Ken Lucas

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Jesse Kelley May 26, 2011 23:39

Well Ken, I hope that you have the greatest of days anyway!!!
Jesse Kelley May 23, 2011 1:15

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEN
Wishing you many more, from all of us at DragoonBase!!!
John M Walker February 11, 2011 16:41

GREETINGS Ken - thanks for your post and apologies for the delay in responding. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! Thirty years ago (yep, 30!) we completed basic training and started Phase II of our OSUT/AIT at Fort Knox. I was in 2d platoon, and you were in sixth as I recall (Pnocke or some such?) Alpha-Three-One SIR.

I need your e-mail address: how can we exchange them without the whole world spamming us? I can be found on Yahoo and more easily LinkedIn. Please drop a line.

Hup Hup Cavalry Ho,

If you weren't Cav, you got over!

: )
Dave Gettman December 30, 2010 11:38

Oh hell no Ken, don't give up on the 2d Cav yet! There are thousands of fine young Cavalry troopers in its ranks today.

I was pretty worried too when they switched to Strykers, and for good reason.

Long before they transitioned to Strykers the Regiment lost it's tanks and Bradleys and was designated 2d Cavalry Regiment (Light). It was all down hill from there and by the time they transitioned to Strykers the Regiment had completely lost its identity. Not many knew of the Regiment's past glories until Patrick Biddy and I started "educating" them. It was pretty tough at first because the RCO was total infantry, but the RCSM and I struck up a friendship and he helped get the ball rolling. He would write to me from Iraq wanting to know about different traditions and stuff, then pass the info on to others in the Regiment.

With the new commander in place, the Regiment has totally transformed. Stetsons are everywhere and the Dragoon heritage is well known. They are the first and only Stryker Cavalry Regiment in the US Army as well as the oldest continuously serving Regiment in the Army.

And the truth be known, the 2d Regiment of Dragoons were originally mounted Infantry for twenty-three years and even dismounted for two years, being designated the 2d Regiment of Riflemen, before they became the 2d US Cavalry in 1861. They have just returned to their roots.

Right now the relationship between the active Regiment and the 2d Cavalry Association is the strongest it has been since WW II when the Association was revived. The 2d Cavalry Association was the first of its kind and is the oldest unit specific veterans organization in the US, established in 1899 by the Regiment's Spanish-American War vets. The VFW was established years later so other war veterans not belonging to the 2d Cavalry could have a fine veteran's organization like ours.
Sigmund Fertig December 29, 2010 11:01

Ken, I was a Machinist for 42 years, 37 with one company, retired in 02 when we had a change of management that wasn't my cup of tea. Now I live in Hemet in a very nice mobile park and spend mey days fishing, golf and am very active in my church. Married to a wonderful woman foe 33 yearsand have five kids and 17 grankids.
Dave Gettman December 29, 2010 8:50

I heard stories of guys going out windows in footlockers, but never personally witnessed the act. It was a lot worse when I was in the MP's before coming to the Cav. We were on riot duty all the time, and once I was beaten pretty bad by a group of blacks in the messhall.

Had one confrontation in the Cav involving blacks at my going away party in Bayreuth. Got hit in the eye with a crystal beer mug, while his buddies held me. he then followed me into the latrine and tried to stab me in the back with a broken champagne glass as I stood at the urinal. He caught a spinning elbow in the chops and ended up with the glass embedded in his chest.

Thankfully before his buddies could get to me the bouncer broke in and started choking the life out of me. I heard a female voice chattering in German, and next thing I know the bouncer is dragging this guy by his pants cuffs up the stairs and throwing him out on the sidewalk, leaving a trail of blood the whole way. He puts me behind the bar with a rag soaked in Cognac for my eye, and the rest of the bottle for my gullet.

Woke up in the barracks the next day and have no idea how I got there. Vague flashes of an after hours party, and I might have even got lucky but I'll never know.

As for the Sheridan being dangerous....
Dave Gettman December 29, 2010 8:17

Ken,

Try getting John Walker here: johnmwalker@yahoo.com

This one might have been canceled though, as his account got hacked into awhile back and someone was sending spam e-mails using his account. It is worth a shot though.

If that doesn't work, try: john.walker@sbb.ch

I've got a C Troop guidon that has seen funerals, Memorial Day ceremonies, and numerous sailboat races flying over my motorized canoe. Once Cav...always Cav!

Yeah, the border trace is a bunch of over-the-hill recon guys reliving their "childhood" along the old patrol routes. I personally don't have any of the old patrol maps, other than a large book of maps for our air asset guys which show the entire border area plus. I'm sure us ground bound guys could find our way around with them....eventually.

Hey, maybe we'll see you there in July??????
Sigmund Fertig December 28, 2010 20:04

Ken, we had a battery of six self propelled M-52's 105mm and I was in communications as a cw operator/driver of an M-59 personell carrier. Was in Bamberg with the 2nd Battalion from 58/60. Also took basic at Ft. Meade, Md. and gyro'd over with the unit in Feb. 58. Also took artillery trng. after basic at Ft. Chaffee Ark.
Jesse Kelley December 28, 2010 11:52

Toujours Pret Ken

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
Sigmund Fertig December 27, 2010 11:29

Welcome Ken from an old California trooper!

of 2

This reply was deleted.

Location

Lompoc, CA

Birthday:

May 23

What unit(s) did you serve in with the 2d Cavalry?

tank section/2Plt/A Troop

Where were you stationed?

The Rock. I actually volunteered for the CAV. I wanted the 11ACR, but the guy at the 21 REPO laughingly said that I'd enjoy my time with 2ACR just same. Early in my time there, I was taught that the appropriate way to describe serving in that place was "I did time at the Rock". I was told that another Rock tradition was that you don't ever look back at the place when riding the bus taking you to DEROS. I didn't look back when I rolled out of there for the last time.

What MOS or job description did you have?

Tank Driver, 19F. Driver for the Plt Sgt's tank

What was your rank/title?

Sp/4-driver

What years were you assigned to the 2nd Cavalry?

1981-82

Tell us a little about your cav days.

My time on the Rock was overall a very hard experience. My faith in God was tested to it's limit. Without God's daily support I likely would have completed the service way worse off emotionally; probalby would have been a quitter the rest of my life. However, I successfully completed the hitch and moved onto civilian life with the resolve to suffer thru hard times.

Tell us a little about you now.

Following my 2 years active army hitch I served 8 years in a combat engineer unit of the Ca National Guard. I trained to be a forester and worked half of my career for a timber company in the redwood region of northern Ca and the other half self employed as a timber cruiser/map maker. I'm presently employed as a contract map maker for the USAF.

Name a few buddies you served with that you would like to find.

John M Walker. I had the pleasure and honor of serving with John in our training at Knox. He initiated a friendship with me early in the training and I felt blessed when he and I were assigned to the Rock together, although in different companies. I've considered him a good friend ever since.