2002 Historians Report

To the members of the 77th Armor Association:

The following is a report on the progress made serving you, the membership. Compiling general information for use in a detailed oral history has been slow. Two and a half years ago I had chosen to focus on the 1st Battalion's actions during the second half of 1968. The material received so far has been interesting, especially the individual accounts and memories. This includes one who served in Japan/Korea, of course the bulk of the membership, the group that served in Vietnam and one on active duty in Bosnia. Your contributions are what will make this oral history come alive.

The following is my present plan. Enough material has been compiled on the life and times during mid September 1968, so I have been able to start a rough draft. My plan is to continue with the 1st Battalion's early months in Vietnam with chapters covering the arrival on the Beach, the move in-land, the first clashes with the enemy and the first large operations of 1968. If you have any thoughts on these matters please contact me. If there is any interest in compiling this unit's history from WWII to present, contact me so we don't duplicate our research efforts.

I want to thank those of you who have taken the time to contribute written or oral material enabling us to start compiling the unit history. I understand it is difficult to bring up some memories, let alone understand what and why this all occurred. In this person eyes, this has been one of our Nation's most recent tragedies.

Other items being worked on are as follows: One member could not recall the names of his crew after a certain date. We have requested a roster to help him recall. We have not been able to contact him to inform him that we now have this roster. Another member is in the process of getting verification about a wound received. We have requested a group of morning reports in hopes his treatment was documented. There are cases where members are looking for other individuals. We request rosters for the purpose of assisting the Membership Chairman in finding these individuals. The response time from the Records Center has been slow this year.

Storage of the association documents: A fire/smoke/water safe document box has not been purchased yet for the Association Archives. I have a pile of folders full of documents. I have the go-ahead from the Association's Board to price these boxes. To be honest, I have not started the research. A member who is an expert in record preservation and storage will be guiding me in this area. I have covered all costs generated so far.

This closes the 2002 Historian's Report. Thank you for giving me this space in the newsletter, enabling me to communicate to the membership. If you have any requests, concerns, or questions, please contact me by phone. My home number is (845) 255-0815 after 6pm EST for you west coasters. Your call is important; so please leave me a message with your name and phone number and I will return your call.

Be safe, stay well and keep in touch. Thank you and best regards,

Robert Rushforth, Association Historian.