Hotel Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division served in Vietnam from April 1966 to February 1971. Individual Marines and Corpsmen have been reuniting since the day they first arrived home on an individual basis either through personal communication or group meetings. On a few occasions, organized group reunions by Hotel Company members have occurred in conjunction with the 1st Marine Division Association and Hue City reunions. Group pictures exist for these sometime impromptu get-togethers demonstrating the camaraderie of Hotel Company Marines and Corpsmen.
The first reunion held in 2008 was such a success that it was agreed by those attending that the reunions would occur on a yearly basis. It was decided that the next year’s reunion, 2009 would again be held in Hubbard, Ohio.
In 2019, the reunion was held in San Antonio, TX. Old friends again were reunited, memories were shared, refreshed and embellished, and each person took away their own special benefit of having attended. Our current reunion will be held in Quantico, VA in 2021 when the base reopens after COVID-19. Please put this reunion on your bucket list and attend.
Each Marine or Corpsman experiences the reunion differently and at the same time the rewards of attending are similar. We each feel the camaraderie, the unification, and a shared feeling of closeness. Each first time attendee will question the appropriateness of attending, will have second thoughts and nervous anticipation upon arrival not unlike landing in Vietnam for the first time. Jay Peterson’s commit: “I (Jay) almost got back on the plane upon landing in Ohio for the first reunion in 2008. Thank God I followed through.”
If you have attended a reunion, let us know your thoughts, memorable moments and, if you can find the words and the pictures, explain what you have gotten out of attending the reunions.