Dear Fellow Knights;  

As we celebrated Memorial Day, so many young faces came to mind.  These young men who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.  Their faces are still young in our memories.  Their stories never had the opportunity to be added to.  What would they have accomplished, what families they would have had and influenced.  How was the family they came from affected with this loss?  We are so grateful that we had the privilege of knowing them, flying with them, and enjoying their company.  They will always remain in our hearts and memories.

   In order to honor them and all who served in the 114^th Aviation Company and its attached units, we are pursuing the placement of a monument in the Garden of Memories at Ft. Rucker.  Gene Boyle had spent many hours researching our history to insure each unit that serves with us is recognized.  He has obtained unit patches and organized them for display on the monument.  He has prepared digitized photos and contacted a company in Dothan to begin design work.  He has also researched the procedures we must go through to obtain permission to erect the monument on the base.

   In the next few months we will make a presentation to the review board and hope to then contract the construction of the memorial.  The patches will be on the front and the names of those lost will be on the back.  As we make progress, we will be able to put a copy of the proposal in the newsletter and inform you when it is approved.  We hope to have a memorial service sometime in the fall.

   I want to recognize Gene for his tremendous work and dedication to accomplishing this task.  He is the driving force on this project and is doing a wonderful job.  What else would you expect from a Knight.  

Jim Haslitt
National Director