The 2024 Regimental Reunion took place in Fulda, Germany on 17-22 September 2024. Several of our members took advantage of a Rhine River Cruise from Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland, while others arrived early or stayed on to travel. Some visited 14th Cavalry battlefields and landmarks from World War II. Regardless of personal itineraries, everyone converged on our reunion hotel, the Maritim, mentioned several times in former member of 1-14 CAV, James Pocock’s book Across the Barbed Wire, and conveniently located near several reunion events and the ‘old city’ of Fulda.

We kicked things off the evening of 17 September with our Welcome Stable Call and watering hole. Several members generously donated funds specifically to buy drinks at our stable call events, and the hospitality was appreciated! It is always exciting to re-connect with old friends and colleagues on the first night, and this was no exception. Our opening night was even more special with five active duty representatives from the present-day First Squadron in attendance to link our present with the past. Brian Shover formally welcomed everyone to the reunion and outlined the events for the next day.

The morning of 18 September began with a visit to the Fulda Castle, where we were welcomed to the city by the Lord Mayor, Dr. Heiko Wingenfeld. He gave a wonderful synopsis of Fulda’s history and how the people of the city loved and missed the American Soldiers who were once a fixture of the city. He and his staff presented Fulda coffee table books to our members and served drinks to toast our reunion prior to a group photo. After the photo we moved across the street for a tour of the Fulda Cathedral and St. Michael’s church.

The Fulda Cathedral, dedicated in 1712, is the former abbey church of Fulda and the burial place of Saint Boniface. Since 1752 it has also been the cathedral of the Diocese of Fulda, of which the Prince-Abbots of Fulda were created bishops. The abbey was dissolved in 1802, but the diocese and its cathedral have continued. The cathedral constitutes the high point of

the Baroque district of Fulda, and is a symbol of the town. St. Michael’s Church, next to the Fulda cathedral, is the oldest replica of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Germany, built in the Carolingian architectural style in the years 820-822. It served as a burial chapel to the Fulda monastery founded in 744, which was one of the prominent cultural centers of the early Middle Ages.

After a short afternoon break we loaded up the bus and visited the Museum of American Troops in the Fulda Region. We divided into two groups at the museum, with one group receiving an overview from director and curator Winfried Jager along with a viewing of two old public information films highlighting the 14th ACR mission on the border of Freedom’s Frontier; while the other group browsed the various 14th Cavalry artifacts displayed throughout the museum, many of which were donated by members of the Association. The groups then switched places prior to us shuttling everyone over the German-American friendship clubhouse in the Regiment’s former Rod and Gun club.

At the clubhouse we were treated to an exceptional meal of traditional German food, from grilled sausages, pork steak and chicken to potato salad, kraut, and of course, German bier. It was a wonderful, home-cooked spread provided by Winfried and his colleagues, and it was delicious! The clubhouse is about 1200 meters from the old Downs Barracks headquarters area, so several members took the opportunity to visit the former parade field (which is now a parking lot) and to see the 14th Cavalry memorial on the grounds. The buildings remain and look similar, although they have been repurposed since the days of being occupied by the Regiment.

It was a terrific ‘first day’ of the reunion, but jet lag and fatigue started setting in for many as we took the bus back to the Maritim for a free evening in Fulda for dinner, drinks or an early bedtime.

The next day, 19 September, focused on a visit to Observation Point Alpha (OP Alpha). It was one of four U.S. Army posts along the Hessian part of the inner German border. OP Alpha was manned by the 1st Squadron, 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment stationed in Fulda from the early 1950s to 1972 when the Regiment departed Germany. The OP overlooked part of the Fulda Gap from atop a 411-meter hill, lying in the center of that section of the NATO defense

line. Today, the ‘Point Alpha’ Memorial commemorates the observation point’s four decades of existence and maintains the legacy of the ‘American Camp’ and a nearby section of the inner German border as reminders of the division of Germany and the confrontation between NATO and Warsaw Pact in the Cold War.

