Everything is Connected
1/1 Flag from Con Thien
Mike Enoch's half of the story:
Here’s a good story for those who weren’t at the 1999 reunion. I enlarged this photo to 5x7, put it in a nice frame, and brought it to the reunion as an auction donation. I showed it to Fugi, feeling very proud of myself for having a picture of that very cool sign that "once existed" as our HQ banner, but now was just a memory, lost to time, or so I thought. Not to be out done, Fugi went up to his room, and brought down the original sign! I will let him tell you how he came by it. I couldn’t believe it. At the auction the bidding was higher than expected for the picture. I looked over to see Fugi matching bids. He was sitting next to Huey Roark (81’s FO) who was also bidding on the thing. At one point Fugi told Huey to stop bidding, and that he wanted to buy it and give it to Huey, who said "Hey, I can afford this!". Fugi said he knew that, but just wanted to do it, because he saw how much Huey really wanted it.
You see, back in Nam Huey did a number of things to earn his Silver Star, not the least of which was to use the butt of his M79 like a baseball bat to knock away an incoming chi comm grenade that was heading straight for our Italian friend. The gift of the picture may seem like a small token of gratitude, but the gesture was worth more than gold, and had more meaning than anything could have. I have a feeling that Huey values it more than any medal.
So now Fugi is still among us, telling us all to bite him. Thanks Huey (I think)
Joe Fulginiti's (Fugi) half of the story:
To continue the flag/sign story. I got back to CLNC from the RVN and immediately got on a Carib Cruise with C 1/10. I had no place to stay at CLNC and neither did another Lt. who I went to school with. I left him some money and he found us an apartment. When I got back 4 months later, he took me to the apartment. Being an enterprising individual he had rented my space to another Lt. This guy's gear was piled up ready to leave. On top, was the Flag. I asked him where he got it and he said he stole it from 1/1 when he was visiting their club. I stole it from him and brought it to the reunion. My former roomate is now a Major General.
