2013 Reunion – Indianapolis, Indiana
August 28th to September 1, 2013
“Welcome Message”
Welcome MRFA Army and Navy Team from Lisa Howe, Director of Sales:
Many of you would be interested to know that your new host hotel, for the 2013 Indianapolis meeting of the Mobile Riverine Force Association, has completed a $30 Million Dollar renovation! We are the Indianapolis Marriott East and we look forward to welcoming you here August 28-September 1, 2013. Our spectacular new lobby and great room space energize and satisfy with ever-changing natural lighting and rich natural textures and space. With the addition of 23,000 square feet, we now have 75,000 square feet of meeting and event space (all column free and on the same level) offering nearly unlimited flexibility to customize room size and shape to create the perfect mood and setting for any event.
Our facility has also gained high praise for an enhanced patio area located within the center of the three-hotel campus. Our “Outdoor Oasis” features water features and lush landscaping—A perfect place to gather, connect, and relax. The Marriott has also launched an elegant new restaurant. The Skylight Bistro and Wine Bar serves a “fresh to table” menu using Indiana ingredients by day and becomes an upscale wine bar by night. Sixty-six skylights create a spectacular, ever changing play of light to make your dining experience memorable. The meeting space is technologically advanced featuring redundant high-capacity, high-speed internet connections to ensure reliability and easy access.
In addition to the Marriott Hotel, the campus features a Fairfield Inn & Suites and a LaQuinta Inn & Suites. The Fairfield offers 63 guest rooms including 4 Whirlpool Suites, 10 Spa Kings, and 4 Executive Suites. A heated indoor pool, whirlpool, exercise room, and business center are also featured. The LaQuinta offers 123 spacious standard double and king guest rooms. In addition to a heated outdoor pool, the facility also provides guest laundry facilities. Our campus offers something for everyone. We are honored to have been chosen as the host hotel for your future meetings and will do whatever it takes to make you feel welcome and accommodated.
Within the Indianapolis Marriott East courtyard, a special fountain was erected to honor all five divisions of the Armed Forces. Each step within the fountain represents a conflict the United States has been in. The water flowing down over the steps represents our country’s fallen soldiers. Three large torches are lit every night above the water representing “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” A flag for each division of the Armed Forces flies above the fountain. The fountain is located inside our outdoor Oasis. This space features outdoor fireplaces and large patio that connects to an indoor pool enclosed with glass doors. The doors can be opened to create an outdoor entrance to the pool. This tranquil space, located at the heart of our campus makes our property unique and enhances the overall experience for our Marriott guests. You may want to access the hotel’s web site to see a photo gallery of the hotel: www.indianapolismarriotteast.com
2013 Reunion
Plan of the Day
There is no dress code. Dress to be comfortable. Always wear a pair of comfortable shoes if you plan on visiting the local sites. Most of all, just come and have a great time.
Individual Hospitality Rooms: Opening and closing of the individual hospitality rooms will be up to the different units.
Liberty Hall Hospitality Room: This main meeting room will be open 7 AM Daily and is open to all hands. Beverages and snacks will be available. Closing time will vary. Be sure to wear your name tag at all times to receive a 10% discount on all meals eaten in the hotel’s restaurant. The hotel will furnish a shuttle service to the Castleton Square Mall. Check with the main desk for their schedule.
Registration: You may start making reservations on October 1, 2012. The cut-off date for making reservations is July 28, 2013. The in-house reservation department phone number is 317-352-1231 – Ext 1114. When making the reservation through the reservation department all you have to do is mention that you are with the “Mobile Riverine”.
Products Sales: MRFA Products will be available at the 2013 Reunion.
MRF & 9th Infantry Division Museum Room: The room will be open from 10 am to 5 pm daily. Bob Pries and Dave Lull watch over the room and answer any questions.
From the Delta to the DMZ Dance: Will be held Friday Evening – August 30th. There will be a DJ playing your favorites of the ‘60s and ‘70s music.
Guest Speakers Will begin at 10:00 am on Saturday August 31st preceding the Memorial Service.
Memorial Service: Will be held Saturday morning at 11.00 am and the Missing Man Ceremony.
