The following paragraph was written by Neal Richardson in a letter dated 11/27/96:

"The birth of LOGROLL REUNIONS began on a cold December day in 1987. The weather was nasty and we were staying in for the day. I dug out the 603rd "Memoirs" book and memories started to flood my mind. Reminiscing about the good old days in the 603rd: maneuvers, chow-line, US0 Shows, Ring Hotel, plus that 6X6 truck that took us out to the radar site. After 33 years, I started to wonder what had happened to all of these troops. There was only one way to find out. Get on the phone and start the search. After making several calls for the next few days, I hit pay dirt. Ken Moats answered the phone in Remlap, Alabama. After 33 years, I recognized his voice. Ken told me he had exchanged Christmas cards with Roger Myhre for several years but lost contact with him in the early 70's. Ken fired up his searching machine and located Roger and Mary Myhre in Coos Bay, Oregon. We exchanged letters/phone calls for the next several weeks. We made a command decision and were out looking for additional LOGROLLERS and perhaps a reunion in the future. The rest is history. We had our first reunion in Roaring River, MO - September, 1989".

When any group is initially organized, the enthusiam and energy for the project is usually very strong. However, the desire to maintain and sustain interest usually will wain just a quickly. In the case of this 603rd Logroll Reunion Group, a different kind of sustaining interest was present. After almost seven years, if anything, the group is now stronger than the nineteen people who attended the original Roaring River Reunion.

This special "something" that holds our Logroll Reunion Organization together is summed up rather well in the following excerpts from a talk given by George Nichols at our 1996 Reunion in Laughlin, Nevada:

"What makes our organization so special and the pleasure that we seem to continually enjoy being in each other's company? During my 30 years of service with Uncle Say, I served at lush three and four year assignments in Paris and Athens. However, when asked which of my 18 assignments would I rate as Number One, my choice would always go back to those 40 months I spent with the 603rd at Giebelstadt, Germany from January 1951 to May 1954. The first consideration is that this was for most of us our first permanent assignment.

We were single ( about 99% ), carefree and responsible only for our own actions. The war had been fought by the generation that preceded ours. It was over now for five years. We were ambassadors who both emitted and reflected the success of the American way of life. We were young, good looking, confident, in superb health, optimistic about ourselves and our future, intelligent and clean ( with some exceptions ). Germany, a conquered nation, was ours for the taking. We relished this opportunity for excitement and adventure. We were thrown together. Young men of different colors and religions. Boys from Dixie and Yankee-land. Texans and Brooklynites. Men with vocational backgrounds and those academically oriented. Extroverts and introverts. Mamma's boys and macho types, athletes and those who were uncoordinated, dreamers and realists.

Those with high IQ's and those who could barely read and write, short and tall, fat and thin. Those determined to get the most of this tour through travel and cultural enrichments and those who never left the base. Playboy types and nerds. Men who adjusted to military life easily and those who constantly rebelled against it. Those who liked Germans, those who hated them. Those who partied all night and those who abstained. The dynamics of this group was blended together and melded us into an enriched group that was unique to our organization"

With these words, George seemed to have come as close as anyone to describing who and what the 603rd A.C. & W. Squadron was and now, again, has become through this Reunion Organization.

To keep any organization functioning, there is a requirement for leadership. Although no official elections and no particular titles have been a assigned, a number of enthusiastic people have simply accepted responsibility for the Logroll Reunions. Listed below are those people who are in great-part responsible for the high standards of our group:

Of course, there are many additional Logrollers who have taken up the mantel of leadership for each of the Reunions that have been held. There are also additional Logrollers who have played an important part in furthering the finding of mission people. To each, our organization owes a debt toward resolving what we are today.

Should anyone reading this home page recognize themselves as a former 603rd member, please get in touch with Pat Myers at his address shown in our Roster Page.