Friday, February 27, 2009

Additional information on Roger Keller funeral service

(This is an email received from Selma Keller with some directions to the church and cemetery)

Funeral arrangements for Roger are at the Saffordville Methodist Church, Saturday, February 28, at 1 pm. The church is approx. 7 miles west of Flying J at Emporia and 2 miles north on the Lake Kahola Road. Burial is at the Cottonwood Cemetery, approx. 2 miles west of Flying J on Highway 50. There will be a luncheon at the VFW Post 1980 after the services. We would like for all to come.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Roger Keller a member of the 1011th Army unit passes away after a battle with cancer.

Roger Wesley Keller was born in Reading, Ks. on December 25, 1943. He passed away on Tuesday, February 24, 2009, in Emporia.


He married Selma Thompson in 1964. They had two daughters, Sandy Dorsey and Roxie Sneath.

Roger served with the 1011th Service and Supply Co in Bearcat, Vietnam in 1968- 69.

He worked for 32 years for Cities Service Gas Company and Williams Pipeline out of the Americus, Ks. area. Roger had been retired for 10 years.

Roger's funeral service will be held at the Saffordville, Kansas, United Methodist Church at 1 PM Saturday, and he will be buried at the Cottonwood Cemetery, West of Emporia. There will be a full military burial at the cemetery.

A memorial for Roger has been established at the Veteran's of Foreign Wars Post 1980. Memorials can be sent to the Roberts-Blue-Barnett Funeral Home at PO Box 175, Emporia, Kansas, 66801

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

ANOTHER UPDATE FROM AUSTRALIA'S BRUSH FIRES ( JIM ZICKEFOOSE)

Just a quick update on the bushfire report in Victoria. In reading through the email which I sent earlier I am afraid I made it sound as though some members of my family actually live in the area of the fires. That is not the case, all my family live in the area (within 90 miles) of where Lesley & I live in Young, NSW. On last report there have been 209 bodies accounted for and over 1500 homes destroyed because of the bushfires that hit the area. The rebuilding process is now underway but will take a long time before the task is completed. Over $200 million dollars has been raised through various appeals which have been held to assist the victims of the fires. While all these fires have been hitting the southeastern part of Australia the northern coastal regions of NSW and Queensland have been underwater from the worst flooding ever experienced in that area of Australia. Almost sounds like being in Kansas with the erratic weather patterns.
Very sorry to hear of the passing of Roger Keller, my thoughts and prayers go out to the family. After reading through the Blog reports it sounds as though there have been a few of our 1011th members that have passed away. I have become friends with several Vietnam veterans which live here in Young and surrounding areas and it seems there are always reports of Vietnam vets which have also passed away here in Australia. I guess we are in that age group where we can expect more reports of deaths which reminds us that we are here for what could be called a short visit.
Hope everyone that is able to attend this years reunion has a great time. Also hope to be able to catch up with a few of the 1011th members during my visit back to the states in September. Will have to try and send a couple of photos of the family so that people can put a face to the name. Not that any of us still look like we did back in the late 1960's. Catch you later.

Jim Zick

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Report on Wild Fires in Australia

We recently received an email note from Jim Zickefoose a unit member who has lived in Australia for many years.

Email from Jim:

Just a quick note to let you know that we are about 400 miles from where the fires hit in Victoria. It is the state south of New South Wales which is where our families are located. We went through that area on holidays about 6 months ago. It is very similar to the Ozarks as far as forests and terrain. If you get caught in the area it would be difficult to get out. Looking at the news coverage of the actual event and the aftermath I can say that I have never seen anything like it. It looks like the towns were hit by about 1000 fighter jets dumping napalm on their towns. Watching the houses and trees ignite in fireballs looks just like they were hit by napalm. Anyone in the area or in the houses would be very lucky to survive. It is hard to imagine the horror that the people were going through. Last report was 165 dead, 750 houses destroyed, 5000 homeless. The fire front was about 30 miles wide. Weather conditions were terrible across the Southeastern part of Australia for the week prior to the fires, that iscludes here in Young and a lot of NSW. Has been 40 plus centigrade (about 110 F). Several places reached above 120 F during the heat wave.We are planning our trip back to the states but it will be right at the end of August when we leave Australia so will not be back in Kansas in time for the reunion which is disappointing. May have to try and organize a get together with a few people in Emporia during our visit. Will have to let you know our actual travel plans when we know them ourselves.

Regards,
Jim Zickefoose