San Antonio
October 5 - 7, 2001

by David Wilson

Twenty-six members and family of the OC2-70 class gathered at the Westin Hotel on the San Antonio Riverwalk on October 5th, 6th and 7th of 2001 to reconnect for the second reunion. While many of the attendees also attended the reunion in Washington, D.C., we are consistently adding to our number of our OCS brotherhood that we have missed in our lives and all have enjoyed the process of friendship renewal. One reunion attendee was heard to say, " I thought I would not know what to say to these people I knew in another life. After a few minutes of conversation, I knew that even though it has been over 30 years I knew these people very well that attended OCS with me and it was a joy to reconnect." 

David Wilson organized this San Antonio version of the reunion and had a hospitality suite that was home base and the place where the liquor, beer and wine resided. Needless to say it was the place where many an OCS story, military experience or an explanation of what you have been doing with your life since leaving the military took place. We really have a great collection of storytellers. I enjoyed the stories but must admit that I particularly enjoyed the wives hanging from the balcony waiving wine glasses at the tourists on the passing riverboats. There were some parts of the reunion that resembled a frat party with the laughing and drinking. The key point is that we really enjoyed each other and ourselves.

Day one: We convened at the Westin Hotel hospitality suite in low key fashion on a Friday evening and proceeded to the Pico De Gallo restaurante. We promised the full flavor of San Antonio, Texas hospitality and you can't do it with out a good dose of fine Mexican food. We had drinks before we ate. We sat in a horseshoe shaped table and elegantly chowed down on beef and chicken fajitas. Mariachies entertained us with Mexican ballads at the conclusion of our meal and of course we then ordered more drinks. We proceeded to Dick's Last Resort on the Riverwalk for more drinking and conversing. We intended to partake in the off-color humor but the place was packed. We retired to the hospitality suite and Tom, Ron, Ted, Bud, Bob, Jay, David and Bill closed it down.

Day two: "Remember the Alamo" was a C.J. refrain that could be heard echoing off the walls and in my hungover head as we proceed on the David Wilson version of the San Antonio walking tour. The tour began at the Alamo, proceeded to the Hemisphere toward the Alamo Dome then west to the Historic King William area with homes from the 1800's and returned to the Alamo Plaza where we had a beer in the historic Teddy Roosevelt Rough Rider Bar in the Menger Hotel. We had a very pleasant lunch on a river barge, which toured the river, as we ate Mexican food catered by Casa Rio Restraunt. 

YeeeeHHHaaaa!!!!! Sorry but the Texan comes out every once in a while when it is that good! 

C.J. found that the boat driver was a long lost cousin from Mule Shoe, Texas if you can believe that. If you know Texas you know Mule Shoe is in the middle of panhandle nowhere. Maybe C.J. and the driver just lived in the same small town but cousin sounds better.

In the afternoon, we recovered from the walking tour and talked about each drafting vignettes about our OCS and Army experiences with the hope of putting together a book of our collective experiences for our children and grandchildren.

A wonderful buffet dinner of Prime Rib and Tuna was catered in one of the Westin Hotel ballrooms. We toasted each other with fine wine and song could be heard throughout the hotel as we sang "Benning's School for Boys" and a number of other patriotic songs. Thanks to Richard Campbell for the idea to perform a ceremonial salute of the WWII veterans of the 146th Division in the neighboring ballroom at the Westin. We formed up again in a semblance of a formation and saluted the surviving veterans of the 146th Infantry. I am proud to say that not one member saluted with the left hand. A member of the hotel management staff called me several days after the reunion and wanted to pass on the thanks from the 146th Infantry veterans that were talking about our salute to their service being the highlight of their stay in the hotel for their reunion. It was a great sight to see the old timers and their families thrilled with the show of respect for their service from the class of OC2-70. The salute was a proud moment in our reunion history. We retired to the hospitality suite and continued to partake of vast quantities of the libations available until early in the morning

Day three: We began Sunday with breakfast of juevos rancheros in the brightly decorated party room at Mi Terra Café and Bakery in the market. Some of the OC2-70 class members attended church following breakfast, some went shopping, some prepared to stay for several more days of vacation and some were more focused on their transportation home in the wake of September 11th. We said our good-byes and committed to spending more effort in finding more of the class members and committed again to stay connected and renew these wonderful friendships.