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Marine Member REUNION 2009 VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS MEMBERSHIP BEREAVEMENT REMEMBRANCE ACHIEVEMENTS

Marines, Our 2009 Reunion is now only 5 months away. The Reunion Planning Committee has put together a great program for the Reunion, but as you know, the real attraction of our Reunions is renewing old friendships and making new ones with guys with whom we trained, served and made history. The Reunion is being held at the Crowne Plaza, San Diego, which has been totally refurbished since our last visit in 2005. The dates are Wednesday, October 7th through Sunday, October 11th. To date, approximately 45 Classmates have indicated they intend to attend the Reunion. Please find the listing below in the next section of this newsletter. To make your hotel reservations at the Crowne Plaza - San Diego by either calling 1-888-233-9527 between the hours of 9:00AM and 8:00PM EST, or 24/7 at https://resweb.passkey.com/go/usmc38th . Please use the reservation code "USMC-38th OCC" to get the guaranteed rate of $119 per night. To reserve your spot at the Reunion and select the activities you wish to participate in, please go to the website ( www.usmc-thebasicschool-1966.com ) and click on the "Reunion 2009 Update" on the home page then scroll down to the "Reunion Registration" section and click on the "Registration Form". Print the form, fill it out and send it along with your check to Terry Cox, 6205 Via Subida, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275. I hope that you will decide to join the Class for Reunion 2009 and I look forward to seeing each of you in San Diego in October! Semper Fi, Dave Mellon President

Classmates - Attending Those that have attended earlier Reunions were contacted by Terry Cox to determine if they were planning to attend this year's Reunion. While we have not heard back from everyone, I am listing below those that have already replied that they are planning to attend. I have listed their Basic School platoon, where appropriate, to give you an idea of who from your platoon are already committed: D-1 Jose Alonzo     Steve Bowen     Terry Cox D-2 Larry Edwards     Dave Giddings     Steve Hinds D-3 Mike Janay     Mike Joseph     Terry Lewis Sam McClinchie     Dave Mellon D-4 Lonnie Myers     Digger O'Dell     Stan Pasieka Mike Pierson D-5 Rusty Rusthoven     Jack Sheehan     Tom Snead Steve Snyder     Chuck Sooter     Skip Storey Mike St. Clair     Len Torres     Jim Uecker Dave Wall     Tom Wellman E-1 Bernie Allen     Andy Blenkle     Rick Cleland Jim Conklin     Kelly Couch     Chapman Cox E-2 Phil Gariboldi     Gene Gibbons E-3 Tom Howe     Joe Lisante E-4 Steve Palmer     Phil Perzan E-5 Richard Souza     Al Stefl     Don Taylor Earl Wentworth     Ron Sutton     Jimmy Ray Air Option Rick Anderton Please add your name to the growing list of attendees. Reunion 2009 Preview Expeditionary Warfare Training Group - Pacific On Thursday morning, October 8th, we will visit the Expeditionary Warfare Training Group and observe an infantry company from 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines as they are engaged in the "Small Boat Raid Course" which will qualify them to conduct small boat, over the horizon amphibious raids. Captain Frey, the Officer-in-Charge of the Raid Training will also brief us on the syllabus. We will have the opportunity to interface with these Marines who are being trained as a Boat Company to provide that unique capability to the Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) they will ultimately join. We will also have the opportunity to talk with the Course Instructors, who teach the coxswain, navigator and scout swimmer skills to the company's Marines.

Operations and Charitable Mission As you know, we do not charge annual dues, instead, we ask for Annual Voluntary Contributions. To date, we have had approximately 60 contributions totaling $6300. If you haven't already donated to the 2009/2010 Campaign to fund our operations and charitable giving mission, you may do so by sending your tax-deductible Voluntary Contribution check made out to "38th OCC/BC 3-66 Alumni" to our Treasurer at the following address: Chuck Sooter 11932 Yearling Street Cerritos, CA 90703-7615 We do provide recognition on the website (www.usmc-thebasicschool-1966.com ) of all those Classmates who do contribute. Please check the website to determine if you have already donated. We appreciate your support of the Class.

Classmate Val Prost It is with regret that I pass along the following report of the passing of our Classmate Val Prost. Val suffered a massive stroke and passed away on May 4th. He will be buried on Saturday, May 9th. Val was a member of E-4 in Basic School and served in Vietnam with the 7th Engineer Battalion. He was assigned to Delta Company and worked on projects related to the construction of Liberty Road, between the Song Thu Bon and An Hoa. Val is survived by his wife Joy. who has requested that the Class' traditional memorial tribute be made in Val's name to the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation. The Bereavement Committee is in the process of honoring this family request. If you would like to express your personal sympathy to Joy, she can be reached at: Mrs. Val Prost 234 Vaughn Street Aurora, CO 80011 (303)344-1255

Achievements / Items of Interest Steve Snyder/Chuck Sooter Secretary and Treasurer of our Class, respectively have recently submitted the IRS Form 990 EZ and the Massachusetts Form 3M to fulfill our tax obligations to the Federal Government and the Commonweath of Massachusetts. The forms are posted on the website, if you would be interested in viewing them (www.usmc-thebasicschool-1966.com) 5th Annual Andrew Torres Memorial Golf Classic This tournament which benefits Huntington Medical Research Institutes (HMRI) is sponsored by Classmate Len Torres and his wife Anita, in memory of their son 2nd Lt Andrew Torres, who lost a courageous battle with cancer in April 2004 at the age of 23. The "Classic" is scheduled for Monday, June 22nd at the La Canada Flintridge Country Club. If you would like to participate in the tournament or make a memorial gift to HMRI, please get more information by clicking on the following link: (www.andrewtorres.org) OCS Platoon we are looking for the following platoon pictures to complete the set that is displayed on the revised website: A-4 B-3 B-4 D-3 New Look to the Website If you have not gone on the website since May 1st, please visit it as it has an entirely new look and is much more user friendly. We have a new webmaster, Sam Patel, and he has done an outstanding job of making the site more appealing and simpler to work with. I hope you enjoy the changes he has made. If you have any suggestions for further improvement of the site, please reply to this email or send me a separate email at (dave.mellon@cox.net). Miramar Air Show The Miramar Air Show is going to be conducted the weekend before our Reunion. The 2009 Show will feature the Blue Angels. It will be held on October 2, 3 and 4, 2009. Our Reunion starts on the Wednesday, October 7th. So the aviation enthusiasts in the Class may want to come to San Diego a few days early to enjoy one of the premier air shows in the country.

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