1st Recon Battalion Association

1st Recon Battalion Association

Thanks for your service.

Part 25

2024

October First Half

1st Reconnaissance Battalion
Missions / Patrol Reports

Are you looking for your Old Patrol Reports? Check out this page on my website:

http://www.weststpaulantiques.com/reconmissions.html

Too close to whisper...
...one click for "yes", two for "no"...
"Brothers of the Bush"

----------------------------
Recon...their name is
their honor...and nothing more
need be said...Recon

Floyd Ruggles

Check Out New Messages/Newsletter

...

All Companies

Photo Gallery

The Memory Remains Not All Wounds Are Visible.

"A Brotherhood Forged In Combat"

1st Reconnaissance Battalion Index

2014

Message Board Links

Part 1 - 2018-2019 

Part 2 - 2019-2020 

Part 3 - 2020 

Part 4 - 2020 

Part 5  - 2020

Past Message Board

Past Newsletters 

Part 1 - 2017-2018 

Part 2 - 2018 

Part 3 - 2018 

Part 4 - 2018-2019 

Past Reunions 

Past Stories 

Send in your photos

Part 6  - 2020

Past Photos Galleries 

Part 7  - 2020

Part 8  - 2020

Bobby Bare

 

 

Photo Gallery

Part 10  - 2021

Click a photo to link to a page on our  website or Facebook. Links are found on nearly all Web pages. Links allow users to click their way from page to page. You will find thousands of links on the 1st recon battalion association website.

In Remembrance of our brother Reconnaissance Marines & Corpsmen killed in action or otherwise while on duty.

Look at it as your Time Capsule. This website won't stand long after we are all gone.

 

Daniel M Turpin

1st Recon Battalion Association

Part 11  - 2021

1st Reconnaissance Battalion
Missions / Patrol Reports

Too close to whisper...
...one click for "yes", two for "no"...
"Brothers of the Bush"

----------------------------
Recon...their name is
their honor...and nothing more
need be said...Recon
------------------------

YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN

Bravo Company 1968-1969

Part 12  - 2021

Meet some of our members of our association.

To all Association Members,

Please reply and update or confirm your Information.
Your 1st Recon Battalion Association Website Information
can be found at: 1streconbn.org/members.html

Hope to hear from you soon.
Thanks for all your help.

My email address is floyd@weststpaulantiques.com.
Please keep your information up to date.

This will allow the Association to send messages out from time to time by email or by mail.

Semper Fi,
Floyd Ruggles
Membership Director & Webmaster

1st Recon Battalion Association

New Members to the Association of the Natural Warrior

2023

Part 13  - 2021-2022

Part 14  - 2022

Part 15  - 2022

Part 16  - 2023

Get involved send in your messages, photos, stories share what you think about our website. I will post them on this page.

Get involved send in your messages, photos, stories share what you think about our website. I will post them on this page.

Get involved send in your messages, photos, stories share what you think about our website. I will post them on this page.

Get involved send in your messages, photos, stories share what you think about our website. I will post them on this page.

Get involved send in your messages, photos, stories share what you think about our website. I will post them on this page.

Get involved send in your messages, photos, stories share what you think about our website. I will post them on this page.

Get involved send in your messages, photos, stories share what you think about our website. I will post them on this page.

Get involved send in your messages, photos, stories share what you think about our website. I will post them on this page.

Get involved send in your messages, photos, stories share what you think about our website. I will post them on this page.

Get involved send in your messages, photos, stories share what you think about our website. I will post them on this page.

Get involved send in your messages, photos, stories share what you think about our website. I will post them on this page.

Get involved send in your messages, photos, stories share what you think about our website. I will post them on this page.

1st Recon Battalion Association

Message Board will be our newsletter going forward. 

It's ongoing and you can be a part of it, each month through out the year.

1st Recon Battalion Association

Message Board will be our newsletter going forward. 

It's ongoing and you can be a part of it, each month through out the year.

1st Recon Battalion Association

Message Board will be our newsletter going forward. 

It's ongoing and you can be a part of it, each month through out the year.

Click a photo to link to a page on our website. Links are found on nearly all Web pages.
Links allow users to click their way from page to page.

Navigator is at the top of each page.

**WELCOME to FIRST RECON'S WEBSITE** 2009-2023 

Don't be fooled by the warning signs it's a safe website, it's just an old platfrom. Just hit advance, you will enjoy this website, it's my personal website.

1st Recon Battalion Association

Message Board will be our newsletter going forward. 

It's ongoing and you can be a part of it, each month through out the year.

