116th Engineer Battalion veterans hosting 50-year Vietnam reunion
The Snake River Valley had the largest National Guard unit deployed to Vietnam during the war. It’s now been 50 years and they’re hosting a reunion, but need some help getting in touch with the other veterans.
The 116th Engineer Battalion deployed to Vietnam had 700 to 800 members, all from Idaho. They reported to active duty in May 1968, spent nine weeks training at Ft. Lewis, Washington, where they were joined by a company from the Orofino and Grangeville area, and then went to Vietnam. They were known for being a pretty tight-knit group.
“Everybody pretty well knew everybody,” said Ron Skinner, a Vietnam Veteran. “I mean, Jerry and I went to school together. I’ll bet there was 40 or 50 of us in A Company that was within one or two grades of each other. So as far as what the experience was over there, there was a lot of camaraderie, I can tell you that. Not only through the companies, but through the whole battalion.”
“It just made us more compatible,” said veteran Jerry Cramer. “And having grown up together it gave us a sense of security.”
Now that 50 years have passed, they want everyone together again. While some of the companies within the battalion have had their own reunions, they want this one to be the whole group.
“We all have good memories and bad memories, some we don’t want to talk about, but, it would be nice to get together and see everybody,” Cramer said.
The reunion takes place on September 14 and 15 at the Elks Lodge in Idaho Falls. It will include meeting at the Vietnam Memorial at Freeman Park and a banquet dinner where veterans will be pinned. They hope people will help get the word out and reach friends they haven’t seen in 50 years.
“We know there’s a lot of people that have left the area, but almost everybody that has gone has a relative in this town,” said veteran Jake Cordova. “So if we can contact, you know, reach any of the relatives and they can contact their relatives that were in Vietnam with the 116th, if they would just notify them and contact us then that’s what we’re after.”
If you were in, or know someone who was in the 116th, the men asked you contact them at the numbers below.
Jake Cordova – 208-520-6407
Ron Skinner – 208-313-5911
Jerry Cramer – 208-390-2176
