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Members of C Battery, 6th Battalion, 84th Field Artillery came to Johnson City on March 6 to reunite with comrades that they served with in Vietnam in 1968-1969. This was the first reunion of the unit since Vietnam. The event was held at the home of Jeff Gray and Kathleen Marie Wilson. Attending the event were 30 unit members, 14 wives, one son, one grandson, one nephew and one brother. They traveled from all parts of the United States and one member traveled from Honduras for the reunion. Also in attendance was Kelly Crager, a war historian from Texas Tech University. Kelly is the project manager of the Oral History Project, Vietnam Archives. The purpose of the project is to document the history of units that served in Vietnam.

The program began with the National Anthem, the Field Artillery Song, and “I am Proud to be an American” sung by Patrick Layton, son of Michael and Anne Layton, invocation by Michael Layton, a welcome by the Battery Commander, Major Jeff Gray, US Army Retired, a tribute to those unit members that gave their life in Vietnam by Bill Whetstone and a presentation by Dr. Kelly Crager. This was followed by a barbeque dinner, a day of music by “Sol Patch”, picture taking, and fellowship.

Many of the veterans toured the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park and LBJ State Park and Historic Site on March 7.

The veterans were well received by the residents of Johnson City and the consensus was that they should return to Johnson City in 2012 for their next reunion.

The event was a success because of the community effort of many volunteers, businesses and organizations that contributed their time and resources.