Flags and Certificates: Will be presented to widows, sons and daughters of our fallen brothers from Vietnam. Also to the relatives, who will be in attendance, of those who have passed since Vietnam.
Daily Raffles: Our Raffle Queen, Mable Springer and her staff, will do the Raffles and 50/25/25 Raffle.
Additional Events: Will be published in future issues of “River Currents.”
Schedule of Events
Thursday, August 29, 2013:
* 7:00 a.m. Liberty Hall Hospitality Room open
* 9:30 a.m. Registration hosted by George “Duke” Marthenze and his staff (setup outside Liberty Hall)
* 9:30 a.m. Product sales hosted by Chet “Gunner” Stanley and his staff
* 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. MRF and 9th Infantry Division Museum Room
hosted by Bob Pries and Dave Lull in Salons A & B.
* Raffle tickets available from Mable Springer (Raffle Queen) and her staff
Friday, August 30, 2013:
* 7:00 a.m. – Liberty Hall Hospitality Room open
* 9:30 a.m. – Registration
* 9:30 a.m. – Product sales
* 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. – MRF and 9th Infantry Division Museum Room
* 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. – Delta to DMZ dance with a DJ playing your favorites of the ‘60s and ‘70s music held in the Grand Ballroom. Board Member Frank Jones and wife Linda
will be hosting the dance. No dress code.
Saturday, August 31, 2013:
* 7:00 a.m. – Liberty Hall Hospitality Room open
* 10:00 a.m.-12:00 – Speakers and Ceremony – Liberty Hall:
– Major Robert Bischoff (US Army Ret.) Commanding Officer – Alpha Company, 4th Battalion, 47th Infantry – 07/67 to 07/68
– Commander “Padre” Ray Johnson (USNR Ret.) Staff Member – Commander River Assault Flotilla One – 01/67 to 01/68
Master of Ceremonies:
– GMCM Chet Stanley (USN Ret. – C-111-1) and Don Blankenship (A-111-3 & A-152-21)
Memorial services:
– Conducted by Chaplain LTC Jim Johnson (U.S. Army Ret), 3rd Battalion/60th Infantry and
– Captain Richard MacCullagh (USN Ret.) Staff Member of Commander River Assault Flotilla One
Flags and certificates:
– Will be presented to the attending widows, sons and daughters of our fallen Brothers from Vietnam and those who have passed on since Vietnam. GMCM Chet Stanley, assisted by Don Blankenship, will do the honors.
Missing Man Ceremony:
– Will be led by Dave Schoenian, Charlie Company 4th Battalion, 47th Infantry.
– Roy Moseman C-2, 4th Battalion, 47th Infantry, will render the playing of Taps.
* Noon to 2:00 p.m. – Product Sales
* 1:00-2:30 p.m. – MRFA Deli Buffet Lunch (Atrium)
* 3:00 p.m. Raffle
* 3:30 p.m. to ???: Visiting with former Ship/Crewmates and Soldiers as well as Family and Friends.
Sunday, September 1, 2013:
Check out
Indianapolis Attractions:
Medal of Honor Memorial: In June 1998, a New York Times reporter attended the annual meeting of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society in upstate New York. He wrote about its members and the courageous acts that earned them our nation’s highest award for military valor. Eight hundred miles away, John Hodowal, chairman of the Indianapolis-based energy company IPALCO Enterprises, and his wife, Caroline, read the article. They were so moved by the story that they began thinking of ways to bring broader recognition to these extraordinary individuals. They and the IPALCO staff began doing research on these men and the lack of widespread awareness of their valor. While conducting this research, IPALCO officials learned that no memorial had ever been built to recognize the 3,436 Americans who had received the Medal of Honor. As a result of this startling discovery, IPALCO decided not only to bring the Medal of Honor recipients to Indianapolis, but also to build them a memorial that would provide lasting recognition.
Site preparation for the Indianapolis Medal of Honor Memorial began in November 1998 and construction began in January 1999. The Memorial was unveiled and dedicated May 28, 1999, with 96 Medal of Honor recipients present. Located on the north bank of the Central Canal in White River State Park in downtown Indianapolis, the site is adjacent to the Military Park. The city’s first recorded Fourth of July celebration was held there in 1822. During the Civil War, it was a military camp used for the recruitment and training of troops.
