November 9, 2000

Compliments of the

15th Combat Engineer Battalion Association

The Panorama says it all

Our wreath

Wing Fat

Ric & Don

At the NAVY Memorial.

Captn Mandlebaum, Richard Brewer in in our room

Ric, Joe K, Stan O'Loughlin, Brewer, Craig Owen

Brewer and Mandlebaum

Colon, Coogan & Owen

John Jadryev

Larry Lambelet

Richard Davis and his Grandson

Wing Fat and the lovely Christine

Loved one....

The below quotation is a part of a letter forwarded to me. It has NOTHING to do with our group, or the Viet Nam conflict. It does however embody all that we stand for

Ric

Hi, I just received this email from a friend of mine at SWOS. He has a
buddy flying Seahawks off of USS Hawes. Here he describes the
conditions on USS COLE:

"It wasn't until a few days ago though, that we started doing something
that I feel may be the first thing I've seen in my short Naval career
that has truly made a difference. Right now we're supporting the USS
COLE and her crew in Aden. When the attack occurred we were a day
away. Just by luck we happened to be on our way out of the Gulf and
headed towards the Suez and could get here in a relatively short amount
of time. I know what you all have seen on CNN, because we have seen it
too.

I just want you all to know that what you see doesn't even scratch the
surface. I'm not going to get into it for obvious reasons. But I will
tell you that right now there are 250+ sailors just a few miles away
living in hell on Earth. I'm sitting in a nice air conditioned state
room, they're sleeping out on the decks at night. You can't even
imagine the conditions they're living in, and yet they are still
fighting 24 hours a day to save their ship and free the bodies of those
still trapped and send them home.

As bad as it is, they're doing an incredible job. The very fact that
these people are still functioning is beyond my comprehension. Whatever
you imagine as the worst, multiply it by ten and you might get there.
Today I was tasked to photo rig the ship and surrounding area. It
looked so much worse than I had imagined, unbelievable really, with
debris and disarray everywhere, the ship listing, the hole in her side.
I wish I had the power to relay to you all what I have seen, but words
just won't do it. I do want to tell you the first thing that jumped out
at me - the Stars and Stripes flying. I can't tell you how that made me
feel...even in this God forsaken hellhole our flag was more beautiful
than words can describe. Then I started to notice the mass of activity
going on below, scores of people working non-stop in 90 plus degree
weather to save this ship. They're doing it with almost no electrical
power and they're sleeping (when they can sleep) outside on the decks
because they can't stand the smell or the heat or the darkness inside.
They only want to eat what we bring them because they're all scared of
eating something brought by the local vendors. Even with all that, the
USS COLE and her crew is sending a message guys, and it's that even acts
of cowardice and hate can do nothing to the spirit and pride of the
United States. I have never been so proud of what I do, or of the men
and women that I serve with as I was today. There are sixteen confirmed
dead sailors who put it on the line for all of us, and some of them are
still trapped here. Please take a minute to pray for their families and
say a word of thanks for their sacrifice - one made so that we can live
the lives that we do. All of you that serve with me, thank you.

All of you that have loved ones that serve, thank you."

The 15th has been inducted into the NAVY Log as part of the

MOBILE RIVERINE FORCE

This is the FIRST time an ARMY unit has been inducted to the NAVY log and honored

at the NAVY Memorial.

To have YOUR name included in the LOG, contact Albert Moore

at www.mrfa.org to join the MRFA and and for information.