David L. Summers
Officer David Lee Summers was commissioned as a Police Officer on August 17, 1970 and entered the Saint Louis Police Academy. After graduating from the academy, Officer Summers started his career in the 2nd District followed by an assignment in the 3rd District. He later served in the Traffic Safety Division as a Motorcycle Police Officer. In 1975 he left his position in the Traffic Safety Division to take the helm as the Chief of Police for the City of Lake Ozark Missouri. He returned to the Saint Louis Police Department in 1976 and was assigned to the Police Academy for a short period of time before he was assigned to the Traffic Safety Division, where he spent the rest of his distinguished career on the motors in the Traffic Safety Division. When Officer Summers retired in 2005, he had completed over 34 years of faithful and dedicated service to the Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department. He was also a veteran of the United States Army, served with the 11th Armored Air Cavalry Regiment in the Vietnam War, and achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant, being awarded the Bronze Star Medal for heroism in a combat zone.
Greg Ainsworth
The following comes from Chris Franchek, Medical Recruiting Brigade, Deputy S3/5/7
502.626.2058 (office)
270.306.1951 (cell)
Blackhorse Brothers: It is with deep regret that I share the news with you all of the passing this week of one of our local Brothers – Greg Ainsworth, former Senior Scout in Anvil Troop in the early 90s in Fulda and Desert Storm. Having had the honor to serve with him as his Troop Commander, I can offer no finer praise than to say that he was one hell of a Scout, and one damn fine NCO. I sought his counsel often, and listened intently when he spoke, be it in a field situation or a garrison environment. He was also one of Top Kenny Preston’s trusted advisors…
Anvil! and Allons!, Brothers…
http://www.coffeyandchism.com/obituaries/Gregory-Ainsworth/#!/
11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (Blackhorse) Association
Schedule of Activities
2014 Reunion Colorado Springs, CO
Thursday, June 12:
8am – 5pm: Registration/Hospitality Room (Breckenridge Room)/Silent Auction (Aspen Room)
8am – Until: Blackhorse Store Open (Premiere Lounge)
7am: Golf Tournament – first tee time 0800 at Fort Carson course. They have plenty of golf clubs, shoes and carts to rent. We need to know who wants to play golf.
1pm – 4pm: Tour of Fort Carson (limited to the first 40 to sign up)
Sightseeing on your own (see options below)
6pm – Until: Hospitality Room open until about 9pm. Cash bar is in the first floor lobby.
Friday, June 13:
8am – 5pm: Registration/Hospitality Room (Breckenridge Room)/Silent Auction (Aspen Room)
8am – Until: Blackhorse Store Open (Premiere Lounge)
9:30am: 5th Annual Reunion Motorcycle Rally (meet at east end of hotel near registration in front of buses)
9:30am: Load buses for Memorial Service (meet at east end of hotel near registration)
10:30am – 11:30am: Memorial Service at Blackhorse Memorial tank.
Sightseeing on your own (see options below)
6pm – Until: Stable Your Mount (Summit Ballroom) casual evening social (bar opens and food served at 6pm and program begins at 7pm). Cash bar with heavy hors d’oeuvres.
Saturday, June 14:
8am – 3pm: Registration/Hospitality Room (Breckenridge Room)/Silent Auction (Aspen Room)
8am – 5pm: Blackhorse Store Open (reopened for one hour following banquet) (Premiere Lounge)
8am – 9am: Association Directors closed meeting (Foothills Hall)
9am – 11am: Association Annual Business meeting. All members are encouraged to attend (Foothills Hall)
Sightseeing on your own (see options below)
6pm – 10pm: Cocktails/Banquet (Coat & Tie recommended) (Ballroom 1). Cocktails begin at 6pm, dinner at 7pm. Program includes announcement of scholarship recipients for this year and Silent Auction winners. Keynote speaker is COL John L. Ward, 65th Colonel of the Regiment.
