The 12th Annual Dog Seven Association reunion was held in the Chicago area, with the Schaumburg Hilton as our reunion center. Plenty of free time enabled wives and other family members to visit the nearby mall, one of the largest in the nation. Friday saw the group travelling to Chicago for an all day visit; a tour by bus to and through many interesting areas of the city; a break for lunch aboard a cruise boat, where we enjoyed a damned fine buffet while seeing Chicago sky-scrapers from a totally different perspective (backside). After sailing down river, we turned and went back up, through some locks and into Lake Michigan for a completely different view of the city and it's tall buildings. The cruise also gave us an all too close view of the undersides of too many bridges, some of which we'll probably not comfortably travel over in the future.

About 160 members, wives, family members and guests enjoyed another outstanding Saturday night banquet.
Guest speaker Col Hugh O'Neill, USMC, gave us all a look at the modern Marine Corps - it's training and equipment - complimented by an impressive "slide show". More than one Dog Company Marine was heard to mutter, "If only we'd had gear like that ....".

Col O'Neill also represented his father, SSgt John O'Neill, USMC (KIA, 26Sept50, Seoul, Korea), among five other D Company Marines, during a Toast to our brothers who served and, in too many cases, died during each of the Korean War Campaigns.

All "hands" agreed it was just another outstanding "too-few" days and nights together.

Our 13th Annual Reunion was held in Buffalo, New York, at the Adam's Mark Hotel. Reunion Committee Chairman Chuck Curley had a very good schedule of activities laid out for D Company Marines ... Bus trips to Niagara Falls and surrounding areas and then another bus trip to Old Fort Niagara ... an historic site for any and all Americans.

We paid a visit to Old Fort Niagara ... at one time an American and then a British outpost against the fledgling American nation. Across the river stands a British Fort against whom the Old Fort's defenders battled. To many of "us" who are Westerners, this "old" history is mindboggling!!!

Our Annual Banquet Guest Speaker was MajGen Kim Seong-Sup, AROK-Ret. He gave a most moving speech in honor of all D Company Marines. He, too, like our Corpus Christi Guest Speaker, Congressman Kim Dongill, was "liberated" from NKorea by our presence in North Korea during the bitter winter of 1950. MGen Kim's address.

The site of our 2000 Reunion was the Jacksonville and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina environs. The weather cooperated nicely and a pretty good time was had by all. Fred Fletcher did a great job pulling it all together.

Several who had never before attended a reunion were able to attend this one, possibly due to the opportunity to see old haunts at Camp Lejeune. Many D Company, 7th Marines departed Camp Lejeune in August of 1950 as members of D Company, 6th Marines, then part of the 2nd Marine Division.

The gathered Dog Company Marines, family and guests, enjoyed busing from here to there and there. A pretty darned good Cookout and, as always, our Saturday night banquet were both memorable. And, as always, the Hospitality Room at the Onslow Inn proved an excellent staging area.

San Antonio, Texas, was the site of our fifteenth annual reunion. Joseph and Mary Alice Correa and their outstanding team organized, with typical Texas hospitality, a great several days in and around this old Southwest community. The tours were great, and interesting, and a good time was had by all. Guest speaker Colonel Randolph Lockwood, USMC-Ret, our battalion commander in late 1950, was a pleasant surprise to many.

One stop of note was the San Antonio Korean War Memorial. Many in Dog Seven Association contributed to this memorable effort through purchase of bricks which made up the walk area around the monument. Joseph Correa was among many Texans who organized this worthy structure.

Dog Seven Association's sixteeth annual reunion was held at the Holiday Inn Holidrome in Lafayette, Louisiana. Frank and Polly Garber hosted the outstanding affair. Several interesting tours ... Jean Lafitte Acadian Cultural Center, a cruise to the Atchafalaya Swamp and a tour of the Tabasco Bottling Plant on Avery Island. A Friday night meal with good food, music and dancing at the Petroleum Club was also a highlight. And, of course, the annual Saturday Night Banquet at the Hilodrome. Gonzalo Garza was our Master of Ceremonies.

Our Guest Speaker, Capt. Thompson, of Broussard, Louisiana, a helicopter pilot, earned a belateded Soldier's Medal for his actions in stopping the massacre at My Lai, Viet Nam.
An American Hero.

Our 17th annual reunion was all that it could be. Herb and Kathy Stelzer and their committee (the Graski's and Hietala's, plus Stelzer siblings and kids) had things totally under control and well planned out. They did keep us busy, well fed and entertained with sights and sounds.They all deserve a resounding applause. And a thunderous … OoooorrahhhhHHH!!!!

Brendan O'Donnell, ably assisted by wife, Betty, and daughters Adrienne and Megan, did an outstanding job of organizing and then delivering events and service to our visitors to Mystic.
Obvious, too, was the eagerness that local folks happily contributed to ensure that Mystic is a site we all will be visiting again.