During our visit of the American Camp we enjoyed another lunch of traditional German fare prepared on site. We then had a remembrance service at the 14th and 11th Cavalry Memorial comprised of very moving speeches by the Point Alpha director, Philipp Metzler, and the Commander of 1-14 CAV, LTC Sean Henley. Two active-duty Troopers from 1-14 CAV (SSG Michael Barton and SPC Daniel Ortiz) placed an arrangement of flowers and ribbons honoring the Regiment at the base of the memorial as they saluted the service of Cold War Veterans.

On the way back to Fulda we made a quick stop to visit the newly acquired building in Tann that will be a future addition of the Museum of American Troops in Fulda. We were optimistic that the museum would have some initial displays ready for the group, but renovations and equipment backlogs prevented that from happening as planned. The positive take-away is that many people are there dedicated to keeping the legacy of 14th Cavalry in Germany alive with this new museum in the larger facility in Tann.

The evening hours brought forth another Stable Call and Watering Hole for our members, with several breaking out the old photos from days gone by to share with the group. The stories were flowing a smoothly as the drinks, and Bill Robbins provided a special ‘yellow ribbon’ presentation to the ladies of the group. After a review of the next days activities most found their way off to bed, although the ‘usual suspects’ closed out the stable call and moved to the hotel bar.

Friday morning, 20 September, provided our members the option of staying in Fulda, visiting Bad Kissingen or making the trek to Bad Hersfeld. The majority of those in attendance took the bus to Bad Hersfeld, where they visited OP India (with a special visit by Herr Reiner Methe who maintains the OP and still remembers Rich Eagen as the ‘border Santa’ from 1969) and the 3rd Squadron’s McPheeters Barracks area. There is stone memorial dedicated to the Squadron in the courtyard as well. Others went to Bad Kissingen where we were met by retired Colonel Andre Hall, who provided a walking tour of the 2nd Squadron’s Daley Barracks area before taking us downtown for a nice lunch at the Zur Post Guest House and a stroll around the old city.

In the afternoon all three groups converged at Kloster Kreuzberg, to enjoy what I personally believe is the finest bier in the world. This Franciscan monastery was completed in 1692, and the monastery has had its own brewery since 1731.The weather was cool and cooperative (as it was for the entire reunion) so we enjoyed the many tables in the biergarten, sitting outside enjoying the food and drinks. Some of the more spirited folks with strong legs decided to walk up the hill to visit the ‘way of the Cross’ and enjoy the magnificent view from the ‘holy mountain of Franconia’. Many of our members purchased mugs and growlers of bier (ranging from one to five liters) for the ride home, which provided a wonderful trip through the countryside back to the hotel. Once back at the hotel, everyone had another evening ‘off’, although many seemed to find their way back to the hotel bar for more stories and comradery.

Saturday morning, 21 September, kicked off with a briefing by Mr. Carl Giles, Simulations Director at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center, Hohenfels entitled “From the Fulda Gap to the Present: Gaming, Simulation and Training to Ensure Readiness and Deter Russian Aggression.” The presentation demonstrated how we currently ‘defend the border’ against the Russians, and many of our members were surprised and put ‘at ease’ by the level of effort demonstrated in maintaining military readiness in Europe.

This presentation was followed by our annual Regimental Members Meeting with the following agenda: Call to Order; Update on membership and Outreach, Memorial brick sales, Treasury and Supply room; Active-Duty Squadron Updates; Vote for secretary; Vote for XVP; Vote on next reunion; and New business.

• Membership and Outreach. In essence we are maintaining membership, losing and gaining at a similar pace. While our member database exceeds 400, our ‘active membership, loosely defined as ‘those who open Association email’ is closer to 150. It does not appear that our move to ‘free’ membership has helped us much in terms of getting new members. We expect this to be an even larger problem as the Active Duty squadron(s) deactivate.

• The Memorial Brick Program is a great success, with over a dozen new bricks purchased since Ray Egan re-vitalized the program in December. We have approximately 59 4X8 inch bricks remaining and hope to sell those by the end of the year, specifically targeting outreach at Active Duty deactivation events.

