President's Message
Greetings Brothers,
It's Reunion time again, my favorite time of year. To be with my
brothers-in-arms is simply the best! It’s not too late if you're sitting
on the fence, although as usual the hotel is booked up already, but we
have arranged for accommodations nearby. The info is on the website.
It’s been another great year for our Association. We have awarded four
scholarships from the kind generosity of our membership. We have
supported our active duty Cacti and have five soldiers attending our
reunion this year.
This is our 19th year of this association, we started in Las
Vegas in 1999 and I think the count was 99 who attended. Now we boast
nearly a 1000 members and are the envy of most other military
associations. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Don Johnson, Dick
Arnold, and Ben Youman who worked so hard finding guys and arranging the
first reunion. Most of those who were there and agreed to serve on the
board of Directors and Officers of the association are still leading and
working for the association today.
My term as your President is over with this Reunion; it has been a
pleasure and an Honor to serve you!
Thank You,
Wiley Dodd (Tiny)
President
Take Arms!
Are you
a Facebook user? If so you might want to join the Cacti 35th Infantry
Regiment Association page run by Immediate Past President Bill Henson. |
Unfortunately a few
have not yet renewed their 2017 Membership. This results in a loss of
Membership privileges including the receipt of the acclaimed Cacti
Times. It's not too late to regain active Membership status.
Send in your Dues
today.
NEW!
Want
to pay your dues, donations or reunion registration electronically?
Contact Sec. Doc Johnson by Email to
find out how.
Email Link Here!
DONATIONS
Update
through August 9.
A quick
look at the chart below should instill in you pride at the generosity of
our Cacti Members. With your continued commitment to our programs we are
in position to continue to grow and expand our efforts. Thank you so
much Cacti.
Remember. Your Donations are tax deductible. |
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Scholarship
Most of us in the 35th
Infantry Regiment Cacti Association would wish that we could
offer each qualified applicant to our scholarship program a
full scholarship each year.
The financial realities, of
course, are far short of this requiring some rather severe
compromises. But we must plan and work toward the
best compromise we can obtain.
We ask the membership yearly
to contribute toward a pot of funds that are used to
monetize these funds. We know that the membership often
gets tired of being asked again and again for help with this
funding but at the same time most of us feel that this is
one of the most worthwhile things that we do.
So we will continue to ask
and we may even step up our efforts in order to be able to
award the greatest amount of financial support to the
largest number of qualified Cacti family members.
Realistically at this time
the best we may be able to do is to give out a one time
award of $1500 to a limited number of applicants. But
if we work hard, and you are generous, we
may at least be able to
increase the number of scholarships awarded in any given
year and perhaps even increase the dollar amount in some
future years.
We need to do what we can to
place this program on a solid foundation. Your generosity
is the key.
There are currently two
different target fund sources in use to try and maximize and
stabilize our ability to award scholarships.
One is, of course, your
donation to the Scholarship fund itself. The more that you
give to this fund the more $1500 scholarships we can award.
A simple explanation of the number of such awards that will
be given is to take the total amount of scholarship funds
available at the end of a given year and then divide it by
$1500. The whole number that results represents the number
of awards that can be given in the coming year. (For
instance if we have $9,000 in the fund at the end of the
year and we divide this by $1,500 then we can award 6
Scholarships for the year following. If we have $4000 in
the fund and divide by $1500 then we can only fund two $1500
scholarships.)
This is
a simple explanation using a $1500 scholarship target which
has been deemed the minimum desirable award. |
Scholarship Reserve
This brings us to the second
of our funds. Confusing as it may seem this fund is
referred to as the “Scholarship Reserve” fund. This is our
attempt to hedge against poorer years for scholarship fund
raising.
Basically, the idea here is
to obtain commitments from those of us who can afford this
to pledge a certain amount of money per year to this “hedge”
fund that will allow us to comfortably set a minimum amount
of $1500 scholarships a year.
Currently we are looking at
4 scholarships as our minimum desirable number. So in the
case of example 2 above $4,000 in the fund at the end of the
year divided by $1500 would allow for 2 scholarships with a
left over amount of $1000.
