We few. We happy few. We band of brothers . . . 
For he that sheds his blood with me this day, shall be my brother

Blackhorse Cigarette Lighter Found Australian, Keiran Bailey Finds Lighter On Australian Beach 38 Years in the surf.

Keiran Bailey of Victoria, Australia found this remarkably preserved lighter clearly marked Black Horse with our distinctive Blackhorse patch on the face and on the back, 11th CAV, Xuan Loc, Vietnam with the date, 1969-1970.  Keiran found it during the Australian summer of 1991-'92 while snorkeling in a place called Congwong Bay on the northern corner on the march larger Botany Bay, some 23 Kms south of Sydney, and sent the lighter to me to preserve and to share it with our Blackhorse brothers.  Bill Lewellen, of K Troop, is bring this historic artifact to the 23rd Annual Reunion in Chicago of the 11th ACVVC for everyone to see and marvel over.

Keiran writes that while snorkeling, he was looking for some shells, rocks or sponge coral for his marine aquarium.  He says that while swimming along he noticed a metallic glint about 15 meters from the shore.  Upon investigation he notice the lighter wedged between the sand and some pebbles in a crevasse about 15 feet deep with only the shinier base of the light showing in the light of day.  He recognized it immediately as a Zippo lighter not unlike the one he himself owned.  The lighter sat in his undersea treasure collection until a year ago when he examine the inscriptions, did a web search and sent in on to us here at Ktroop.com.

Inscribed on the bottom of the light are the words, "New Oriental", presumably the manufacturer.  The lighter has no personal inscription so we can only wonder who might have lost it.  In all likelihood it was lost by a Blackhorse trooper while on R&R (rest & relaxation) in Sydney.  If it did wash from the shores of Vietnam all the way to Australia that would be an extraordinary journey for this lighter to take, but I wonder?

Mr. Bailey writes in the letter that he enclosed with the lighter, "I am very pleased and it makes me content to know that this lighter is finally in its rightful place among its original owners.  I hope and pray it conjures up some good memories for your Blackhorse buddies.  I'm sure that if this lighter could talk it would disclose a vast amount of incredible stories to share with us all".

I thank Mr. Bailey for sending the lighter along to us, at his own expense, and after having done some creative internet investigative work in locating us hear at K Troop, 11th ACR, Vietnam at Ktroop.com.

Sadly, in March of 2011, Keiran was struck by a motorist and killed while riding his bicycle.

Lt. Col. Joe Greeley of Somersworth, NH piloted 50, B17 bombing raids over Germany before his 21st birthday.   Here, Joe is seen greeting a Boston native as he and his fellow soldiers arrive at Pease International Tradeport on their way home after completing their tour of duty in Iraq.

The Boeing 737, operated by Miami International Airlines, arrived at the former Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth, NH recently and was welcome by a throng of greeters know as the Pease Greeters.  The guests of the Pease Greeters (formed by the Marine Corp League of the Seacoast) have time to stretch their legs, refresh themselves, make free phone calls and visit with the greets while their plane is fueled before continuing on to their final US destination.

Your place in history at K Troop's - Contributor's Corner.  See who has contributed their photos, stories, personal letters and more.  Who knows, you might see yourself in your buddy's photo.  Do you have some of your own that you would like to share?  Send them along and I'll include them.  For more details, visit your corner of K Troop - Contributor's Corner.

Your newest contributor - Errol Brumm served as K Troop's maintenance sergeant in 1967-'68.

I, like many of my buddies, sent home audio tapes to loved ones.  Some of us sent reel to reel and others sent cassette tapes.  I recorded mine on a Sony, portable desktop cassette tape recorder.  The recordings captured my impressions of the war and my service with K Troop.  Not only do they convey personal messages, exchanged with my mother and father, they also contain radio transmissions, firefights, TV broadcasts and sounds of Vietnam.  I've chosen what I consider to be the best of the 22 tapes and placed them here.  A fraction of the total are available now.  New excerpts are added each week.

Declaration of Support

We, combat veterans of the 11^th Armored Cavalry Regiment (Blackhorse), fought for the United States of America in Vietnam and Cambodia.  During this war against communist aggression, our nation was bitterly divided and many American citizens rose in protest against our involvement. Members of our armed forces were the objects of disdain and ridicule. We returned home to a national landscape of public opinion and political division unchanged until the morning of September 11, 2001.

Read the entire Declaration HERE.

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See what Military.com is saying about Bob Hersey and K Troop in an article called, "Cooking For K Troop - My Life with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in Vietnam".   Visit Military.com today.

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Yours truly is making a splash at Seabeecook.com in a  featured article on the Cooks & Bakers page titled A Cook with the Blackhorse in Vietnam.  Visit Seabeecook.com today and discover more about US Military - Cooks and Bakers.

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Updated: March 05, 2012

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