Association Purpose

Our mission is to help locate former Recon Marines and their families, and to recognize those who paid the ultimate price through the 1st Recon Memorial Fund which has established and will help maintain the permanent memorial at the Marine Corps Historical Museum at Camp Quantico Virginia.

Message from webmaster!

October 2024 - First Half Newsletter

Part 17  - 2023

Part 18  - 2023

Part 19  - 2023

Part 20  - 2023

Part 21  - 2023

Part 22  - 2024

My father's

Memorial 

United States & The World during the World War 2

MAYFLY TRIBUTE

Delta Company - June 21st, 1969

Marine helicopter squadron HMM-165 (CH-46D aircraft) was tasked with a recon insert mission approximately 22 miles WNW of DaNang. The landing zone was prepped heavily prior to commencement of a spiral approach. The helicopter (CH-46D BuNo 154811) was brought into a brief hover. Heavy small arms fire was received prior to anyone exiting the aircraft and the insertion was aborted. During climb out a loud explosion occurred aft of the cockpit area. The aircraft pitched extreme nose up and rolled slowly right to a somewhat inverted position with no control input response. It crashed and burned.Eight men died in the crash:

1stLt W L Peters, Jr., pilot (HMM-165) (Navy Cross, Silver Star)
LCpl P E Petroline, crew chief (HMM-165)

Member of 1st Recon Battalion Association

1st Recon Bn KIA Vietnam War

..

War Story

.....

Rest in Peace

The Jim Southall Story, Over 200 1st Recon Battalion Marines involved in this story. The story is a work in progress over the next year. Over 100 Patrol Reports.

Some Give It All

Vietnam 1968-1969

Thoughts of that Day

Doug Wolfe's Story

Patrol Report #349-68

98 hours on Charlie Ridge

Index by dates & names

Sergeant Jim Southall - Hill 200 1969

Are Message Board is now our new newsletter.

1968

1969

Membership Director & Webmaster

2016-2025

from the Bronx, Bronx County, New York, USA

Birth - 25 Aug 1973

Death - 11 Sep 2001 (aged 28)

23 Years Ago

Email:

Thank you Marine for your service


THE WALL

 

Standing here in front of the Wall
silently reading your name
Solemnly I thank you one and all
Each of you different, yet the same

The list seems forever endless
but I remember your faces
You made the supreme sacrifice, I confess
as I walk slowly with measured paces

Each one of you answered the call
Willingly or not, you gave your lives
Rest easy, my Brothers - heroes all
The Nation still survives

"War drew us from our homeland

In the sunlit springtime of our youth.

Those who did not come back alive remain

** in perpetual springtime -- forever young --**

And a part of them is with us always."

--- Author Unknown ---

God Bless you Marine

Floyd

9/11   23 Years Ago

Last night I awoke to the sounds of thunder. I was recalling a small part of a day a long time ago. As if it was yesterday...

Today is a particularly dreary, rainy day. Lookout Mountain is socked in good. It is not unusual for it to be socked in. Hell they fought the Battle Above the Clouds there during the Civil War.

However, today it put me in mind of another dreary, socked in ridge I was on for around 2 hours on 3 June, 1968. Known only to me as Hill 200, it was a desolate, indefensible place that somebody in the 1st Mardiv G3 shop picked off the map to insert my platoon on as an observation post & radio relay.

Stories from Members

Some Give It All

THE DAY THE CRAP WENT UP IN FLAMES
By Gary Graves, HM3

5 Minutes ‘Til Forever

Hoover Dam Changed America

Part 26

Applicants

1st RECONNAISSANCE BATTALION ASSOCIATION

CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS

ARTICLE II – MEMBERSHIP

SECTION 4. DUES. Association members have no mandatory dues. However, Members and Associate Members are encouraged to make donations, annually, to help defray the Association’s operating expenses. An annual donation of $10.00 is suggested.

Larry Feldman

Echo Company 1/70 - 1/71
Also H&S during this 
time span

Lives in Dover, Delaware

Ho Chi Min trail 1970. I'm thinking about the wet tiger paw print we just saw on a rock sitting in the sun. Heard him roar later that night and pulled the covers over my head.

Larry Feldman

Elephant Valley

ELEPHANT VALLEY....now that was a real "skate patrol " area. Been there many times....never any problems. Once had an acdental discharge with a stripped down M-79 with flechet round. Sounded like a shotgun going off in the quite of the bush, still no activity. That was GOOD. SF Steve Plunkett

Our Teammates may be gone, but they will never be forgotten!

