2019 Reunion for A Company that we've been invited to.

Hello 2/8th Veterans!

We now have a block of rooms reserved for the 2/8 4th Division veterans reunion in San Diego, October 6-9th 2019.  There are two ways you can reserve your room:
1.  You can click on this link:   https://embassysuites.hilton.com/en/es/groups/personalized/S/SANDNES-VVR-20191006/index.jhtml?WT.mc_id=POG and you will be guided through a few steps to make your reservation.
2.  Or you can call this number  1 (800) EMBASSY (362 2779) and tell the person making the reservation that  you are a part of the 2/8 4th Division Vietnam Veterans Reunion Block using the group code: VVR .  Either way, you will be asked to supply a credit card; this will NOT be charged until you check out of the hotel.  If something happens that you will have to cancel, you can cancel without penalty by Sept 6, 2019.

If you want to extend your stay, that is great! There are so many things to do and see in San Diego.  If you decide to come early and/or stay late, you will need to call Jennifer Jackson after making your initial reservation.  Her contact info is 619.819.0186  jennifer.jackson3@hilton.com.  She will be able to add to your reservation. You will not be able to extend your stay with the web link, but Jennifer needs you to either call the number provided or go online to make the initial reservation before you call her.

At this point, Bill and I have reserved 15 rooms. Jennifer will monitor the reservations and let us know if we need to add to the total number of rooms.  I believe that we will need more than 15, but we wanted to be conservative on our estimate, since this is almost a year out. You have until Sept 6th (2019) to make your reservation; however, I want to encourage you to make your reservation soon.  When the block fills up, Jennifer will make every effort to get more rooms at that $169 price, but we are not guaranteed. It is a relatively slow month for the hotel, which works in our favor, but I am saying I wouldn’t wait until the last minute.  

When you make your reservation, you will be encouraged to join the Hilton Honors program.  I would definitely encourage that; there is no fee; and you get bottles of water and free wifi.  You also can get discounts on reservations at all Hiltons, which include Embassy Suites, Doubletree, Homewood Suites, Hilton and Millennium hotels.  You rack up points for your stays, towards free stays, so I think it is totally worthwhile. Your stay at the Embassy Suites will count three nights towards those free nights. Last year, we all stayed at a Doubletree; I wish I had been an honors member then; I would have those points on my account! If you are already a Hilton Honors member…then click the Add Special Requests, and you will have a place to enter your Hilton Honors number.

Bill and I have been contacting other 2/8 4th Division members.  I have been working off of a list that either Vera or Pamela gave me last year; cannot remember who.  There were about a dozen men on the list with no emails. So, we printed out my last email to you, dated in September and sent to the addresses, giving each addressee our phone numbers. One came back; addressee unknown. Another man George Hosso, who was in B company (not on our list, but knows one of the men who received a letter) is very active with the 4th Division, has emailed me a number of times and has been very helpful in giving us a B company list.  One man on our list, Tom Kosciolek, was in B Company, and he called Bill as a result of the letter. He definitely wants to come; he says he has never been invited to a reunion!  One thing he did request: he will be coming alone, and he wondered if anyone else who is coming by himself would like to like to room with him to help with expenses.  If you are interested, call him. He does not have an email address, and he does not text, by his own admission. His phone number is (redacted for internet privacy, contact webmaster). I told him it was entirely possible that someone else would want to bunk with him. So, if you are interested, give Tom a call!  From the B company list that I received from George, I emailed everyone on the list who had an email. To date, 9 have responded, saying they are interested in coming to our 2/8 4th division reunion.  Those names are included in the people receiving this email.  If there is someone else who you know would be interested in coming, feel free to forward this email to him.

Reservations can be made for a  king bed or two double beds. Each suite at the hotel has a sofa bed in the living room, as well.  As I stated before in a previous email, a very good breakfast is included, as well as free appetizers and drinks every evening.  Parking is expensive; it is valet at $50 per night. There are some less expensive parking lots that you can pay by the day nearby.  If you are flying in, I would advise not to rent a car; use Uber or Lyft for much more reasonable rates.

I will be updating everyone from time to time on the itinerary for the two full days that we will have.  For sure, we will be touring the USS Midway, with a Hornblower harbor cruise afterwards. The second day, (October 8th) I am working on several possibilities.

I do want, from every person who is coming, to supply us with at least one or two photos and at least one memory of your tour in Vietnam.  If you don’t type, handwritten is ok. You could send anything to Katy Hammack, (redacted for internet privacy, contact webmaster), or you can email me written and digital copies of the photos. Any photos sent to me, I will scan and send back to you.

These photos and writings will be compiled in a memory book for all, as a memento of our time together in San Diego.  If you have any questions about any of this, Bill’s phone number is (redacted for internet privacy, contact webmaster), mine is (redacted for internet privacy, contact webmaster), or you can reply by email.  I am looking so forward to our time together next October!!

Katy Hammack khammack@cox.net

Bill Hammack billhammack48@gmail.com