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 The 96th...
Tradition & Transition
Tom Roby, President
96th Infantry Division Deadeye
Association
The 96th Infantry Division reunion Association
has almost fifty years of keeping the traditions of this Infantry
Division alive, as well as maintaining an annual reunion to enjoy
old and make new friendships. We have met every year at
different locations around the country. Volunteers kept
the records and did the organizational work. We had several
thousand WWII veterans from the division on our mailing list.
In recent years, we developed a kinship with the successor organizations
of the old Infantry Division which was deactivated. Various
names were assigned by the Army to the Reserve Units and we now
have a close relationship with the 96th Div. RRC.
The old guard of the reunion association has been phasing out
that corporation in the past couple of years. We had our last
official reunion in 2005 in the D.C. area and it was a huge success.
Many of our RRC friends were in attendance.
We have formed a new corporate entity to help to perpetuate the
legacy of the old Infantry Division and its WWII battles on Okinawa
and Leyte. In addition, our mission statement is changing
as we want to perpetuate the legacies of the many Reservists
who have and are performing valiantly in the hot spots of the
world today. One more responsibility is being added into
our "raison d'etre," that of providing succor to the
families of the active duty military in our midst.
The new corporate By-Laws provide for the inclusion of many factions
in our eligibility list. First, all of the life members
of the old organization and its auxiliary are automatically life
members in the new organization. Family members of the
original group are starting to join and to participate.
Next, all members of the RRC and its predecessor organizations
are invited to join. All family members of the RRC military
are invited to come with us.
Finally, any member of the public may join.
A dues schedule has been adopted as recommended by Gen. Jim Collins
and his membership committee and will be published soon.
An annual meeting of the new organization will be held during
the last full week of July in Denver, Co. Elections will
be held for both Directors and Officers.
Efforts are being made to have our new organization organized
under Utah laws to be non-profit and exempt from IRS involvement.
To accomplish some of the PR things we would like to do will
take cash and we would like to make it possible for contributions
to be tax-deductible to the donors. We should know the
outcome of our efforts soon.
So, the new DEADEYE ASSOCIATION is up and running and we invite
one and all to join with us in our quest for legacy perpetuation
and military family assistance.
In addition to old-timers from the reunion association, the
impetus and leadership for transforming into this wider membership-based
organization was in a large part due to the promotional skills
of Gen. Jim Collins.
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