Hellcat News, (Seward, Neb.), Vol. 44, No. 11, Ed. 1, July 1991 Page: 1 of 28
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Abilene Library Consortium and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the The 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum.
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* Rhineiand
* Ardennes-Alsace
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HELLCAT NEWS
Published by the
12th Armored
Division
Association i
VOL.44 JULY 1991 NO. 11 c
Letter to the Editor
The 1991 National Reunion is scheduled to begin on Wed-
nesday, September 18, 1991. This is The Holiest Day in the
Jewish religion, Yom Kippur. It begins at sundown, Tuesday
Sept. 17 and ends sundown Wednesday Sept. 18th. During that
24 hour period we are to fast - no food or drink (except for health
purposes prescribed by a medical doctor) nor are we permitted to
travel except to/from Synagogue. This is our Day of Atonement
be one Orthodox, Conservative of Reformed.
The conflict was noted by our executive-secretary in his
column in the April issue of the Hellcat News. On April 30 I
addressed a letter to President Bob Mead explaining, in detail,
the importance of Yom Kippur and suggested that I was certain
the Holy Days of Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday or
Christmas would not have been chosen as days to begin a
national reunion.
In that letter I requested a verbal apology be made at the
reunion and a written apology to appear in the Hellcat News for
those who were forced into a position of not being able to attend.
I quote from my letter to Pres. Mead, "I trust that the decision of
the council was made not in an insensitive manner but rather
made due to insufficient information." Bob Mead's reply was
that he would not apologize and quoted, "You can please some of
the people some of the time etc."
I understand that some years ago there was a discussion at a
meeting of the executive council with reference to religious holidays
and it was determined to add to the guidelines for reunion
chairmen a statement that no reunion was to be held if the date
conflicted with a Judeo - Christian Holiday. Although several
persons present at that meeting recall the dialogue no one is
certain whether the statement was actually added to the guide-
lines.
It appears that a number of those who were present at the
above mentioned council meeting were also in attendance at the
executive council meeting that selected the dates for the 1991
reunion. What I cannot understand is why the date of September
18, 1991 was on the agenda to begin with since the agreement
of the executive council re Judeo-Christian Holidays was rendered
by a number of the same council members who attended both
meetings.
Hoping to learn from mistakes I am in the process of
Addressing a request to the executive council per the require-
ments of the Constitution and By-laws to amend these documents
so as to be very clear on the subject of reunions and for meetings
be they National or regional so as to prevent conflict of dates
with Religious Holidays. I am also asking the executive council
for an apology at the reunion and in a note to appear in the
Hellcat News.
The reason we are an organization is due to why it was
necessary for a 12th Armored Division and what World War II
was about. I believe that "our reason for being" should make us
sensative to matters such as these - more so than merely social
organizations.
Cordially
Ted Blostein
PS: If we were to consider attending the Omaha, Nebraska
Reunion, Thursday would be spent in travel leaving only Friday
and Saturday. Because of general and other meetings these two
days we would not be in a position to avail ourselves of all of the
many, many things of interest that have been publicized in each
of the editions of the Hellcat News since the first of the year. Is it
fair to exclude us from these?
TB
45th ANNUAL NATIONAL HELLCAT REUNION
Omaha, NE» Sept. 18 to 22, 1991
ITS GREAT TO BE AN ACTIVE HELLCAT
abilene remembered
by Eunice Bright (Wife of Gerald, Hq-134th)
A.
Gerald and Eunice Bright, Hq/134 Wedding Day April
18, 1942. 3 months before Gerald was inducted.
From a distance, Abilene appeared on the horizon like a
desert mirage. A few tall buildings, resting on the prairie floor,
loomed white under the brilliant sun. Gerald and I were making
the trip together in our '40 Chevy and this was the last leg of the
long journey. It was our fourth day on the road, traveling at 35
miles an hour on rationed gasoline and retreads.
After Tennessee maneuvers he had been given a seven-day
furlough, five days' delay enroute, and 100 gallons of gas to drive
the car to Texas. Having once reached town, we drove directly
out to Camp Barkeley where he was to report to his company and
find out about housing.
The trip down had been a leisurely, fun-filled adventure. We
were as carefree as vagabonds. But now we had reached our
destination - and reality: We had never been west of the Miss-
issippi but now were transported to a strange land 1,200 miles
from Indiana and dropped in the midst of dismal tarpaper huts
situated in the breaks of scrub-covered, low-lying hills. Anticipa-
tion had not painted so bleak a picture.
While waiting in the car in front of the Orderly Room, I was
at once overcome with homesickness that would linger all our
days in Texas. It was the same longing I had dealt with in
Clarksville, Tennessee, during the summer when the Division was
at Camp Campbell. With the same resolve that had kept me from
abandoning Clarksville, I vowed now to stay on with my soldier
husband as long as he remained here.
Gerald had been given the address of a rental and by the end
of the day we were settled in a comfortable sleeping room in a
nice home on E. N. 18th Street near Abilene Christian College. It
was on the edge of town and opposite the house lay open country-
side. An escarpment and railroad, running north and south
along Treadway, separated the settlement from downtown and
the only direct access was by way of N. 16th Street.
We were blessed with a private entrance and porch with a
deck chair. Our landlords were the Springer's, an Army officer
and his wife from Grand Rapids, who had leased the house
subletting this extra room. They were a little older. Both were
operatic singers. We were awed by their sophistication (and their
Packard), but they were always gracious.
Gerald drove the Chevy to Camp every day and ate his meals
there, but he could often stay in town overnight. There was a
small cafe and Post Office substation across from the college
where I walked twice a day to pick up mail and have my meals.
There was barely enough money to last from one payday to the
next, but once in awhile Gerald came to town for supper. We
would usually eat at the campus cafe or the Chicken Shack on
TJ.S 80 Sometimes we could eret a homecooked snecial at one of
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Twelfth Armored Division Association (U.S.). Hellcat News, (Seward, Neb.), Vol. 44, No. 11, Ed. 1, July 1991, newspaper, July 1991; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth410523/m1/1/?q=central+place+railroads: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum.