Haven't written a report on "What the Carters Did In The Past Year" for a long time (nor even an addition to my "Feathers and Four Footed Friends" collection) perhaps due to old age and health problems and also because we no longer make trips to places like Egypt and Bangkok, and so many (including "Miss Manners" in the Chicago Tribune) complain that such letters are just to brag about themselves and their kids, but we are so far behind with our correspondence, we thought it would be great way to catch up with everybody. If wearing a horse cavalry uniform is bragging, I guess it is, so be it.
We survived the winter which was quite mild. Like the stroke that Lionel had on June 5th when he was hospitalized for four days for a series of tests that found nothing wrong. His new doctor switched him over to Coumadin, which has required a blood test every two weeks. A real nuisance. The minor strokes continued through July and August which caused concern about the three reunions coming up. Lionel's hospitalization also caused Irma to cancel her cataract surgery until July 12th. The surgery was a huge success and she was so pleased that she had the other eye done on October 11th also with wonderful results.
The first of the three reunions was the 64th Reunion of the Colfax (Ill.) High School Class of 1936, with 27 graduates, the largest class to graduate from Colfax High School, which has since been consolidated. There are 13 survivors from that class and five showed up for the reunion which was hosted in fine style by Arline Gleason Winterland in Lexington, Illinois: Lionel Carter, Robert Gomien, Frank Huppert, William Vetter and, of course, Arline. The weather was perfect, the food was excellent, and the reminiscing went on and on. The only problem was the shortage of motel rooms due to the National Convention of Corvette Owners holding their annual meeting in Bloomington, Illinois.
The second reunion was the Carter Family Reunion which was held in the park in Colfax on August 20th and has for a number of years been organized by Helen Carter Andreae. This was one of the largest attended Carter Reunions. The weather was perfect, the food was excellent and plentiful, and the reminiscencing interesting. Lionel at 82 was the oldest person present and nephew Rahn Beeson and his wife from Columbus, New Jersey came the fartherest. We were pleased to have the Beesons as house guests for a few days. Plans were made for next year's reunion on the third Sunday in August.
The third reunion was the 112th Cavalry Regiment Midwest Reunion in Joliet, Illinois on September 9-11, and was the 54th reunion organized by Lionel. This year's reunion was disappointingly small due to two factors: (1) The failure of Lionel to get announcement of the date of the reunion in the mail earlier. For 41 years Lionel had published the Reunion Review, usually 32 pages, three times a year, but due to old age and health problems has not published an issue since 1998 and this has led to a drop-off in attendance. (2) The Nationl Convention of the 112th Cavalry is held every year in Dallas, Texas in August, but this year, they moved it up to the Labor Day weekend so that we had two reunions on consecutive weekends. Next year 5 reunion will be held in Joliet September 7th, 8th and 9th. A comment by Trooper Vaughn Ward is worth repeating; he said that if only three troopers showed up and one of them was Col. Hooper, you would still have a GREAT reunion!
Lionel wears his horse cavalry uniform on Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and marches in it in the Fourth of July Parade where he was won 6 plaques as the "best Military Marching Unit". The parade is a big event in Evanston with over 150 entries. He was also honored to be asked to be flag bearer at the Immanuel Lutheran Church and speak a few words in a special program for veterans on November 12th.
Irma and Lionel remain active members of the Levy Senior Activity Center in Evanston and are looking forward to moving into our new and spacious quarters in the new $5 million building in James Park, our old building being torn down for a huge movie and shopping center.
Only a combat veteran knows fellowship of a group that faces death so often and sees too often a beloved and trustworthy comrade killed by the enemy. It is a closeness that exceeds that of brothers, and so the recent death of Trooper Elmer Krebs and Sergeant Harold Paulsen from the platoon in which I served was especially hard. Both were brave and reliable troopers and perhaps I wouldn't be here today if they hadn't been. Rest in peace.