Our
reunion in Las Vegas was a grand affair... All the surviving
crew members attended except our Aircraft Commander,Capt.
Chester Juvenal and wife Molly, who were unable to attend
due to health reasons......
We
held this reunion at the Imperial Palace Hotel in Las
Vegas. On Nov 11 to the 14th, and met that first evening
evening at Ralph (pilot) and Betty Hardin's room. After
all the hugging and hand shaking, we phoned Captain Juvenal
and Molly at their home in Texas and each of us expressed
our hope that we will see them at our next reunion...Elmo
Huston (Flight Engineer) and Bud Reed (gunner) did all
the reunion planning which included dinner that evening
in a private dining room at the hotel.
Much
of the dinner conversation was about our wonderful Texas
reunion in year 2000. The next day we were treated to
a guided tour of Nellis
AFB, the home of the Thunderbirds,
that was a great experience.
The
Nellis AFB management provided us with a private tour
bus with a driver and a tour guide and they took us all
around the base. We had a private lecture on the history
and accomplishments of that wonderful flying acrobatic
team, past and present. We held our reunion lunch there
at a private dining room at the Nellis AFB Officers Club.
As is our custom, we honor one of our crew for his contributions
during our combat missions. Dick Little as Master of Ceremonies
presented the Crew 7 Honor Plaque to Dale Barton, Navigator.
It
was a fine reunion. We enjoyed each other and we enjoyed
talking about our reunion in Texas in 2000... the wonderful
reception by the city of Laredo and our year or more long
unsuccessful search for the B-29 which bore the city's name.