Sunday, June 2:
9am – 10am: Non-denominational church service-Hospitality Room (Telluride Room)
Farewells
There are over 50 tourist attractions in the Colorado Springs area. Some of the most popular sights are listed below, and you will find other sights and activities described in your reunion bags:
Pikes Peak Air Force Academy and Chapel Garden of the God Old Colorado City Manitou Springs National WWII Aviation Museum Cave of the Winds Seven Falls Cliff Dwellings Cheyenne Mountain Zoo US Olympic Training Center Broadmoor Hotel North Pole Pikes Peak Cog Railway Gambling in Cripple Creek
opens in a new windowFor the latest list of attendees who have signed up, opens PDF file
Update on the Last Patrol Event:
From Dave Cowan, the Association lead planner for the Last Patrol event next April, who just returned from a visit/recon to Bad Hersfeld and OP Alpha:
Great meeting with Herr Bausch (OP Alpha director) on May 20. OP Alpha looks great and the recently opened exhibition at the "house on the border" is fantastic, a must see for our visit next year. Date is now firm for April 24, 2015, and planning is on-going with representatives from USAREUR and other agencies in Germany. Our one-day affair will be a small part of events throughout Germany as they celebrate 25 years of re-unification in 2015. Although the date (April 24) is not the actual anniversary of our last patrol, it was chosen to accommodate school schedules, Easter vacations and other 25th Anniversary events.
From our end, this will be a fairly simple operation with pay-as-you-go meals and events. Current plan is to spend most of the 24th (1000 – 1600) at OP Alpha participating in events with time allotted to visit the exhibition in the "house on the border." Schedule/Agenda TBD, but we will do lunch at the OP, and meet somewhere that evening for dinner and drinks – no official program or speakers. I will have options for day-trips on the front and back end of the Anniversary date for sub-groups to take in more sights. Any additional supporting activities will be impromptu based on attendance and interest.
On a related note, here is a link to a brochure that the Point Alpha Foundation has prepared to support its fundraising.
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Another Interesting Article
The Impact of the Regiment on a Town
Click the link below to an interesting article from The Des Moines Capital, on March 15, 1905, about the 11th Cavalry’s importance to the city. This article was provided by Michael Brubaker, from Ashville, NC, who wrote the article on the 11th Cavalry’s band that we featured in the last eBlast. Thanks Mike!
opens in a new windowClick here to read the article from The Des Moines Capital.opens PDF file
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An 11th Cavalry Veteran Remembers D-Day
This is a short interview with a World War II veteran of A Troop, 36th Reconnaissance Squadron, 11th Cavalry Group, who fought on D-Day.
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Monument in Bad Hersfeld Rededicated
Following on to the article in the previous eBlast on the restoration of the monument to the 11th and 14th Cavalry Regiment in Bad Hersfeld, the ceremony took place on May 22nd. The Bad Hersfeld mayor and the director of the Sparkasse were there; and thanks to Gabriele Hasper, because everything went smoothly. Below are Steve Lungstrum’s comments.
Herr burgermeister Fehling and Herr director Kurth. Happy birthday Herr Kurth.
Thank you for taking the time to meet with us. We are representatives of the 3rd Squadron for both the 14th and 11th Armored Cavalry Regiments that served in Bad Hersfeld. We have asked to meet with both of you to show our appreciation for the efforts you have made to protect and preserve the monument that we erected in 2009 to commemorate the more than 40 years partnership between the 3rd Squadron of the 14th and 11th Armored Cavalry Regiments and the City of Bad Hersfeld.
I have brought miniature copies of the plaques that are on the monument along with Letters of Appreciation signed by three U.S. Army General Officers, who early in their careers, served in Bad Hersfeld with the 3rd Squadron. These are symbols of our gratitude and the continuing sense of connection that those of us who served in the 3rd Squadron feel even to this day.
* General Bell would later command both the 7th Army in Germany and the 8th Army in Korea.
* General Burns was my best man in 1971 when I married Monika Weinbrenner, born in Forest House Sorga, who was the daughter of Forester Ernst and Emma Weinbrenner. Her brother, Lieutenant Colonel Gunther Weinbrenner, is also here today.
* General Cherrie served in Bad Hersfeld longer than any other officer. His executive officer, Colonel Dave Cowen, is here today with his wife Beate who is also from Bad Hersfeld.
I would also like to offer my thanks to Gabriele Hasper, the 3rd Squadron’s liaison with Bad Hersfeld and Holger Mashke, the stone mason who originally built the stone and has now restored it to an even better condition than before. These are both clear examples of the 3rd Squadron’s continuing connection with our German friends.
So in closing, thank you for your commitment to preserve the memory of the 3rd Squadron’s service as well as the memories of our long partnership.
Here are Dave Cowan and Steve Lungstrum with the refurbished memorial.
opens in a new windowClick here to read the local newspaper article on the memorial.opens PDF file
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Update on the Last Patrol Event: From Dave Cowan, the Association lead planner for the Last Patrol event next April, who just returned from a visit/recon to Bad Hersfeld and OP Alpha:
Great meeting with Herr Bausch (OP Alpha director) on May 20. OP Alpha looks great and the recently opened exhibition at the "house on the border" is fantastic, a must see for our visit next year. Date is now firm for April 24, 2015, and planning is on-going with representatives from USAREUR and other agencies in Germany. Our one-day affair will be a small part of events throughout Germany as they celebrate 25 years of re-unification in 2015. Although the date (April 24) is not the actual anniversary of our last patrol, it was chosen to accommodate school schedules, Easter vacations and other 25th Anniversary events.
From our end, this will be a fairly simple operation with pay-as-you-go meals and events. Current plan is to spend most of the 24th (1000 – 1600) at OP Alpha participating in events with time allotted to visit the exhibition in the "house on the border." Schedule/Agenda TBD, but we will do lunch at the OP, and meet somewhere that evening for dinner and drinks – no official program or speakers. I will have options for day-trips on the front and back end of the Anniversary date for sub-groups to take in more sights. Any additional supporting activities will be impromptu based on attendance and interest.
On a related note,
From Don Snedeker
Just finished reading "Leaving the Wire", written by SGT David Ervin, an Echo Troop, 2/11 infantryman about his time with the Blackhorse in Iraq in 2005. (link below). I highly recommend it. Very personalized, M3 Bradley turret-level view of that war. Lots of warts on display, including his own. But I think you will find an amazing number of similarities between what he experienced in Iraq and what Vietnam Veterans experienced. All but the air conditioning in his barracks-tent.
LInks to purchase the book:
opens in a new windowhttp://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Wire-An-Infantrymans-Iraq-ebook/dp/B00G2HUCIU
opens in a new windowhttp://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18721491-leaving-the-wire
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New Museum Curator
The Museum at Fort Irwin has a new curator, Master Sergeant Rance Jones. MSG Jones can be contacted at:
Rance.P.Jones.mil@nullmail.mil
760-380-6607
A hearty Blackhorse Welcome to Master Sergeant Jones! If you have items to be sent to the Museum, please contact him.
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Tradition in One Family
The following is from Walt McGill ( opens in a new windowwalt.mcgill@nulllakesidecapitallp.comcreate new email).
My daughter, Ashley Witherspoon, forwarded an email message you sent her regarding a Memorial Paver she ordered as a Christmas gift to me in honor of my service with the 11th ACR in Fulda, Germany during 1974 and 1975. I had inquired of Don Wicks if I could purchase a Memorial Paver in honor of my grandfather, Adolphus McGill, who served with the 11th Cavalry (as it was then called) in Jefferson Barracks, Missouri in 1906. It was a complete surprise when I discovered my grandfather and I served in the same unit after researching his military history and obtaining some records from the National Archives. The chance of a grandfather and grandson both serving in such a small but highly decorated unit has to be unusual, but it is also a special and unique memory of our limited time together. He died when I was 5 years old, but his wooden cavalry saddle was often played on by me, my siblings and cousins, as we dreamed of leading the cavalry charge. My memories of him are even richer now, after discovering we are forever linked as members of the Black Horse Regiment. Today, whenever I see my 3 year-old grandson Colton, instead of saying goodbye, we both salute each other with the signature greeting "Blackhorse".
My time with the 11th ACR was in Fulda, Germany where I was the NCOIC of the Staff Judge Advocate Office at Regimental Headquarters. During that time, I had the pleasure of working under SJA Captain Jim Linebarger and his successor Captain Jim Baker, and also working under the commands of Colonel Robert Sweitzer and Colonel John Ballentyne. For a young soldier of 19, I had to grow up fast, but I wouldn’t trade that part of my life for anything. I learned what is was like to be part of something bigger than me and of the sacrifices of those who served before and after my brief tenure with this unit. I was proud to be a part of the 11th ACR and they honored me by inducting me as a member of the Border Legion when I left in 1975. I returned to the University of Georgia under the GI Bill and today I am a CPA and proud husband of Sue McGill and father to three wonderful daughters, Ashley, Kate, and Morgan and grandfather to a budding trooper, Colton, who is the apple of my eye.
Walt provided the following pictures of his grandfather and of himself in civvies.
Grandfather Adolphus McGill
Grandson Walt McGill
A Regimental Encampment
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A Forthcoming TV Documentary of Interest
This is a trailer from a documentary that is supposed to air next year-40 years after the fall of Saigon. "Welcome Home" is a new series being produced by Sleeping Dog Productions, Inc. It tells the story of Vietnam Veterans, from all branches of the service. It is scheduled for release in 2015, the 40th anniversary-year of the end of the War. It is a thank you and a welcome home that is long, long, overdue.
opens in a new windowhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-CTKFzWjjw&sns=em
