Day One, Thursday March 30
Brigade members began arriving on Thursday. They came from as far west as California and as far north as Massachusetts, Chaplain Bill Lord handled the sign in and Betty Lord was there to greet the arrivals, there was the spirit of reunion in the air. There were a lot of friendly familiar faces and everyone took the time to catch up with old friends and comrades at the restaurant and hospitality suite.

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                                            Jump School

Day Two, Friday March 31
We boarded the bus for Benning a little after breakfast and headed to “The Jump School”. At the school we were provided demonstrations by the staff that was led by an E-7 that I swear looked like a teenager, they all looked so very young. For those who opted for the jump tower there was pre jump instruction and then the jump! One of the brave souls who exited the tower was Betsy Dement, proud mother and grandmother. We were also present later that morning to witness the graduation ceremonies of the most recent class of Airborne Pathfinders. It brought back proud memories to all of us. We then boarded the bus and headed to the Officer’s Club for lunch, after lunch we took a bus tour of Benning followed by a trip to Ranger Joe’s where Betsy Dement purchased a set of jump wings. We returned to the hotel and later that evening we had a buffet in the hospitality banquet room. The fellowship continued till late in the evening with Betsy Dement telling jump stories and doing PLF’s off a chair.

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                                            THE BIG DAY

Day Three, Saturday April 1
After a great buffet breakfast we climbed aboard the bus and headed for The Infantry Museum at Benning and the Rick Rescorla Statue unveiling. We arrived at the museum a and went to the VIP seating section where Susan Rescorla had reserved 60 seats for the “All The Way Brigade“ attendees. It was impressive to see those three rows of chairs each with a sign on the back reading Reserved For The All Way Brigade. There were many great speakers including BG General James C. Yarborough, Deputy Commander of the Infantry School, Susan Rescorla, LTG (R) Hal Moore, MSG (R) Allen Lynch, one of three Congressional Medal Of Honor recipients in attendance. The other CMH recipients present were Joe Marm and Al Raskin. It was a wonderful ceremony, and the Ft. Benning Army Band was there playing “Garry Owen“ as Susan Rescorla unveiled the statue. It was an impressive ceremony attended by an estimated 600 people including hundreds of members of Rolling Thunder who arrived to honor Rick. The statue is a stunning and impressive work of art. After the ceremony we were Susan’s guests at the Officer’s Club for lunch. We were all very appreciative of Susan’s hospitality and her kindness in extending us the invitation to attend this historic event.

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Susan Rescorla

All The Way Brigade Memorial Service
After the luncheon at the “O” Club we proceeded to the post Chapel for an “All The Way Brigade“ memorial service. All in attendance agreed that Chaplin Bill Lord’s service was the emotional highlight of the reunion. Members of each battalion participated in the readings as a young serviceman sang “Amazing Grace” in Acappella. The service ended with the playing of taps and an honor guard from the 1st 507th (Abn) Infantry firing a salute to our fallen comrades. It’s safe to say there was not a dry eye that afternoon at the chapel at Fort Benning. Well done Bill.

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The All the Way Brigade Banquet
Saturday evening we all assembled for the Brigade Banquet, The 1st 507th was again in attendance providing us not only a color guard for our opening ceremony but also our key note speaker in the personage of Lt. Colonel McCaffery the battalion commander. We started the evening with Chaplin Ralph Spears offering the opening prayer, followed by Colonel Ted Danielsen called forward the colors for presentation. Duke Dushane led us in the pledge of allegiance and members of each battalion offered toasts. Prior to our keynote speech Tracy Black Enders the daughter of Charlie Black spoke and received a standing ovation. Tracy and her husband Mike were both in attendance and were great company, we hope to see them at future “All The Way“ reunions. Tracy and Mike have created a wonderful web site honoring her father Charlie Black. It’s is certainly worth a visit, please go to www.charlieblack.net. After Tracy’s talk we had a surprise when a young soldier from the 507th (Abn) color guard named Fogel stood up and paid tribute to us of the Airborne Brigade for our service during the Vietnam War, another tear jerker. In between speakers we were able to successfully complete several rousing stanzas of “Blood on the Risers". Lt Colonel McCaffrey keynote speech was excellent, he was an impressive young officer and I’m sure we will be hearing more about him as his career advances. The evening and reunion ended as Colonel Ted Danielsen retrieved and retired the colors. It was a great reunion and I’m looking forward to seeing you all at our next “All The Way Brigade“ get together. A special thanks to all in attendance from the “All The Way Brigade“ executive team of Bill Lord, Jay Snyder, Jack Peavy, Ed Polonitza and Garry Bowles.