A PROUD REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATION

The ‘Single’ purpose of this article is to give members of the 16th  Infantry Regiment Association a brief, condensed history of our great Association and its accomplishments over the past 21 years. As the founder and original members of the 16th Infantry Regiment Association, I would like to share my thoughts with you about our Regimental Association’s proud history.  Tom Avery, Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion 16th Infantry, Roger Seymour, Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry and LTC (Ret)  John Finke, G Company (WWII) were the original signers of the Articles of Incorporation sent to the IMMIGRATION NATURALZATION SERVICES (INS) for approval as a 501 c (19) Non­Profit Organization in 1989.  A lawyer, the niece of one of our WWII members, volunteered her time to put together the paper work for the filing with IRS for our
nonprofit status back in 1989.  Thanks to her efforts, the Association received its Non­Profit Status as a 501c 19 organization.  It was a beginning and a big one for the Association.  The earliest version of the Association's Charter and By­Laws were officially changed in around 2005­07, only I cannot provide you with a specific date they were changed.

My first and foremost job as an officer was always to provide my soldiers good leadership and to make sure that they always had the best of whatever I could provide for them.  They always did what I asked of them and they never let the Battalion or me down in an engagement we had. That is how much trust and faith I had in my soldiers.  It takes all of us to build and maintain what has grown to be the strongest and best Regimental Association in the Army.  I can tell you that it certainly has lead the way in the Society of the First Infantry Division and set the standards for all Associations to follow.  Next to my family, there has never been anything more important to me than the Regiment and its most potent weapon, The Individual American Soldier. Everyone has their own view on the Association, this is mine since I was there from day one and did the things I thought most important in building the Association.  I know where the ideas came from, how and why they
were implemented the way they were implemented. Historians and revisionist views of events may differ, that is what makes America so great, but that is not the purpose of this article.  .

My association with the Society of the First Infantry Division and the 16th Infantry Regiment started in 1969 when I attended the annual Officers Dinner held in New York. I was at that time, the only 16th Infantry Vietnam era members in attendance at the 16th Infantry CP.  At the Officers dinner each Regiment had a CP, although during reunions there were no separate CPs until 1989.  It was in 1989 that others and I decided to try for a Non Profit Regimental Organization and increase participation by members of the Regiment in the reunions.

Art Tovar, a WWII medic, who had maintained a file and keep in contact, at his own expense, with former 16th Infantry soldiers provide me a list of names and addresses and I personally wrote each of them a letter asking their support in becoming members of a newly formed 16th Infantry Regiment Association.  We had our first meeting as an Association at the Big Red One Reunion in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1989.  That was also the first
regularly established set up of a Regimental CP at a First Division Reunion. Prior to that date, the only CP was a CP with a pay as you go bar held by the Division.  The then Executive Director of the Society, Art Chat,
opposed the fact that the 16th wanted to have a separate Regimental CP with its own alcohol available.  Should anyone care to debate these facts of what I say please let me know, since there was never more than 20 or so
Vietnam era guys at the reunions back then, and they stayed mostly by themselves at the hotel bar or joined us in our CP.  It stayed that way until the 16th Infantry with the help of our WWII members made a push to increase our Vietnam era members and attendance at reunions.  This can be easily be verified by checking reunion attendance in the mid 1990s through 2000. Art fought that innovation for almost five years, but we
prevailed.  It was also at this reunion that Tom Avery and I started the seating of all veterans with their units. That year as in previous years, Vietnam Veterans sat at separate tables with just Vietnam Veterans.  Tom and I said we came to the Division as members of the 16th Infantry Regiment and we planned to sit with our
Regiment, not just other Vietnam era Veterans.  I personally had lunch with General Depuy, the President of the Society at the time, and asked that the Society change the seating policy, and he did the following year, and said that he agreed that it was time for the Society to recognize that the Vietnam era Veterans were indeed a part of
the Division and should not sit at separate tables.  The real story is that there were those that feared separate Regimental CP would cut into the profits of the Societies run CP.  That was not one f the reason the Regiments wanted their own CP.  We wanted and own CP because they were soldiers who could not afford to pay hotel prized for drinks and that’s the simply answer why we fought to have separate CPs.  These CP also brought more members to the reunion because they had more time to be with their buddies with whom they served and that’s what the reunions were support to be about and it worked great once we got them off the ground,

