Written by: Norman R. Jones
The 3rd annual reunion of the 17th Artillery Regiment Association was held June 21-23, 2001, in the Holiday Inn at Lawton, Oklahoma with a tour to Fort Sill. Veterans started arriving on 18 June. On 19 June 2001, some of us took a trip to visit the memorial at Oklahoma City. It was a very interesting and emotional event. After returning to the hotel, we found out that a few more of our veterans had checked in. The gathering had started at the hospitality room. On 20 June several others checked in., the remainder checked in on 21 June. We had a good crowd and we all gathered at the open-air grills (K-Mart Specials) outside of the hospitality room on the courtyard grounds of the Holiday Inn, fired up by Paul Fusco and Richard Jones. The main menu was hamburgers and hot dogs. Afterwards when it became dark, there was a slide show on the outside. We enjoyed the slides of several veterans, especially the ones from Jerry Cody and Larry Sadler.
On 22 June we boarded a chartered bus for our tour on Fort Sill. The first stop was a change of command ceremony. After the ceremony, before boarding the bus there was a couple of soldiers that welcomed us to Fort Sill. Most notably was COL McPhee. We then went to the 1/17th Artillery motor pool where we were given a very emotional welcome by LTC Kenneth Lull and Staff. On behalf of the 17th Artillery Regiment Association, LTC Lull presented Linda Frazier with a letter of appreciation. We then visited various sites on the static display. From there we went to the dining facility and had lunch with LTC Lull, his staff and some of the soldiers of the 1/17th Artillery along with several officers of the Slovenija Army. We then saw a horse drawn artillery half-section demonstration, went to Snow Hall and visited the 17th Artillery Regiment classroom, visited the stables of the 2/2nd Artillery commanded by LTC Bill Raymond and made our final stop at the Fort Sill museum where souvenir’s were purchased. We then went back to the Holiday Inn at which time two more Veterans had arrived. The group then split and went to different places for dinner. Upon returning everyone converged at the hospitality room where we watched slides again until late evening.
On 23 June we held our general membership meeting and then our banquet lunch. Our guest speaker was LTC Kenneth Lull accompanied by his lovely wife (Chris). We ate lunch, took group pictures and said our good byes. The pictures of all events of the reunion are posted below, following the list of attendees.
The following persons attended:
| James H. Breen Sr. and wife (Darlene)—CO. | Bobby G. Lowery—TX. |
| Harold M. Brown Jr. and son (Jason)— MD. & TX. | Nolan L. Putman and wife (Betty)—TX. |
| William H. Brown and wife (Mary Jo)—TX. | Larry E. Moore and wife—CA. |
| Webster Cole—TX | Rodivico Guerrero—OK. |
| Lewis A. Crownover and Niece (Cathy Jean Vasek)—NC.& TX. | Norman R. Jones and wife (Annette)—TX |
| Paul Fusco and wife (Jane)—NJ | Thomas R. Kurtz—IL. |
| Daniel L. Lazenberry and wife—TX | Thomas Gatzke—WI. |
| Kenneth J. Lull and wife (Chris)—OK. | Raymond E. Jackson—OK. |
| Larry Sadler—TN. | David P. Rush—NY |
| McKinley Smith—KS. | Eric Heinle—OK. |
| Richard Siebe—TX. | Charles E. Kempel and wife—OK |
| John J. Picciolo—IL. | Jackie M. Stroud—NJ. |
| Ralph Melcher and wife (Anita)—TX. | Avery W. Hall—OK. |
| Robert Boyd—OK | William J. Wright—MO. |
| Jeffrey S Wilcox and son (Brent)—MI. | Franklin D. Perkins—TX |
| Mike Burke—CA. | Jesse Ortiz and wife (Nellie)—TX. |
| James A. Moore and wife (Minnie)—TX. | Jerry W. Cody—TX |
Thanks to all who attended. The Reunion was a success.
The following pictures were taken at the reunion (Click On An Image To See Full Size).
