2024 Reunion – Pensacola

2024 Pensacola Reunion Highlights

The reunion in Pensacola was a great success. We had 36 members register to attend, but unfortunately due to health issues, 2 couples had to cancel at the last minute. So even though there were only 32 in attendance, the camaraderie between all those attending couldn’t have been better. There were even 2 couples in Pensacola who had never been to a Reunion, even though they had been members for several years.
The Holiday Inn was in a very convenient location. The Hotel was located only 5 miles from the Pensacola Airport and within walking distance of several restaurants. And since many of our members drive, the free parking was great for those who drove to the reunion or had a rental car. The Hotel also offered a complimentary breakfast, which all of us took advantage of every day we were there. As usual, we had a hospitality room devoted to us fulltime during the Reunion, where our we spent a lot of time with our life long and new friends. Attendees brought a lot of memorabilia to share, which was enjoyed during the entire reunion.
Tours:
Our Reunion Partner, Armed Forces Reunions (AFR), referred us to a local tour company, Beach Bum Trolley, who coordinated our 3 planned excursions.
Tom McKean and his bus driver/tour guide were great. Tom McKean had also been in the Navy during the Vietnam era, and his tour group focuses a lot of their tours for Veterans. Their tours also included lunch, which was an added bonus. Their Trolleys were different from the buses we were used to in the past, but we all got used to riding on benches. The trolley also had a handicapped platform which helped with those folks who used wheelchairs/scooters.
Historic Downtown Pensacola Tour
The 50-minute tour took us through the historic area of Downtown Pensacola, the “City of the Flags”. Pensacola is known for having changed ownership several times. The Spanish, French, British, Confederate, and American flags have all flown over the city. Established in 1559 by Spanish settlers, Pensacola is America’s first settlement. In 1561, the Pensacola settlement was abandoned for more than 100 years before being occupied again by the Spanish. and four other countries that followed. As part of tour, we stopped at the Veteran’s Memorial and Wall South. The Memorial is a very solemn park honoring Veterans from WWI, WWII, Korea, and the Revolutionary War. It is also the home of the Marine Aviation Bell Tower, a national memorial to those Marine Aviators lost in service to their country. There are also memorials to submarines serving life guard mission in WWII, Purple Heart recipients, local service members lost in the Global War on Terror, and children waiting for their lost parents to

return from war. Wall South is a half-size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. Wall South is the only permanent memorial outside Washington, D.C. to list the names of all 58,217 American killed or missing in action in the Vietnam War.

After leaving this touching memorial to all those lost in wars, the group headed over to McGuire’s Irish Pub for lunch. McGuire’s Irish Pub first opened in 1977 as a small neighborhood pub in a shopping center. McGuire cooked and tended bar and Molly waited table and greeted customers. When Molly made her first tip-one dollar-she tacked it to the back bar for good luck. Friends of the pub added to the collection and it soon became tradition. Today there are over $250,000 one-dollar bills hanging from the ceiling throughout the Pub. In 1982 McGuire’s moved to its current location,

Pensacola’s original 1927 Old Firehouse. And inside the pub, a turn of the century, New York Style Saloon theme reigns. We had our own private room for lunch. Lots of great menu options, and for those who had room for dessert, it made for a fabulous way to finish our first tour in Pensacola. And the best was yet to come over the next two days.

Naval Aviation Museum / Blues Museum
This had to be the highlight of the visit to Pensacola. Our tour brought us to the
National Naval Aviation Museum, the largest museum of air and space memorabilia outside of the Smithsonian. We started the tour by walking through the museum and

headed to the flight line. Our tour operator, Tom, had gotten there ahead of us, staked out a perfect spot to view the Blue Angels practice and placed reserved chairs for us to relax in for the show. The weather was a little cloudy, so the pilots were not able to do

some of the really high maneuvers, but we all were impressed with everything they were able to show us with their precision flying. Tip to tip the planes can be a mere six feet apart. On the way back to the museum, we stopped by the Constellation for a group picture. What a handsome bunch of alumni members we were photographed by

the Connie in the Florida sunshine. After our picture was memorialized, we headed to the Cubi Bar Café for lunch. Opened in 1996, the restaurant’s décor and layout duplicate the bar area of the famous Cubi Point Officers Club in the Philippines. The Cubi Club was a major source of enjoyment for Navy and Marine Corps squadrons, ships and units as they passed into the Western Pacific. When the original Cubi Point Club closed in 1992, the many plaques, more than 1000 in number, that adorned the walls of the club as tokens of thanks, were packed up and sent to the Museum and placed in the Cubi Bar Café at the Air Museum. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch in a private room, surrounded by memorabilia from the original Cubi Bar. After our lunch, we had a docent led tour of the Museum. Over the next 90 minutes our guide provided a tremendous amount of insight into the marvelous airplanes located in two separate hangers. Several of our alumni enjoyed the museum so much, they came back another day for an additional visit.

