Volume 1 Issue 1 86KB [13DEC2002]

Volume I, Issue 1
December 31, 2002

To all veterans, family and friends of VP-24 and its predecessor squadrons, welcome to our first newsletter of the 21st century. The Batmen of VP-24 are on the move recruiting new members, getting more veterans involved and planning for bigger and better reunions.

Our 2002 Reunion, in Reno, Nevada was an outstanding affair hosted by Alex and Irene Simon. 70 veterans were in attendance along with another 40 spouses and guests. We attended the world famous Reno Air Races, played golf, ate at the buffets, went shopping, gambled and visited Lake Tahoe. Additionally, we told sea stories, had a great Ready Room, held a fantastic banquet, welcomed a dozen reunion newcomers and had a very business-like business meeting. NAS Fallon provided an outstanding guest speaker, LCDR John Robey, who updated us on the status of patrol and reconnaissance aviation in today's Navy. Our thanks to John's great contribution!

Our veteran of longest standing was Billy Woodard, who served in the 3rd combat tour of VB-104. Our veteran of shortest standing was Steve Schoenleber, one of the very last veterans of VP-24! They both represent the long proud history of our squadron and the legacy we all share from 1943 to 1995.

As important as the new and renewed friendships and camaraderie that our reunion generated, we also got down to real business. Here is a summary of the business items: we will be known as The Batmen, we will have reunions annually, we will not seek a non-profit status, and we will use www.vpnavy.com as our web site and discontinue our own web site. Also, we will attempt to formally connect with the veterans of VB-104 (some progress being made) and we will share the work of growing our association and conducting reunions. Our goal for 2003 is to increase our roster from 770 to 1,000 active members!

We have a Personnel Officer - Alex Simon (patron24@isp01.net (407-297-3639). All roster adds, changes and deletes to Alex! We also have a Materials Officer - Jim Burke (904-529-8301). Jim is responsible for shirts, hats, cups, patches and other logo items. Tell Jim what you want/need! Tom and Jeane Allen have volunteered to be our Chaplain (757-497-7342). We're trying to cover all the bases!

Our number one priority is to get the word out as to who and what we are, recruit new members and get all those inactive shipmates to start attending reunions! The dozen or so reunion newcomers enjoyed themselves so much that they wonder why they had never attended a reunion before! Several veterans have volunteered to be state / regional captains responsible for local recruiting and contacting veterans on our roster. Would you be willing to contact other vets near you? We'll be broadcasting the reunion in as many publications and places as we can think of - any ideas? Word of mouth is by far the best way! Get on the phone, the Internet or sit down at your desk and send a message to that dear friend and shipmates from long ago! Maybe your spouse can look over the Christmas card list -- is there someone on the list that should be coming to a reunion?

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"VP-24 (VB-104, VPB-104, VP-104, VP-HL-4, VA(HM)-13) Alumni Association"

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