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Presidents of
the
Ranger Battalions
Association of WWII
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Michael Gargas
1947-49
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Stanley Askins
1949-51
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Raymond F. Alm
1951-53
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Samuel J. O’Neal
1953-55
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Arthur Salesky
1955-57
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Elmer Vermeer
1957-59
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Carl Lehmann
1959-61
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Wallace J. Syring
1961-63
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James J. Altieri
1963-65
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Leonard Lomell
1965-67
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Robert Fruhling
1967-69
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Ralph Goranson
1969-71
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Buckley E. Martin
1971-73
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Robert T. Chesher
1973-75
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A. G. “Mac” McKinnon
1975-77
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Sidney A. Salomon
1977-79
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Robert H. Olesen
1979-81
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Francis T. Coughlin
1981-83
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William R. Brady
1983-85
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William C. Cool
1985-87
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Herbert Epstein
1987-89
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Rex Sharp
1989-91
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Jack McDevitt
1991-92
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Edward Dressel
1992-93
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Richard N. Hathaway, Jr.
1993-95
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Jay D. Northrup
1995-97
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Edward F. Krise
1997-99
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Warren “Bing” Evans
1999-01
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Warren “Bing” Evans
2002
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Roger Twigg
2003
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Roger Neighborgall
2004
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Bill Reed
2005
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Frank South
2006
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Frank South
2007
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Andy Stockmaster
2008
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Frank South
2009
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Frank South
2010
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Bill Boyd
2011
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The RBA was consolidated with the Sons &
Daughters’ Organization in October, 2011.
New Organization:
DESCENDANTS OF WWII RANGERS
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Many times over the years, I have been
approached by aspiring writers to relate to them some of my personal
experiences. Almost always, I have been disappointed by their approach. As
yet, none of them has captured the essence of being a Ranger. Always they
try to capture it with personal experiences and nearly always, miss the
story of the magnificent three thousand. Six battalions-roughly 500
men in each battalion-three thousand men total-with a history so glorious
that no other group of any size has been able to duplicate it. From the
first action at Dieppe, France by ten per cent of the 1st Battalion to the
brilliantly planned and executed Cabanatuan Raid by the 6th Ranger
Battalion, from the spearheadings of the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Battalions to
the crowning accomplishments of the 2nd and 5th Battalions at Pointe du
Hoc and Omaha Beach.
Think of it. Both theaters of war. One
cannot number the campaigns, battles so numerous that one merges into
another, raids that have been publicized and glorified in books and
movies, and the countless patrols in, around, and through enemy lines.
Now, if you take any one experience
and make it stand alone, it will fade into insignificance. But, if you
view them together and realize that all this was accomplished by three
thousand. I did not take part in all of our history, but by virtue of
being one of the three thousand, that history is mine. I'm as proud of the
experiences of my buddies as I am my own. Their experiences are my
experiences.
Each of us taken alone becomes lost in
insignificance, but taken together, we become a hero of gargantuan
proportions. So, it behooves those few of us who are left to perpetuate
the memory of what has been accomplished by the magnificence of the three
thousand, rather than getting lost in the pettiness, the loneliness, the
smallness of our own little part.
Come on! Let's enjoy being heroes-an
important one of the three thousand.
-Contributed
by Warren (Bing) Evans
1st
& 3rd Ranger Battalion
Below:
Bing Evans looking through the roster of registered Rangers attending
the Reunion in New Orleans August 2002 (photo
courtesy Ranger Bill Arimond, 1st
& 3rd Ranger Battalion)
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