Lance Corporal John Vincent Kuchta

Lance Corporal John Vincent Kuchta

PERSONAL DATA Home of Record: Warrior Run, PA

Date of birth: 12/21/1948

United States Marine Corps

 

Unit: D CO, 1ST RECON BN, 1ST MARDIV

DATA Start Tour: 04/05/1968

02/06/1969 Age at Loss: 20

Location: Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam

 

ON THE WALL Panel 33W Line 072

When John arrived in Vietnam 5 April 1968, he was assigned to Delta Company, 1st Recon Battalion, 1st Marine Division. He passed away on the 2nd of June in 1969 at the aged of 20 in
Quảng Nam, Vietnam

Battle of Hamburger Hill
May 13, 1969 – May 20, 1969

“Mission Impossible”
in Vietnam 

How Many Recon Marines
Does It Take to Put an
NVA Regiment to Flight?

Team: Chili Pepper

To the Gates of Hell

LCpl James Howard Jones

A Navy Corpsman will go to the gates of hell to help a wounded Marine.

Sgt.Glen Hicks, 20

PFC Scott Gary Smith

PFC THEODORE JAY WHITLOCK

Semper Fi, Floyd Ruggles

Membership Director & Webmaster

Echo Company Photo Gallery
By Michael Bernstrin & Robert Tracy

Echo Company

Flaky Snow  July 1968

Patrol Report 564-68

I heard it through the grapevine

Sgt Gerald L Poppa

1st Recon Battalion Association

Welcome to our New Members Page

1st Recon Battalion Association

Next Page

Previous Page

Some of the 1st Marines into Afghanistan in the aftermath of 9/11

For Membership in 1st Recon Battalion Association

Alpha Company

Parallel Bars September 1969

Patrol Report 837-69

Patrol Report

#564-68

Patrol Report

#837-69

All Units
March 1966 - May 1971

This link is to my old website It's a safe website on a old plarform follow instructions to the webpage. 

Thanks,

Part 24  - 2024

Part 26  - 2024

Part 9  - 2020

1st Recon Battalion

Association of the Natural Warrior

October 2024 - First Half Newsletter

Oklahoma City Bombing

April 19th, 2025

30th anniversary

TEST

Thanks in Advance

Mark C Gambescia
mcgambescia@gmail.com
571-239-0350

*GAMBESCIA, MARK C
BRAVO 1ST PLT. 1/69 - 1 /70
mcgambescia@gmail.com

Thanks for the update...

 

Floyd,

I planted a tree for my cousin.

Herman

Dear Herman,
We’re excited to share that the tree memorial you dedicated in honor of Mary Gonzalez has been successfully planted at Dixon Memorial State Forest in Georgia . Your thoughtful gesture has not only created a living tribute to their memory but also contributed to a healthier and greener planet.

We hope the memorial’s planting gives a continued connection with your loved one as their legacy lives on. While the tree memorial flourishes, it will continue to provide countless benefits to our planet, such as improving air quality, combating climate change, and nurturing wildlife.

Thank you once again for choosing A Tree to Remember™. Your contribution has a lasting impact on our environment and helps keep the memory of Mary Gonzalez alive for generations to come.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please visit our site here or reach out to us. Our team is here to support you every step of the way.

With warmest regards,

"A Tree to Remember" Team

The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time to plant a tree is now.

Ralph Witkin Photo Gallery

1st Recon Battalion Association <form-1streconbn.org@apps.registeredsite.com> 9/3/2024 9:27 PM Message Board To  floyd@weststpaulantiques.com

Name: Msgt Mario E Molina
Email: mayfly0521@gmail.com
Phone number: 2106720026
Subject: Roster
Message: Floyd: I dint not saw my name on the D co roster.

I served with doc Snider in Vietnam, Take care brother

Msgt Mario E Molina
D co ist recon Bn. Vietnam 1968, 1972, 1974.

Semper Fidelis

Checking the roster today I found: Delta Company *Molina Jr, Mario  (Msgt Retired) Delta Company 1968-1972 vesperbells1@gmail.com &  mayfly0521@gmail.com and *Molina Jr, Mario E  (Delta Company 1968-1972) Retired U.S.M.C. Msgt 8006 Sheppard Knl.  San Antonio, TX 78227 Phone:  325-320-9695 Email:    vesperbells1@gmail.com &  mayfly0521@gmail.com Please check your information and see if it's correct and let me know thank you. S/F Floyd

Yes, everything is correct.

