Chapter 78 Officers for 2006:

President Ramon Rodriguez
Vice President Richard Simonian
Asst. Vice President Jim Duffy
Secretary Robert Foley
Asst. Secretary Frank Lilly
Treasurer Terry Cagnolatti
Asst. Treasurer Brad Welker
Sgt-at-Arms Art Dolick

Chapter vice president Richard Simonian was invited to meet President George W Bush at Senator Bill Frist's home by Lindi Harvey, Aide to Senator Elizabeth Dole. Richard flew to Washington DC on the 12th. of February. The following morning, before the meeting with the President he went to see the Lincoln Memorial and slipped on black ice, grabbed a chain link fence nearby as he was falling and broke his arm. That evening when he met President Bush he told the President that many of us were praying for him because of the tough job he had, but we could see by his demeanor on TV that he seems to be able to handle it well. He asked if we would continue to pray for him. In the question and answer session lasting more than an hour, the President talked about how much he loved his job. Richard has another invite in June to meet President Bush again as well as Vice President Cheney.

On 03/03/06 Chapter 78 member's Robert Foley and Sal Sanders with their wives attended the annual 11 th Airborne Division “Los Banos Raid” dinner and dance. Chapter 78 secretary Robert Foley presented the 11 th Airborne Division Association President Rudy Garcia with a commemorative one sixth scale paratrooper equipped with gear and uniform set used by the “Los Banos” raiders in early 1945.

Chapter 78 member and Los Angeles Times Staff Writer Gil Reza provided a fascinating look at the battle of Kham Duc at the monthly meeting on 03/09/06. The video presentation was through the eyes and lens of a NVA combat cameraman of the battle that took place on May 10, 1968. The video shows members of the 2 nd NVA Division and Viet Cong forces being briefed with a sand table of Kham Duc Special Forces Camp. The camp was used to launch SOG teams. The video also shows the assault on the camp and its aftermath along with captured American and Vietnamese soldiers. On 01/29/99 Gil also wrote an article in the Los Angeles Times about the battle of Kham Duc describing an MIA count of 32 which may have been the largest of any battle in the war. Additionally, the battle of Kham Duc was extraordinary for its bloodshed with reports showing 10 aircraft were shot down including two C-130 transport planes of which one was carrying more than 150 Vietnamese civilians and crew. Chapter 78 member Gil Reza can be contacted at gil.reza@latimes.com

On 04/28/06 Chapter 78 members Richard Simonian, Terry Cagnolatti and Jim Duffy attended the University of Southern Califonia (USC) ROTC awards ceremony at the Bob Hope Patriotic Hall in Los Angeles . Cadet Sergeant Enrique Monreal Jr.was presented the Special Forces Association Award certificate and medal. Cadet Monreal enlisted in the Army in the summer 1999, went to Airborne school in Dec 1999 then joined the ranks of Delta Company 2-504 Parachute Infantry Regiment, Fort Bragg North Carolina as a driver for the Anti Armor Company. In March 2002 he deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom thru January 2003 as an M 249 SAW, Mk 19, and Tow Missile Gunner. He received a field promotion to SGT and upon return from deployment was given a honorable discharge. In service he was awarded the parachute badge, expert infantry badge and combat infantry badge. Currently working toward a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice at Cal State Dominguez Hills he will be commissioned to 2 nd LT in Fall 2007 and hopes for eventual assignment to a special forces national guard unit. Last year's USC ‘s awardee LT Dustin Lugan completed the Infantry Officer Basic course and the U.S. Army Ranger School and is currently assigned in Hawaii .

Please review Chapter 78's new website and sign our guestbook at www.specialforces78.com .

Richard Simonian (vice president) with President George W. Bush


Robert Foley (secretary) presenting the 11 th Airborne Division Association President Rudy Garcia with a commemorative one sixth scale paratrooper

Member Gil Reza (R forefront) with Ramon Rodriguez (president)

(left) Richard Simonian(vice president), Terry Cagnolatti (treasurer) (right) and Jim Duffy (asst. vp) (rear) present ROTC Cadet Enrique Monreal Jr. (center) with the SFA award certificate and medal.

Jim Duffy (asst. vice president) presented ROTC Cadet Monreal Jr. with a copy of Tales From The Teamhouse