Johnny Oliver Hand j.r.'s Friends

Johnny Oliver Hand j.r.'s Groups

What unit(s) did you serve in with the 2d Cavalry?: 3rd squadron Amberg HHT and S-4

Where were you stationed?: Pond barracks amberg. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Kuwait.

Tell us a little about your cav days.: Pretty much a blur of border camp and war. I was very young. Gunnery was cold. Reforger too. Best medal I recieved was an ARCOM with Valor.

Tell us a little about you now.: Superintendant of a construction company. I am a husband and father. I still play music and drink beer.

Name a few buddies you served with that you would like to find.: Chris Thelan, Mick White, Mark Mauer, James Hollister, Mike Wellington, Jeff Yenner, Aceman.

At 9:31pm on February 2, 2012, Mark Mauer said…: Hey Hand! Just found this site and I'm glad to see you on it. I hope all is good with you. I'm still hung over from my last night at MC's. Have you heard from anyone else from K-Troop (Aceman, Gus, Bowanna, Alex)? I haven't really heard from anyone. Toujours Pret!

At 1:04am on April 24, 2011, Michael Steaphens said…: Hello,Johnny,thanks for the request.Toujours Pret!

At 12:38pm on March 31, 2011, Dave Gettman said…: Didn't mean to come off so gruff, but sometimes you old war vets are hard to get through to.

There is a very common misconception among disabled vets....they think, oh, the other guy needs it more than I do so I don't want to screw up his chances of getting his. It don't work that way. The more vets that file, the stronger the VA gets. You earned your benefits, don't be afraid to use them. It can also mean medical and educational benefits for your wife and kids, too, so it is real important to file that claim. Get the VFW, American Legion, or Disabled American Veterans to help you. They have trained officers who's job it is to help vets with their disability claims. Doesn't cost you a penny and they will act as your representative through the entire process.

At 12:09pm on March 31, 2011, Jesse Kelley said…: Toujours Pret Johnny

Welcome home Trooper.
The Dragoonbase.com, has
plenty of updated features
(similar to MySpace), lots of sub-groups,
(Officers Club,F-Trp,Amberg,Medics,etc),
and links for “2nd Cavalry Assn.”
News and History Centers.

Robb Russell has posted some tips for
navigating the site(ie,photos,links,ect)
in the Forum.

Please feel free to stop by and read the
latest “Tacoma Dave's ‘Triva Quiz’”,
you can learn some 2nd Cav history,
and you could even, win a kool prize.

If you need any help, you may contact
Robb Russell, or any of the 5 admins listed
at the top of the page, or just yell out,
another member may be able to help you.

And our only wish is to,
‘Keep it clean’.
Use your real name and picture,
(pix from back in the day,work best
for searching for Brothers),
but any picture will do.

And that you please tell all your friends
about, where to find the DragoonBase.

Thanks again for joining Dragoon Base,
and for your Service and Dedication,
to Our Great Country.

Jesse Kelley
F Troop 2/2ACR
72-75

At 10:49am on March 31, 2011, Dave Gettman said…: Johnny,

Welcome to Dragoon Base and welcome home from the war.

I've read several comments from you and friends of yours who are sick now after serving in the Gulf. You guys need to get together and file VA claims, damnit! You will not only be helping yourselves and each other, you will be helping every disabled veteran.

It's like the census, or those demographic surveys they took back in school. Those are designed to find out who is where, and what they need. The VA is the same....the more vets in need of care, the more money Congress gives them and the more research is done. If vets don't file claims, the government sits on its ass thinking everything is good to go. They aren't going to hunt you down to see if your OK. You have to grab them by the nuts and tell them, "Hey, I'm fucked up and you did it!"

Use each other for witnesses on your claims. The fact that you guys were all over there at the same time and you are all sick now is undeniable evidence. The sooner you file a claim, the better. You will have limited medical benefits while your claim is being processed, and if you do win your claim you will get retroactive compensation all the way back to your filing date. Anything prior to that date is dust in the wind.