The Concept of SGI Begins
October 13, 1992
Dear Lee,
I have noted that a significant number of former 1 SOS officers either currently reside in the local area or frequent Hurlburt on a regular TDY basis. It's really great whenever some of us get together at the Hooch Bar or other location and renew "old war stories." With this in mind, I've thought that it might be possible to start a local Stray Goose chapter to regularly meet and review old times at the 1st.
The first step would, of course, be to compile a mailing list. There are probably several ways to accomplish this "not-so-easy" task. One might be for the "Magic-5" (Turczynski, Hess, Jahnke, Doherty, and Silvester) to take the lead. I'm sure each of us probably has an old recall roster from our days in the squadron. This could provide an initial listing of names. The five of us could cover the time period September, 1978 to July, 1989. This would give us a start. Perhaps other would join. For example, Don James, Bob Meller, Charlie Williamson, or Jerry Nichols might have some names prior to September, 1978. Wayne Owens might have names for post-1989.
I am proposing that Turczynski, Hess, Jahnke, Doherty, and possibly Silvester meet to further discuss the possibilities. I would ask each of us to research our files for squadron rosters to get started. I further propose we meet at a working lunch Thursday, October 29, at the Hurlburt Officer's Club. I'll even pick up the lunch tab. Please let me know your thoughts on this idea and if October 29 is a good date to initially meet. I can be reached at 884-5254 daily.
Sincerely,
Raymond Turczynski, Jr.
We Begin to Get Our Act Together
May 24, 1993Approximately six months ago, several former 1 SOS personnel got together to discuss the feasibility of organizing a "STRAY GOOSE" organization. The consensus was that the idea might have some merit. Our initial try to get some folks together, consisted of a meeting at the Hurlburt Hooch Bar. On only a word-of-mouth notification, a total of 39 people responded. We even brought out some "old-timers" (Frank Harrington-1973, Bob Meller-1974, Jerry Nichols-1974, among others). There were also many new faces (to some of us, at least). We had a great time chatting about old times and discussing "war stories." Amidst the flow of cold "brew," we were even able to hold a short business meeting.
The group agreed that STRAY GOOSE was a viable idea, and that the next meeting should be held in June to coincide with the Mt Pinatubo volcanic eruption anniversary date. Thus, the next meeting of STRAY GOOSE will take place on that date (Tuesday, June 15) at the Hurlburt Hooch Bar.
In an attempt to begin compiling a mailing list, we passed out cards for people to give to their friends to mail back with their addresses. The response has been great! To-date numerous folks have replied. Our mailing list has grown from the original 39 to almost 100. Copies will be available at the meeting. Please "spread the word" of the meeting to other STRAY GOOSE affiliates, as we may not currently have their address.
People are beginning to ask for more information about the organization, so at the June meeting, it is appropriate to hear from all of you on what type of association we should form. Also, the "Founding Fathers" (if that is a good term to describe those of us who initially put the original meeting together) desire to assume more of an indirect role in the organization. Our association should take the form of what you the membership want - we should elect officers and agree on organization objectives. Plus, we need to discuss how often we should meet and when the next gathering should take place (another Hooch Bar informal meeting, a summer picnic, or whatever). This will thus be our agenda:
-- Organization Objectives
-- Election of Officers
-- Membership Desires for Future Meetings
Please come prepared with your ideas on these issues. Following the meeting, it might be appropriate for our new secretary to send a "newsletter" about the organization to those not present and particularly to the 1 SOS at Kadena.
One other thing that some folks did at the first meeting was to wear patches representing their STRAY GOOSE affiliation and to bring photos and other memorabilia. Let's do this again. See you June 15!
Ray Turczynski, Jr.
A "Founding Father"