Our Regimental Association was the first IRS recognized Regimental Association.  It was also the first Regimental Association to have its own U.S. Postal Permit and monthly mailing of a newsletter.  Although we started with only five original members, we gained over a period of about 7 years, a database of over 3500.  Not all those individuals paid their dues though. We knew where they were and that they were interested. We just didn’t do a good job of following up with them  My wife and I use to write the DD, publish the DD, hand label the DD, fold the DD and take the DD to the Post Office to insure it met the US Postal Regulations required for Mass Mailing of Newsletters.  That list of tasks took about one week a month to complete.  I remember preparing Newsletters and mailing to over 2500 members a number of months.  Back then, there was no formal functioning Board, Treasurer, Secretary, Editor, Reunion Organizer or Officer Dinner Coordinator.  I held all positions as best I could to include mailing of over 300 letters each year to members asking their support for the reunion and Officers Dinner.  That was in addition to me working my regular job of 50 to 60 hours a week.  I know what effort it took to be successful and we were indeed successful.  An Association can be strong, grow
or remain strong unless individuals are willing to put forth the extra effort it takes to do what needs to be done. Running an Association takes more than suggestion on how to make it better.

The 16th Infantry was the first Regimental Association to start its own Web Site and we were lucky enough to find John Marfia who took over our site and made it the success it is today.  It was John and not the Board that made all the improvement to our site.  In addition, our Association led the way when separate companies decided to start their own associations.  Delta Company was the first company size unit to form an association, then Bandido Charlie, and B/2/16 and on and on.

The Association raised about $15,000 to have the history of the complete history of the Regiment written through Operation Desert Storm.  LTC RET Steve Clay, then an active duty officer serving at Fort Leavenworth and an instructor undertook the challenge of researching and writing the history.  Our then Historian did the primary editing prior to publication.  Cantigny had the book published for us.  Although the Association never made any money from the book because we had to pay the Museum for publishing the book it was a great under taking and we owe a great deal to Steve and Cantigny for their efforts we also raised enough money to buy all the Army Flag with it Battle Streamers, the Division Flag and all it Battle streamers and the Regimental Colors with its Battle Streamers,  Additional we bough and paid for all of the WWI and WWII Unit Guidon, although we were never able to have all of the Vietnam era Guidons bought for display.

Back in the late 1990s, the Association started project to reconnect with our history in Europe.  We adopted the small French town of Fleville, the birthplace of our unit crest that, at the time was the town crest of Fleville.
We also built a monument there in Fleville in honor of the Regiment and later dedicated a building to house the Art Tozar Museum in Fleville.  We conducted a number of ceremonies there in the following years.  We also dedicated a monument in memory of the 16th Infantry that lead the assault landing on Omaha Beach on D­Day, and dedicated a building in England that was once used as the Regimental mess hall during the pre­Omaha preparation for the invasion of Normandy.  The Regiment planted a tree and presented a Plaque to Arlington National Cemetery in memory of all soldiers who served in the Regiment.  During the dedication ceremonies in Europe, the Association planned and sponsored trips attended by our members and their families.  In England, most of the members of the Regiment stayed with families in the town that made the trip so much more special
for those who were stationed there awaiting the invasion of Omaha Beach on D­Day. They were great experiences and helped keep out Regimental History and Image alive in Europe.  This was the first trip back to England since 1944 for our WWII members.
The problem with our Association is that we became too big and like many large organizations, we became dividing by internal strife and suspicion.  The one thing I have learned over the past months is that it is much easier to sit on the sidelines and complain than it is to jump in the fray and do something that always does not come out as perfectly as you had planned.
There were a number of individuals over the years who worked very hard to help carry the load.  To name a few there was:

John Marfia
Tom Avery                        
Roger Seymour                         
John Finke
Dennis Moorehead            
Ken Alderson                           
Mick Daley
Woody Goldberg              
Ron Mackedanz                      
Skip Baker
Ed Gripkey                        
Phil Hall                                  
Ray Morgan
CSM Al Herrera                
Buzz Tiffany                           
Bob Humphries
Judy Humphries               
Patricia Griffin                        
Ron Saxton
LTG Ron Watts                 
Phil Greenwell                         
Phil Hall
Don Oberkiser                    
Charlie Silk                            
Art Bakewell
CSM Bill Ryan                  
Dan McAfee,                          
Don Dignan
Doyle Taylor                        
Jean Taylor                            
Dona Avery

These are only a few of those that have done so much to help build our Association. I hope this will help those who served in the 16th Infantry Regiment whether members or not, to learn a little something from this quick history of our Association.  If I failed to mention someone, it was unintentional.  I also hope that it will encourage all of those who served in our great Regiment to become more active in helping it grow and remain strong.

I spent a little over 17 years of my life dedicated to the Association and its activities and have gained more than I could ever give back from my relationships with members from WWII, the Cold War, Vietnam, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East, as well as other trouble spots around the world, and soldiers from both active duty battalions.
Jerry Griffin

A2/16 – HHC 1st ID 9­15­65 – 12­15­66