Philosophical question

Is once a month often enough to post? Or is that too much information?

Reunion time

We had a great McClure family reunion this weekend. We met Saturday at Block High School in Jonesville, and some of us got together today up in Stonewall, LA to visit with Aunt Estelle, Aunt Rena, and her daughter Robin. A good time was had by all.

Aunt Rena told us that Aunt Inge, Uncle Sam's widow, had passed away over a year ago. A friend of hers contacted Aunt Rena and was able to send her some of his military memorabilia. He died of a heart attack in December of 1973 while serving as a Battalion Command Sergeant Major in Germany. She had, among other things, several of his medals and awards which were mounted in a shadow box (which included a Bronze Star for valor he won during the Korean War), as well as some unit crests and the flag from his casket. He served in the Marines from 1942 - 1946, then served in the Army from 1948 until his death in 1973. Just another part of our heritage.

Another interesting thing she had was a copy of his funeral service. The hymn from the service was "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". which I have loved ever since I joined the LDS Church. It was in our "old" hymnbook, but is not in the "new" one, published about 1985. It is an older hymn, but I don't remember who wrote it or when. Several churches have it in their hymnals.

I'll try to include more about the reunion soon.

Summer

School is out, and the kids have no idea what it IS to be glad to be out of school!! Now all I have to do is get that "honey-do" book worked down some....

Church Birthday

Today is the 34th anniversary of my baptism as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Along with asking Linda to marry me, this has to rank as one of the best decisions I have ever made. I have had a great many blessings as a result of joining the Church, and am serving as the Bishop of the Natchez, Mississippi ward.

More to follow, as it's late.

LTC McClure is Retired!!

Happy New Year to all!!

Today is the day I go on the Retired list for the Army. It feels strange to not be in the Army in some capacity. My friend Dave Amerson assures me that I will quickly get used to it:). Linda and I went to Ft. Polk yesterday and got our Retired ID cards (yes, I am a blue ID cardholder now!!). It was appropriate that I be at Ft. Polk on my final day in the Army because I was at Ft. Polk on my first day in the Army!!!

I enlisted in Shreveport on 26 January 1973 and we were bussed to Ft. Polk. I took Basic Combat Training there (3rd Platoon of Company D, Third Battalion, 1st Basic Combat Training Brigade). I was the Platoon Guide, sort of an acting sergeant who was semi in charge of keeping track of the platoon and helping the Drill Sergeants. After Basic I went to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma for AIT as a Field Radio Mechanic. That course went from March until early June 1973. I was assistant class leader, which was cool because the class leader and I got our own two-man room and everybody else was in an open bay on double bunks. RHIP:) My first regular duty station was with First Staff and Faculty Company at Ft. Eustis, VA where I worked in an electronics shop and took care of the radios and telephones in a classroom at the Transportation School. While I was stationed at Eustis I got a sweet TDY assignment for 6 months - I got to be a station-of-choice canvasser (recruiter's assistant) at home. That was great duty, and I put 31 people into the Army. My first recruit was my younger brother Mike:). After the recruiting I went back to Eustis for a few months, then got transferred to Germany, where I ended up in the 519th Transportation Company (Car) in Heidelberg.

More will follow about Heidelberg in another post.