it good to see that, once again, the
100th Bomb Group leads the way with the election of Jim Bittle.
We are the first 8th Air Force Bomb Group to elect a second
generation president.
There are already several second generation members on the
Foundation Board, including Paul West, Mike Faley, Jan Riddling,
and Nancy Putnam. Joining them are Ralph M. Larson and William
M. Woods.The most important aspect of the reunion, as always,
was the chance for our veterans, families, and friends of the
100th to renew old friendships and make new ones. A great number
of entire families attended this year’s reunion, and it’s
wonderful to see the children and grandchildren taking up the
torch and honoring the 100th.
If you were unable to attend the Pittsburgh reunion, you were
missed. It was a great time, and we hope that you’ll make every
effort to attend the next reunion in 2007. In the mean time, for
the sake of history, record your memories of the 100th.
Splasher Six, the Historical Staff, and the Web Team
are all available to record, preserve, and honor the legacy of
the 100th, but it cannot be done without you, our Veterans and
Families.
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