• Our treasury continues to do well, with approximately $40K on hand and an annual operating budget of around $1300. Our members continue to donate for worthy causes, and our next push will be to help raise funds for 1-14 CAV deactivation events (specifically to offset Soldier costs for the Dining Out in December).

• Both the First and Second Squadron commanders presented updates at the meeting. LTC McCombs, second squadron, called-in from Hawaii and gave his presentation over the phone. They are training hard and are currently in a ‘pilot program’ to be an Infantry Task Force. No decisions have been made as of yet, but most of us expect 2-14 CAV to formally transition to a different designation in the near future. Unlike the brigade combat teams at JBLM, the brigade in Hawaii does not have three infantry battalions, so 2-14

  will likely be ‘transitioned’ as opposed to being deactivated. 1-14 CAV, on the other hand, will be deactivated in December of this year. The SQDN Executive Officer (MAJ Alexander Santiago) and the SCO (LTC Sean Henley) gave a great update of squadron activities and upcoming events, to include those related to deactivation: a 14-mile ‘Last Ride’ foot march highlighting the history of the Regiment on 10 December, a formal Dining-Out the evening of 11 December, and the deactivation ceremony on the parade field at JBLM on 12 December. More details will be forthcoming and all members and guests are invited to participate in all events.

• Using absentee ballots and the members present, both Brian Shover and Jim Dunivan were re-elected to serve as Executive Vice President and Secretary, respectively.

• It was agreed to support the 1-14 CAV deactivation events in December 2024 as a ‘mini- reunion’ opportunity and hold the next Regimental Reunion at Fort Reno, OK in 2026. The date of the 2026 reunion is ‘to be determined’ but will likely be in September and will include a variety of events at Fort Reno, Oklahoma City and the surrounding area. We did have some quality alternative reunion locations identified which will be considered for locations in the future.

• No further business was introduced and the meeting was adjourned.

Something we tried this year was to hold a spouse event during the member’s meeting, so while the members were talking business our spouses and guests took a guided tour of the Fulda Schloss Residence to get a sense of the court and living arrangements of the Fulda prince abbots and prince bishops of the 18th century.

After the meeting and spouse tour we gave our members free time to enjoy Fulda, and most took advantage of the opportunity to do some local shopping. Some decided to rest up for the Regimental Cocktail hour and Dinner that kicked off Saturday evening.

The Regimental Cocktail hour and Regimental Dinner were held in the Maritim Apollo Hall and Terrace, which is a phenomenal setting in and of itself. Within that venue we had a full-up Hessian buffet and German Wine, great music and fantastic conversation! Fulda’s Bundestag Representative, Mr. Michael Brand, addressed our group during the cocktail hour, once again demonstrating the fond memories and gratitude of the German people for our American Soldiers and their mission in Fulda. After the ‘call to mess,’ Brian Shover started the evening off with some presentations to some of our guests, including the presentation of the Noble Patron of Armor to Winfried Jager for his unparalleled support of the reunion. We had a great round of toasts honoring our Troopers, German Colleagues, Families, and our Fallen Comrades. 1LT Daniel Goldstein recited Fiddler’s Green, with several in attendance moved to watery eyes thinking about those like Joe Jarrett who had signed up to attend the reunion but ultimately was not given the time on earth to return one last time (he most certainly was there in spirit).

We then moved back into happier thoughts with dinner, drinks and dessert before the real treat of our speakers for the evening. LTC Sean Henley once again spoke on the legacy of the Regiment and how much pride he and his Soldiers shared in returning the Regimental Colors back to Fulda for the occasion. Bill Robbins eloquently spoke on ‘reflections of being here and being back’ while Winfried Jager talked about German-American friendship and how the 14th Cavalry laid the foundation for all that came later in Fulda. Brian Shover closed out the evening officially, though many stayed late into the evening in a fruitless effort to avoid the pending end of yet another Regimental Reunion and long trip back home.