Honoring Today’s U.S. Army’s 314th Infantry
Regiment
(Enjoy the photographs below!)
Our WW II Veterans and their families
have been deeply touched over the years by the attendance
of the Commanding Officer and the Color Guard of today’s
314th Infantry Regiment at our annual Reunions.
Today’s 314th Infantry Regiment
has honored our WW II Veterans and their service and
their sacrifices over 60 years ago. So, in 2009, the
314th Infantry Association WW II, Inc. has decided
to honor today’s 314th Infantry Regiment for
their service and their sacrifices in today’s
challenging world.
Our invitation to attend this very
special Reunion September 24 – 27, 2009, extends
to all present and past members of the 314th Infantry
Regiment from 1947 through 2009. Please
contact Eric V. Gill for more details!
Our Reunion site is the Plaza Hotel
located on the beach in Daytona Beach, Florida, so
you can walk directly from the pool deck directly
onto the World’s Most Famous Beach. Our host
hotel is very much oriented to military service since
some of their key people are themselves former service
members. For example, the Plaza Hotel has made an
entire ½ acre spillover parking area available
for the WW II re-enactors who are putting together
a huge display with WW II vehicles and displays. The
WW II Reenactment community itself has many former
service members. Both WW II U.S. Army and WW II Russian
Army re-enactors who are putting on our Reunion display
have chosen the theme to Honor the 314th and the Victory
in Europe in 1945 as well as to honor today’s
314th Infantry Regiment.
Daytona Beach not only has the awesome
beach and the Daytona International Speedway, but
the area offers hidden treasures such as the third
best historic lighthouse in the World. St. Augustine
is a one hour drive north; Kennedy Space Center is
a one hour drive south, so Daytona should be a great
destination for your September vacation deployment!
Pictured left to right: Lt. Col. Leon James,
SSG Nicholas Civello,
Walter George and Sgt. Maj. Inocencio Salinas
- Reunion 2004 |
Lt. Col. Leon James, Reunion 2004
|
Lt. Col. Leon James, Reunion 2004
|
Lt. Col. Leon G. James II,
of Sackets Harbor, N.Y. commanded the 3rd Battalion,
314th Regiment of the 2nd Brigade, 78th Division
(Training Support) based at Fort Drum, N.Y.
Lt.
Col. James died October 10, at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center, Md., from wounds sustained in
a September 26 attack in Iraq.
|
2004 Color Guard |
|
Certainly one of our oldest WWII Reunion
attendees was the late Valentin Gill
who was 96 years old when he attended
his last Reunion in 2004 and was a 36
year old Corporal with the 314th’s
Recon Troop in WWII.
Pictured here in 2004 with Walter George.
|
|
Three Sergeants of today’s 314th Regiment
took note at our Saturday evening banquet. In
an impromptu ceremony one said “Soldier,
you’re missing something from your uniform”
and each took a 314th Unit Crest from their
epaulets and pinned them on the epaulets of
Mr. Gill’s “Ike” jacket. There
is a special connection between those who are
going forward today with those who have gone
before them. |
314th
Infantry Regiment; Fort Drum, NY
Commanding Officer: Colonel Coby M. Peterson