Boat Cruise on Pensacola Bay to observe Blue Angels practice, dolphins and other marine life in the Bay.

Our tour left from a local dock and we were taken to a beach located directly across from the Blue Cross viewing site we were at on the previous day. We had the option of staying on the boat, or going out onto the beach, and we had a great view from either location. Our tour guide had a PA system that he used to let us know all about the Blue Angels and updates that he heard from the Tower. On this day, the sky was clear, and the Blues were able to perform maneuvers that we missed yesterday due to the weather. Following the Blue Angel practice we headed back to the dock. On the return trip across the Bay, we saw a large number of dolphins and other wildlife.

Everyone was able to take great pictures, since the dolphins were swimming very close to our boat. After we left the cruise dock, we had a picnic lunch near the Marina before heading back to the Hotel
Dueling Piano’s at Rosie O’Grady’s
Pete Wasmund remembered visiting Rosie O’Grady’s Good Time Emporium on a prior trip to Pensacola and really enjoying his visit. And he remembered correctly. It was and still is a show not to be missed. Rosie O’Grady’s is located in the Seville Quarter, a Gulf Coast Entertainment Destination since 1967. The building that houses

Rosie’s was built in 1871, but after remodeling, Rosie now presents with grand
woodwork, pressed tin ceiling and other lavish details. The two pianos are on an
elevated stage, and two talented musicians will entertain the audience for hours. Due to good
planning, and a little sleuthing by Pete before the show, we were able to grab prime table seating
directly in front of the stage. The majority of our alumni went to the event, and everyone had fun
asking for certain songs, (and of course sending a little money with the request to make sure their song was played).
Golfing
A small group of our members were able to go golfing at the Naval Aviation Base.
What a beautiful location and they had a great time.

Hanging Out:
Our Reunion Organizer (AFR) always negotiates with the hotels to have a Hospitality Room available
to us where we can stock our own beverages and snacks.

This room always becomes a place for us to talk about the old times, look at photographs, and enjoy the Memorabilia brought by the Alumni. Members also brought items to be auctioned on the last day, so we got a preview of items that would be available.

Business Meeting and Banquet
This year’s dinner and auction was a big success. We started with our traditional Missing Man Ceremony, which honors those veterans and veterans’ wives whom we lost since the last reunion. Jim Coppage, our Vice President, did an excellent job leading us in this ceremony, since our Chaplain was unable to be there this year. Our

banquet dinner was great, and our bartender even better. Between the jokes, stories, and memories, you could tell that we all shared one common purpose, to have fun, celebrate with each other, and appreciate the history that we all share with VW1. This was especially so when the drinks started pouring and the checkbooks opened during the auction. The auction was a great wrap-up to a quick week in Pensacola. The end of the night was so much fun, and the alumni organization collected close to $1100.00
from all the spirited bidding, with the exceptional help from Jim Coppage our auctioneer and his very capable assistant, Pete Wasmund.

Special thanks to:
Armed Forces Reunion, inc. Our Reunion Planner
The Holiday Inn Pensacola University for providing us great facilities, excellent meals, and flexibility to meet our needs.
Tom McKean, owner of Beach Bum Trolley, and our driver/guide who contributed to make the tours fun and informative.
Jim Coppage, our Vice President, for leading the Missing Man Ceremony and enthusiastic Auctioneer
Deborah Webber, the Secretary /Treasurer/Reunion Organizer
Larry Fillhard for printing and binding many copies of the extremely popular 220-page AEWRON ONE History written by our late member Dan Ragan and
Pete Wasmund for organizing the golf activities, assistant for the auction, and idea man for visiting Rosie O’Grady’s Dueling Piano, and finding prime seating at the show.
Gary Chapin for developing the framework for the new website.
Everyone else who helped with the wildly fun and successful reunion