Roque JRiojas

[chambers]

Great photo!!

 

Aww, how handsome Rocky is!

 

Brooke

[Walt's Daughter]

So Rocky. Tell us about the meeting with the president.

[roque_riojas]

Meeting with the C.I.C.;

I went to D.C. for the WWII Memorial dedication, thanks to the org. I belong.

American G.I. Forum, Dedication was on Sat. and had Tickets to sit in a reserved

section. Of course my wife went also. Sat.evening the Cmndr. of the org.

called me at the hotel and said that he was to sent a WWII vet to represent

the A.G.I.F. and he wanted me to be the one. Told him I couldn't because

my return flight was for Sun.pm. He said I will hold your name, call the

airline and change your departure date for Mon. pm. I called and the clerk

said sure but it will cost you $175.00 I said why she ans. Co. policy. I told

her why I wanted it changed. She said ,wait a minute, when she got back on

she said she talked to the Gen. Mgr. why I wanted to change and he said

waive the $100.00 and just charge 75. So I TOOK it. Anyway Mon. morning

7am I was driven to the White House and lo and behold there was Colin Powell

and a couple of 4star Generals met them and had a pic taken with Colin Powell

Then we had a contl. brkfst. Time for the Pres. so a short line was formed

and when my turn came a female Marine called out my name and I entered

the Blue Room and there they were. Pres. Bush walked towards me and he greeted me then we walked to the center of the room and he introduced me

to Mrs. Bush and I got as close as I could to her,(check where my left arm is)

So we talked a little more, then I excused myself with a smile on my face.

They sent me the official White House Photo! Proud moment for Roque Riojas

[Walt's Daughter]

Rocky Racoon, thank you for the story and a good one it is. My how honored you must have felt to be the CHOSEN ONE. That is wonderful. Me, I would have been so nervous. Would have loved to met the pres and his wife.

 

It was nice of the airline to knock off the extra $100.00 bucks too. Of course I would have knocked off the entire charge for you.

 

I think what's so nice about this entire deal, other than the obvious, was the surprise element. It was a wonderful weekend anyway being at the WWII Memorial and dedication, but then you get that call and the whole weekend turns into something extra special. I am so happy for you.

 

Pretty neat thing getting your photo taken with the Colin Powell too. I would have swooned over that one.

 

And yes, I didn't see you hand, so therefore I know where it was. You are so funny. Anyone that makes me laugh like you do gets FOUR STARS in my book. Laughter is the BEST policy!

 

Hugs to you my dear. Tell you lovely wife how fortunate I feel to get to know you.

[Walt's Daughter]

Rocky sent me this photo.

 

 

 

 

Marion this is a pic taken by

the KC Star news Photographer

and I was interviewed by the

editor of the newspaper. Pic

came out on the front page of

the Sun. edition prior to

Memorial Day. The interview

was printed on another page.

 

Sincerely,

 

Roque

[Walt's Daughter]

Hey Rocky J: Loved talking to you on a REAL PHONE tonight. Thanks so much for calling me. Loved talking to your very dear wife too. She's a darling. I can see why you love her so much. You two make a good match!!!

 

I am so glad you called. It was a very pleasant surprise. I love your sense of humor and good outlook. It keeps us young doesn't it? You can call whenever you like. I always love hearing from my vets. Makes my days even brighter.

Hope you get a chance to listen to the music on the site. Here's the direct link. You can save it as a favorite.

 

 

http://www.6thcorpsmusic.us/

 

I'm sure there is music there that you don't have, so hopefully it will round out your collection. It was so nice of Joe to make up all those cassettes for you. And even better that one of your very favorite songs was included.

 

The music site is done in two formats. Try them both. The one is set up (JUKEBOX) more or less like a radio station. The other is for slower connections and you have to click on songs individually.

 

Well, it's getting late. Tomorrow is a long day with many things to do. Today was my day off and I accomplished a lot, including planting more perennials in my backyard.

 

Take care and God bless you too.

 

Your friend forever...

[twobisquit]

Mr. Riojas

I was reading one of the introduction posts and saw that you had spent some time in scotland..My wifes uncle, Stephen Gracan was with Darbys Rangers. I'm not sure if he came from the 3rd ID. Also I thik my Dad was attached to the 3rd ID in France.

Chris

[Walt's Daughter]

Yes, the 36th Engineers were attached to the 3rd Inf Div for a while. Here's a pic of them together on the beachhead.

[Walt's Daughter]

If anyone is interested, I have a CD for sale ($3.99) that includes all the photos of the 36th, 39th and 540th Combat Engineers in my current collection. It's a slide show that runs almost 14 minutes and is set to an Andrew Sisters medley. Included on the CD are all the photos in a separate folder so you can view them individually.

[twobisquit]

Thanks Marion...

Now , Ill try to get to the next question .

 

I can only remember 3 patches that were with Dad'stuff. 5th Army,3rd Army, and the round Red white and blue that I think was european duty or something like that. He also had told me that he was with the 36th ID at Velletri.

 

Also,they were transferring fuel and abandoning tanks over the border in Germany for for Patton, when they were called back (I think) forbthe Battle of the Bulge.

-chris

 

PS I'll buy one of the cds.