The memorial is a group of 27 curved glass walls, each between 7 and 10 feet tall. The walls represent the 15 conflicts, dating back to the Civil War, in which acts of bravery resulted in the awarding of the Medal of Honor. Information about the 3,436 medal recipients are etched into the glass walls. Steps, benches, and a grassy area provide seating for visitors. Each day at dusk, a sound system will play 30 minutes of recorded war stories about medal recipients and their acts. As each story is told, lights illuminate a portion of the memorial to highlight the war or conflict being discussed. Most of the stories have been recorded by Medal of Honor recipients.
Materials: A concrete base, curved blue/green plate glass panels, aluminum and stainless steel supports, Indiana limestone in shades of buff, gray and pink.
Designers: Architectural landscape artists Eric Fulford and Ann Reed of ROAMworks, an Indianapolis landscape design firm. The firm also is working on projects at the Eiteljorg Museum and in Broad Ripple Village in Indianapolis.
Sponsor: IPALCO Enterprises, an Indianapolis-based energy company, proudly donated the Congressional Medal of Honor Memorial to the country and each Medal of Honor recipient. IPALCO Enterprises, Inc., One Monument Circle, Indianapolis, IN 46204, Mailing address: PO Box 1595, Indianapolis, IN 46204-1594. The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument is a 284-feet tall monument built from gray limestone and bronze in a neoclassical style in the center of Indianapolis, Indiana. The structure commemorates Hoosiers who were veterans of the Indiana War (1776 to 1865). The Colonel Eli Lilly Civil War Museum is in the monument’s lower level while a 30-foot statue of “Victory” tops the obelisk. The view of the surrounding area from the 250-foot high observation deck is simply spectacular. Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana (an enclave of Indianapolis), is the home of the most famous race in the world, the Indianapolis 500.
It has existed since 1909 and is the original “Speedway,” the first racing facility historically to incorporate the word. With a permanent seating capacity for more than 257,000 people and infield seating that raises capacity to an approximate 400,000, it is the largest and highest-capacity sporting facility in history (by comparison, the world’s largest stadium seats 150,000 spectators). Considered relatively flat by American standards but high-banked by Europeans, the Motor Speedway is a 2 1/2 mile, nearly rectangular oval with dimensions that have remained essentially unchanged since its inception: four 1/4 mile turns, two 5/8 mile long straightaways between the fourth and first and second and third turns, and two 1/8 mile short straightaways, termed “short chutes,” between the first and second, and third and fourth turns.
A modern infield road course, constructed between 1998 and 2000, includes the southern parts of the oval to create a 2.6-mile (4.2 km) track. Altogether, the current grounds have expanded from an original 320 acres (1.3 km²) on which the Speedway was first built to cover an area of over 559. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987, it currently remains the only such landmark to be affiliated with automotive racing history since its inception.
Besides the Indianapolis 500, NASCAR’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard (formerly Brickyard 400) also takes place there. The Speedway also hosted the United States Grand Prix for Formula One from 2000 to 2007, the inaugural race drew an estimated 225,000 which set a Formula One attendance record. It was also the venue of the opening ceremonies for the 1987 Pan American Games.
Between August 19, 1909, and July 29, 2007, 226 automobile races took place, with 125 separate drivers winning. After winning the Grand Prix in 2006, Formula One driver Michael Schumacher holds the record for most victories among the 500, 400, and Grand Prix with five, although all having come on the infield road course. A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, and Rick Mears each won four times in the Indianapolis 500 on the rectangular shaped oval track, and Jeff Gordon has also won four times on the oval in the Brickyard 400. No driver to date has won any combination among the three events, with only one driver (Juan Pablo Montoya) having competed in all three.
On the grounds of the Speedway is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum, which opened in 1956, and the Brickyard Crossing Golf Resort, which originally opened as the Speedway Golf Course in 1929.
~ Medal of Honor Memorial ~
~ Indianapolis Motor Speedway ~
~ USS Indianapolis (CA-35) Museum
~ Indiana War Memorial Museum ~
~ American Legion National Headquarters Located on the down Mall. Free tours of the building to include the Museum and Library ~
Albert Moore – President (MRFA)
Roy Moseman – Vice President (MRFA)