Thanks

2024 Reunion Booklet

Parris Lane
I was there when the wall was dedicated... Took everything in me to get the ex-hubby to come... Vietnam had left a sour taste in his mouth.. And when he got there it was the first step in his healing process. When I had first met him, he wouldn't even stand for the National Anthem because of the way he was treated by this country, not only from being a Vet.. but a Black Vet..

Haydee and I take train to NYC. We find a new Cha Cha Matcha. This tea is an elixir. Saturday all day...We love to take the train and M bus down Madison Avenue and back on Fifth Avenue. I am able to do that.

Moe Armstrong

Fifty four years ago I served in Vietnam with Mark Bayuk. Mark spoke fluent Vietnamese and would go with me and two more Marines when I was working on wounded or sick villagers off of Hill 119. On one occasion Villagers left a severely wounded woman with her child and returned to their village which never happened. I tried to call in a Medevac and the S3 ordered us to leave her and try again the next morning. Myself, Mark, and the other two Marines agreed not to leave her. To have left her would have been signing her death warrant. The S3 got ill with me and I got ill with him. Finally He agreed for us to take her inside the wire. More to the story but basically me telling the S3 what he could do became my legacy.
Years later I received the email below from Mark. 9-11 canceled any chance I had of going to Beijing. When he saw on the Recon website that I had Cancer he decided he needed to make the trip from Northern Minnesota to Tennessee. We’ve had a great time today and gearing up for another tomorrow. First time we have seen each other since 1970 in Vietnam.

Semper Fi! I was looking at you bad ass ancient warriors. It seems like yesterday that we were on a journey that most will never travel. Delta Co 1st Recon bn SF Doc

Eric Schwartz

San Antonio Recon Reunion photos 2024

Name: David M Nelson Jr.
Email: pastordnelson@gmail.com
Phone number: 4058505261
Message: Just thought about all you guys. I'll be thinking about about Nam and Dutch Oven and my time in the bush and all I served with. I'll be 78 years old in a few days and I mean I'm gettin older. But a day in my life never goes by that I don't think about Nam.
Stick is my nam nickname
Stay true

Thanks I'll post the message today..

S/F
Floyd

Mike, Charlie, Floyd. This might be old news to you, but passing it along.
Hand Salute!
Semper Fi
Bill

William McBride Jr <bill.mcbride@gmail.com> 8/20/2024 7:54 PM Fwd: FW: Death of our '64 Classmate - Gordon Russell Willson To  Mike Fallon   Copy  Charlie Kershaw     and 2 others

Under the harvest moon,
When the soft silver
Drips shimmering
Over the garden nights,
Death, the gray mocker,
Comes and whispers to you
As a beautiful friend
Who remembers.

Throw Back Thursday The world I travel Vietnam 2013

Eric Schwartz 2013

Click a photo to link to a page on our website. Links are found on nearly all Web pages.Links allow users to click their way from page to page. You will find thousands of links on this website.

Just got back from an appointment with Dr. Gian. I had a PETSCAN last Friday and got the good news today. The Cancer is curable and there’s still a ways to go. The good news is that I’m ahead of schedule on the healing and will be getting checkups every three months. Not cured yet but close.
All of the prayers and support from each of you is appreciated.
Basically I’m in pretty good shape for the shape I’m in.

Thurman Mullins

The True Grit Brothers/ 1969

That grenade launcher was shipped to the battalion during my last tour in Iraq in 2005 or 6. Needless to say I was excited to receive it.

Howard "Doug" Wolfe

BaNa, 2018

BaNa Aug 20 1969

I'm just a simple old warrior who served in the uniform of this country's military in War who loves to discuss all aspects of life. It is my firm conviction that if one understands what caused the war, how the war was conducted, and the Reconstruction Years that followed, one will know what this country is about.

Name: Brian K Crawford
Address: 20404 county road 127 Glen st Mary FL 32040
Email: Briank1952@icloud.com
Home Phone number: 9042597422
Cell Phone Number: 9046039467
Date of Birth (MMDDYY): 05/11/1984
Letter Company
(or other Unit Attached): H&S S-6
Dates with Unit: 2008-2011
Spouse Name:
Date of Application: 09/5/2024 Date approved: 09/07/2024
Can we show your Home/Cell Number on the website. (Yes or No): Yes
Can we show your Home Address on the website. (Yes or No): Yes
Message to 1st Recon Battalion Association: I served as a radio operator with 1st recon from 2008-2011 and deployed too Al-Asad and Helmand province Afghanistan in 2010

New Members

Floyd,

Thanks for posting the planting of my tree for my cousin on our newsletter.

Take care brother,

Semper Fi,

Herman