Requests and Questions
You can reply to: archmichael@earthlink.net
Thanks!
Michael Eltrich
I would like to visit my old AO but also see other parts of Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City, Hue, Hanoi, Halong Bay, etc.
Please send me any information you have to this email address: Jack Mallory
If by snailmail to:
Thank you,
Jack
Many of you I have met briefly at different conferences. Some of you I know via the Internet. Some of you I have met and interviewed. Others of you have been referred by mutual friends. All of you are considered friends with a common bond.
As some of you know, a trip to Vietnam, including widows/widowers and sons and daughters, had been planned for April. This proved to be a really difficult month for most all of us. The trip to Vietnam has been postponed until the last week of August. Length of time remains 2 weeks; cost remains approximately $3,000.
I have been working on raising money for the trip in order to help defray the cost for those who do not have the money to go (I'm included in that). Some of you have requested grants from your communities, service organizations such as Rotary and Lions, and veterans' organizations or talked to your churches. My hope is that all of us will be able to meet our needs or at least most of them and then some. I need to know how many of you definitely want to travel with us so I can begin planning arrangements.
If you are planning to join us, please have your passport ready by April so we can then began work on the visas. Something I've learned from my 2 previous trips is that the Vietnamese are in no hurry (except when they are driving a motor vehicle!). I also will need a little bio of your personal story and why this trip is important to you.
Many of you may remember the first trip I took; my daughters were with me. Mitty had her camera man and made a video of the trip. Well, this time the Discovery channel "Trip to Remember" crew is going along as well as my daughter's camera man. So the trip will be well documented. The writers need information on who is going in order to have an idea about the stories they will be writing. If you choose to not participate in that part of the trip, it is fine. Just let me know so I can be sure to indicate that to the crew.
I also need to know the information about the death site of your loved one. Please send me his/her social security number, date of birth, date of death, branch of service, and, if you know, his/her unit or how they served in country during this War. We have access to a data base that will give us all the information about location. Once we have this information, we can add the location to the trip itinerary.
More info as I have it.
If you have an E-mail address (to those of you with a mailed letter), please let me know. Feel free to pass this notice along to whom ever you feel will be interested and want to go on this trip.
I am looking forward to meeting each of you!
Sally
Sally B. Griffis, M.S., L.C.D.C.
PH: 210/804-1231
Pager: 210/235-6543
Fax: 210/829-4391
E-mail:
sallyg54@gmail.com
Editor's NOTE: you can access Sally's "Trip Reports" from her other journeys in country at: http://www.vietvet.org/sallymain.htm
I've been working on a plan to return to Danang to visit the area where my old camp was at. That is where I got my G.E.D. at in January 1968 just before the Chinese New Year -- Tet; what a year it was!
If you would be interested in this trip back to Vietnam or know of someone who would, please E-mail me. So far, we have a date in October (1999) with two other men.
I am a professional cruise-tour director. Our company has specialized in group cruises for 15 years. We are planning a group-cruise tour to Southeast Asia for Fall of 2001. We are considering one of these dates: October 27, November 3, November 17 or November 24, 2001.
If you are interested in returning to Viet Nam with us via cruise ship, please let us know. We have had great response already from Southwest Missouri. Many feel more comfortable traveling via ship because of preferred accommodations, meals, and medical facilities on board.
Also, we are seeking someone who would like to "host" this group -- someone who has been back to Viet Nam and could act as the tour guide and lecturer. Our company will offer this guide either free or reduced travel rates, depending upon the number of people going on the trip.
Our space will be somewhat limited; so, if you are interested, please contact us. Perhaps you have suggestions for our group that would make the trip back to Viet Nam more rewarding and meaningful. We would appreciate your opinions.
For further information, please contact "The Cruise Lady" at: crewslade@aol.com
Or visit our Web Site at: http://www.thecruiselady.vacation.com
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Jim and Kay Cybulski