Using the “Scholarship
Reserve” fund (assuming that it has enough funds to do this
then we would still be able to award the minimum amount of 4
scholarships by utilizing $2500 from this fund.
So simply put the
“Scholarship Reserve” fund is a hedge to assure a minimum
amount of scholarships to be counted on every year while the
Scholarship fund may allow us to go above the minimum amount
of awards.
For those us who feel like
they can contribute a yearly amount to the “Scholarship
Reserve” fund we would ideally ask that you pledge at least
$100 per year over a 5 year period to this fund. A larger
contribution is, of course, welcome and even a larger
contribution in any given year would be beneficial. (ie you
give $100 annually for 4 years but find yourself able to
give $200 (or more) in a 5th year.)
Giving to the “Scholarship
Reserve” should not preclude giving to the Scholarship fund
itself. Any amount given to the scholarship fund is welcome
and helpful and certainly multiple contributions during the
year, as you find yourself able to contribute, would be even
more helpful.
So there
it is, our first appeal to you following the 2016 reunion to
give until it hurts in an effort to help the children and
grandchildren of the Cacti. Sorry but you will hear from us
again. Please forgive us this intrusion. With your help we
will make the best effort we can to help these kids. |
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CACTI TIMES
NOT a Member? Or your Membership has Lapsed? Three times a year John
Lorts, Editor, and Bill Henson, Associate Editor, create 32-44 pages of
your Cacti history and news about our Active Cacti. As a Member you
receive this excellent publication as a benefit. If you haven't seen the
Cacti Times in its full color version we have a treat for you. Follow
this link for a blast from the past. The 2014 Spring Edition: Click
HERE to see what you are missing.
Can't wait to become a
Member? Open and Print the Membership Form
HERE
WAR STORIES SECTION:
The War Stories Section has turned into a huge success with almost 50
stories written by our Cacti Members. Got a “Cacti Story?”
It can be a battle story, A funny or sad story. Just put it down
the way you remember it. If you want a “creative license” to embellish a
little you got it. Only rule is not to be malicious.
Submit them to Wiley "Tiny" Dodd by
Email,
today!
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Health &
Welfare. Do YOU know someone in Need??
The Association's Health and Welfare Account currently has a very
positive balance. To date, there has been only one request for financial
assistance. Obviously more requests could be
accommodated, but we have no knowledge of these situations. But maybe
YOU can help from today and into the future. Should you be aware of a
Cacti Brother that has fallen on hard times, suffered a loss such as a
hurricane or a flood, has medical issues and is uninsurable, or anything
else that cries for help, please be his ombudsman. These Health and
Welfare funds were donated by you, our caring members, to be used for
those in need not just to be saved for a rainy day. Please let us know
about your brothers in need.
If you
know of someone in need, or are that someone, please contact Pete Birrow
by email by clicking
HERE.
ALL information is kept
confidential
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BATTLEGROUND:
4th INFANTRY IN VIETNAM
Here is another YouTube film we thought you might
enjoy. The story of the "Ivymen" in Vietnam, from their arrival in 1966
through the critical Battle of Dak To in the winter of
1968. Approximately 25 minutes long it is a good depiction of our piece of
the war.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFZhmWyVE_A
FACES NEVER
FORGOTTEN WITH JOE GALLOWAY
This short film, from youtube is about Joe
Galloway's experiences as a reporter in Vietnam and his coming to grips
with them following the war. We thought you might enjoy this short but
emotional clip. Simply click on the link below to view.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA9Dp1S3Ez4&feature=share
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Vietnam KIA
Photos Needed
Dick Arnold,
Doc Hall, and Pete Birrow have been gathering KIA Photos for a number of
years. Their work has added immensely to our mission to memorialize our
war dead. But we still need a few more.
Click Here to view a list of
Vietnam KIA photos needed. If you're a fellow Cacti, or a friend or family member,
please consider sending a photo to Dick Arnold at his
Email address.
Vietnam
War - Gravesite Location Project
Doc Hall and Pete Birrow have
been compiling a list of gravesites for our Vietnam KIAs for some time now.
Through personal visits and searches on the web they have located
hundreds. The information is now available by
Clicking Here. If you have
personal knowledge of a gravesite not found on the list, please contact
Doc Hall at his Email
address. |
