67thRTS - Reunion 2000

Reunion 2000

Biloxi Mississippi, October 13 through 15, Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino

The first reunion of the 67^th was the brainchild of four people, Jack Lundgard, Gil Taylor, Ken Kelly, and Pete Durnell. Gathering for an informal get together, these four decided that it would be great to see more of the folks from the 67^th and that the way to do this would be to hold a reunion. Ken Kelly graciously volunteered to host this first reunion and set about looking for both a site and a hotel where it could be held. Gil Taylor took on the responsibility of trying to find the names of people assigned to the unit and, more importantly, a current address for each. Pete Durnell took on the task of writing up an invitation to be sent out to a growing list of potential attendees and handling the finances. Jack Lundgard took on the mantle of unofficial president and became our spokesperson.

As it turned out 132 people, including spouses, came to this first reunion and some of the “traditions” of our reunions were established. First was the Friday night buffet featuring an oriental, and mostly Japanese, menu which was both informal and fun. Various people took the opportunity to speak, to share their 67^th and Japan experiences, and to “entertain” us with tales both tall and true. Ken Kelly, as host, presented a photographic montage of photos taken during our stay in Japan which was received with great enthusiasm.

The second tradition was our “business” meeting where, at this very first one, we decided that this shouldn’t be a one-off and that we should form ourselves into an official association. Whitt Latham was elected President, Peter Preston was elected Vice President, and Pete Durnell was elected Secretary/Treasurer. Gil Taylor and John Paulman took on the joint chair of the “contacts” committee, Roy Stanley took on the role of historian, and Ken Kelly took on the role of Photo Archiver. Peter Preston volunteered to do the work to incorporate our group as an official non-profit Association and would also host the next reunion which would be in 2 years.

The third tradition established at this first reunion was Sally Preston’s Spouses Forum whereby the wives of those of us stationed at Yokota would gather informally to share information on their families and bring each other up to date on happenings since leaving Japan.

The forth and final tradition established at this first reunion was our more formal Reunion Dinner on Saturday night. A grand sit-down affair, this became the highlight of the reunion with an invited speaker and a chance to all gather in one place to remember old times. Our invited speaker was an old 67^th alumni who had gone on to great things within the Air Force, Lt General Erv Rokke.

This first reunion concluded, really, with the Saturday night dinner but most gathered again for breakfast for last goodbyes before hitting the road home. A very successful reunion, many friendships were reestablished and renewed.

Reunion Photos


Sunset	Star Proof Oaks	Lighthouse on Beach	Imperial Palace Casino	Imperial Palace Hotel Room

L Col John R. & Albina	Maj Marvin Richman, Luppino's & Martha	67RTS Association	Roy and Martha Cottrell	Gen Rokke, Guest Speaker

Erv and Pam Rokke	67 RTS Lunch from right	67 RTS Lunch from left	Joan and Phil Scoggin	Roy Stanley, Les Kinkade and Phil Scoggin

Roy Stanley	Mary Stanley and Roy Stanley	Phil Scoggin, Lou Monti, Whitt Latham, & Pete Presto

Wiles Rokkies and Martha Cottrell	Bill and Vada Hunt	Carl and Amy Wiles	Judy and Bill Munson

Paul Mills Bill and Judy Munson	Martha Cottrell, Louise and John Wallace	Mayers Lathams and Paulmans	Pete Durnell and Bev Kelly	Sally and Pete Preston with Ken Kelly

Bev Kelly and Martha Cottrell	Swan and Paul Mills	Terry Reilly and wife	Sally and Pete Preston

		Dave and Fran Nohling, Betsy and Laurel Mayer

67th Reconnaissance Tech Squadron USAF Assoc., Inc.
Page last updated 07/25/2007