tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11666785.post5504392577397983724..comments2023-10-19T10:37:16.162-04:00Comments on Randy Barnett: It's that time of year againRandyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477949304113673930noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11666785.post-28706092575537924032010-11-12T09:59:10.271-05:002010-11-12T09:59:10.271-05:00There is a Red Robin in Cedar Rapids, about 30 min...There is a Red Robin in Cedar Rapids, about 30 minutes from me, but we've never been there - just know of it and have passed it many times.<br /><br />I wasn't in the 82nd at Bragg - we called them "Almost Airborne" for the AA on their patch. I was in the 27th Engineer Battalion (Combat)(Airborne). We were a non-divisional battalion who worked for the Air Force in time of war, building forward airstrips. From the time we left the door, 48 hours later you'd have a runway for C-130s and 72 hrs for F-4s. Never did it in real life while I was in - just war games. By the time I got out we had been placed under the 35th Engineer group as the only combat engineer battalion and the only airborne one. I looked them up on the web a while back and discovered the 35th is now three battalions of airborne combat engineers - I guess the 27th took over the brigade!<br /><br />Glad to hear your step-son finished his tour in one piece!Glenn E. Chatfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04117405535707961903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11666785.post-43683016879580393462010-11-12T07:15:30.247-05:002010-11-12T07:15:30.247-05:00Glenn, if you have a Red Robin in your area, you s...Glenn, if you have a Red Robin in your area, you should try the tower of onion rings next year. (They make good burgers too).<br /><br />I think I mentioned this last year, but my step-son was in 82nd also. He joined in early 2001 and was at Ft. Bragg when the towers fell. My wife & I married 18 days later and we weren't sure he would get to come home for the wedding. He managed a 48 hour pass. The day we returned from our honeymoon was the day they started bombing Afghanistan. When I saw the news, I told my wife to call him quickly as they would shut down the phone lines.<br /><br />He did a tour in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. The army was good to him, but after four years he got out to finish school and start a family.<br /><br />Glad you have a good day. I imagine you don't have trouble making new friends.Randyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16477949304113673930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11666785.post-63315669947604674462010-11-11T13:39:16.154-05:002010-11-11T13:39:16.154-05:00Thank you for your thanks!
I was in from June 197...Thank you for your thanks!<br /><br />I was in from June 1970 to Feb 1975. Never got overseas even though Vietnam was still going the first three years I was in. Everyone in my combat engineer class who didn't go to jump school went to Vietnam, while us paratroopers went to Ft. Bragg to a one-of-a-kind unit that had gotten understrength by sending everyone to 'Nam.<br /><br />Hy-Vee, a supermarket chain in Iowa, gives free breakfast buffet, so that's where we ate this morning. Heading to Applebees later for late lunch. We did the same last year, which was a first for us (I have to pay for my wife, of course).<br /><br />It is really neat. There were vets from WWII and Korea there, as well as my era and newer. We chatted with a guy who was in from 1958 to 1961 and now suffers from diabetes and his wife has bone cancer. We get a lot more vets around here than most places because of the big Veteran's Hospital in Iowa City.Glenn E. Chatfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04117405535707961903noreply@blogger.com