97th Engineer Battalion (Construction)
Reunion 2011 Report
Page Three
Friday Evening at the Farris' home:
Jesse and Natalia Farris opened their wonderful home to the 97th Engineer Reunion group on Friday evening. I'll merely post a photo of the dessert table, leaving the BBQ evening main courses to your imagination. We enjoyed the abundant food and excellent company, a full-length movie, and the warmth and comfort of their home. Thank you, Jesse and Natalia, for this relaxing evening:
Saturday, Tour Day Two:
We enjoyed a more leisure morning, and after a full-schedule on Friday, we needed it. The evening before was very relaxing, but a good night's rest was needed by all. Those pillow-top mattresses at Super 8 Motel served us well in that regard, so we were ready to go when LT Massey announced the bus was ready to go. We boarded our bus at about 9:30 am and drove through Fort Wood to the museum area. Weather the day before restricted our movements for only about an hour, and with sunup, forecasts gave us hope for a perfect day. That is the way it turned out; no weather and some sun shining through ocassional clouds. There were smiles everywhere.
John B. Mahaffey Museum, Building 1670, and Sapper Grove:
Our bus stopped first at Sapper Grove, on high ground and near the heart of the early January tornado damage area. A few of the buildings were damaged, one being in the process of total rebuild. This area is immediately behind the camera in the shot above. To our total surprise, within a few minutes we were greeted by Brigadier General Bryan Watson, Commandant, US Army Engineer School. We sat in the bleachers at Sapper Grove, as he spoke to us, seen in the below photos. General Watson gave us an excellent overview of army goals and policies regarding engineer training at Fort Wood, being very thorough in conveying training concepts and mind-set by the installation command structure. Following the briefing we left with a feeling of pride and confident as to the strength of purpose, outstanding training, and superior results underway at Fort Leonard Wood. To punctuate these feelings, we realized that to have a school commandant come to speak with us on a Saturday morning told us a lot about the obvious impact of his personal touch and command style. Thanks for this insight, General Watson:
In a letter of appreciation sent, on behalf of the reunion attendees, to General Watson, through General Quantock (Post Commander), expressed our sentiments regarding our visit to Fort Leonard Wood:
"General Quantock and General Watson, on behalf of the men who gathered to renew old memories and to experience once again the place where most of us started our military careers, I simply say thank you for everything that has been done on our behalf. We thoroughly enjoyed our experience here. The reception from your Protocol Office—to the many service members with whom we had contact during our tour of Fort Wood—reflects well upon your installation. We are proud of what we witnessed, experienced, and enjoyed. The itinerary...gave us an excellent overview of modern training and encouraged us with the professionalism of our country's finest men and women.
We will always remember your visitation policies as visionary, and they were excellent for outstanding promotion what you do so well."
After recording the event with these photos, we meandered down to the museum building and viewed some exceptional historical displays, taking many other photographs along the way. These are a representative selection provided by several of our attendees:
Post Exchange (PX) and Shopping:
While we did not take photos in the post exchange area, we did a lot of looking, buying, eating at the food court, and generally enjoying the cool interior of the PX. Our one hour and forty-five minutes went fast.
Photo Opportunity at the Main Gate:
Thanks to General Watson, we were permitted to stop at the main gate, with restrictions, and take a group photograph. Just take a look at the reflection of a day well spent:
Three Pages Down, and One to go!
For the last 2011 reunion page, click on this link: Page Four, 97th Engineers Reunion Banquet
