Wreath-Laying Ceremony

Our wreath laying will occur immediately following the 11 a.m. changing of the guard.

Lunch will follow at Joe Theismann’s Restaurant; 1800 Diagonal Road, Suite A; Alexandria, Virginia 22314.

Please contact Guillermo Guillén at guillermo.guillen.03@nullgmail.comcreate new email if you have any questions.

A Proud Blackhorse Trooper

Photos and note were provided by Jim Payne.

I work with Deloitte and am very proud of the work our firm does to assist current and soon-to-be veterans in their transition from the military to the civilian workforce. In the spirit of recognizing that work, four Deloitte veterans were chosen to take part in the wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on November 1, 2022. I was in B Troop, 1st Squadron, 11th ACR in Fulda from 1983 to 1985 and proudly wore the Blackhorse on my lapel during the ceremony. In the second photo below, I’m on the right shoulder of the Sergeant of the Guard.

Dear friends,

It hasn’t been that long since I wrote, but Thanksgiving and Christmas are not that far apart.

A busy year is almost behind us when we experienced ups and downs, and there were also many challenges; but we were able to master many of the challenges. At the end of November and after two years of abstinence, we were finally able to have our Thanksgiving dinner again. There were many activities that we were able to implement in the areas of German-American friendship, integration, inclusion, culture, and diverse sports offerings. In addition to our many existing sports, we have launched mother-child gymnastics and roundnet (spikeball).

The demands and tasks on our administration increased overall and we were able to carry out additional social projects.

We are taking Christmas as an opportunity to say thank you for the friendship over the past year.

We wish you and your family members a merry, relaxing Christmas and many happy, successful days in the coming year.

But we also wish you a not too hectic pre-Christmas period, a lot of energy, and happiness for the next twelve months. Above all, we wish you good health.

Many greetings from Fulda, Germany
DAFKS KONTAKT Fulda &
Blackhorse Museum Fulda
Winfried Jäger

Note From Point Alpha

On behalf of my colleagues and the whole staff of the Point Alpha Foundation, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We would like to express our gratitude towards your continued support for Point Alpha. It’s a pleasure to work with you, and your feedback means a lot to us.

After a difficult time during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and the restructuring of the Point Alpha Foundation, we are sailing in calmer waters now. Our new staff is eager to improve the exhibitions in 2023, and also the communication with our partners and friends in the US Military community. I am sure we will be in touch more often in the next year.

Of course, you are always welcome to visit us in Rasdorf/Geisa. We would be delighted if you attended our first big event on 17 March 2023 — the “Last Border Patrol” ceremony.

Have a blessed Christmas with your families and a great start into the new year!
I have attached three photographs. The first one shows OP Alpha recently in snowy weather (the snow is all gone now, to my regret). The second one is the famous Stars and Stripes photo taken during Christmas season in the 1980s. Back then, two U.S. soldiers greeted their East German counterparts with a delightful message in German written on a blanket. In the third photo, a few of our staff did our best to recreate the original photo.

Kind regards from Geisa, Germany
Johannes Schneider, M.A.
Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter

Point Alpha Stiftung
Schlossplatz 4
36419 Geisa
GERMANY

Tel. +49 36967-5964-274
Fax +49 36967-5964-26
johannes.schneider@pointalpha.comcreate new email

www.pointalpha.com
www.facebook.com/PointAlpha
www.youtube.com/PointAlphaGedenkst%C3%A4tte
www.instagram.com/pointalpha_foundation/

Blackhorse Baseball

Armando Reyes and Wesley Willard want to share with us that they have formed a USSSA Baseball Team in honor of the Regiment in Pasadena, CA. You can see them and follow their season at this webpage: https://www.usssa.com/baseball/teamHome/?teamID=3027782

They have pledged to raise money for a named scholarship in 2023 and they invite you to their games to share in opportunities for fund raising toward this effort.

Wesley Willard, whose hometown is Sunland, CA, graduated from USMA in 2003. After the Infantry, Airborne, and Ranger course he joined the Regiment and deployed to Iraq with F Troop 1/11 ACR May 2005. As a Platoon Leader he was stationed at Abu Ghraib Prison. He redeployed with all 30 Soldiers home safely in January 2006.

Upon return they were redesignated as A Troop in 1/11 ACR and he was reassigned as the XO. As the casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan were mounting and the issues with the medical system were happening, the Army created the Warrior in Transition Units. Wesley was selected to lead the WTU as the company commander by BG Picard to support both Fort Irwin and NMCSD (Navy Medical Center San Diego) from 2007-2008. He had over 100 Warriors in transition that were severely wounded in Combat. He ended his 5 years of service in December 2008.

He has been married to Elivey for 14 years and they have a 9 years old son Evan and a 5 month old baby girl Adalynn. He is a registered nurse in the intensive care unit.

AUSA Membership Benefits

As part of our affiliation with AUSA, all members of the Blackhorse Association receive discounts and benefits from a wide variety of organizations and businesses. A partial list is included at the following link.

The Blackhorse Association and AmazonSmile

Are you a BHA member who uses Amazon.com? Our guess is you probably are, and we need your support. Currently, 288 people support the BHA through the AmazonSmile charity program. All that is needed to provide your support is a quick 30- second enrollment and continued use of Amazon for your purchases.

As a result of members like you who are already using AmazonSmile, we just received a $211 quarterly contribution from Amazon. This brings total Amazon contributions to the BHA to $3122; this has funded one annual scholarship — simply by adjusting your Amazon account.

How It Works

We’re asking that you designate “Blackhorse Association Inc” as your charity. Doing so means the association will receive .5% of the purchase price of all items purchased by you and your fellow BHA members made through AmazonSmile. This Amazon donation is done anonymously based on total purchases of our enrollees. 100% of every quarterly payment received from Amazon is deposited into our scholarship fund.

Anyone can support the association by using AmazonSmile. If you have family members or friends who have their own Amazon accounts, they too can designate “Blackhorse Association Inc” as their choice; everything will work the same for them as well.

Please remember that enrolling in the AmazonSmile program has no effect on the purchase price of your items; your price remains the same as before – not higher or lower. The only differences are Amazon rewards your participation by donating to the Blackhorse Association and you’ll make Amazon purchases on the AmazonSmile webpage instead of the standard Amazon webpage. (We recommend bookmarking the AmazonSmile webpage to ensure we receive credit for your purchases.) As a result, the Association will get a steady stream of revenue throughout the year that will be used to fund scholarships.

How To Sign Up

If you’re using a desktop browser or viewing the Amazon website on your phone, click the link below, log in if needed, get started at the AmazonSmile page, and select “Blackhorse Association Inc.” Please bookmark the new start page.

opens in a new windowClick here to go to the Amazon Sign-In page.

If you’re using an Amazon app on your phone or device, open the app, and find “Settings” in the main menu (≡). Tap on “AmazonSmile” and follow the on-screen instructions to turn on AmazonSmile on your phone or device. Search for “Blackhorse Association Inc” and select it.

Amazon recently announced a new AmazonSmile App that will further ensure your purchases are always credited to the Smile program. So this is a possibility, but not a requirement, for you as well. After you register, please select “Blackhorse Association Inc.”

We thank you, and the college students of our troopers thank you too!

Send us your Blackhorse-related news.

Do you have items of interest that are related to the Blackhorse? Please send them to Clint Ancker, Director of Communications, at opens in a new windowbanditsix@nullaol.com.